Back from up north

Up north Wisconsin, that is. We took the dogs camping for a week. It wasn't a resounding success, but it wasn't a disaster either. Dottie had some pretty sad moments: she's officially scared of fishing poles, and wouldn't get in the van for a long time the first night, due to her carsickness on the way up (she didn't actually throw up, but that's because we know not to feed her before car trips. She's been carsick her whole life, the very first thing she did as a puppy after I drove her home from the rescue place was throw up all over my lap). We just sat in the van (our new camping vehicle, very nice considering how much it rained) and waited for her to change her mind. She did eventually, but I couldn't believe how teenager-like she was being. She barked at every little thing at first, and Gustav got very tense very quickly.

But after a few days the dogs got MUCH better at calming down and having a good time. A few things helped: lots of CCing the various noises of the other campers, getting used to thing over time, some awesome bones to chew on that I brought along, and the fact that they were exhausted from some pretty major off-leash hikes. Finally, the last night, the dogs were laying contentedly on their beds, strategically placed under the picnic table, while we sat around the fire. Well, for about twenty minutes anyway. Which was a big deal, and I was very proud of them. I've never known Dottie to be comfortable laying around outdoors, she's just not that kind of dog.

We let Gustav and Dottie romp around off leash on some obscure fire access roads we found to hike. I was a little nervous, but he did well. He doesn't have a great recall, but he is very good at staying with the group. Whenever they seemed like they were going to chase something through the woods, I would call Dottie first (bless her wonderful recall!) and Gustav wouldn't be too far behind. He did get a little too far a few times and Justin had to use his serious voice to get him back. On our way out of one of these roads, a guy in a jeep was driving down it and stopped to chat. He asked if we had seen the bear and her three little cubs. Well, no, we hadn't, and thank God. Pretty scary thought, given Gustav's poor recall. Who knows what he would do when faced with a bear? I am sooo grateful we didn't have any incidents, and I feel a little sheepish for risking it. Gustav had such a wonderful time, though, and it was both a good bonding time and good to practice his off-leash work, which I so rarely get to do. I haven't seen both dogs so tired in a long long time.

I'll update a little more later, but I am so dirty and the dogs have more ticks than I've ever seen in my life.