threenorns
Well-Known Member
yesterday, we attended the Dusk Dances event at Head Lake in Haliburton (if you have any possibility, it's *well worth* the attendance! free event, too - they run it all on donations!).
it started with a zumba class open to all - LOTS of fun. saari didn't like it at first - she kept hiding behind me - until i told her she didn't have to do the same steps as the teacher, she can do whatever she wanted and then it was a matter of getting her to settle down from all the spinning.
dandy looked on in somewhat bemused amazement but he didn't react at all to the sight of about 50 ppl all stepping, swinging, kicking, waving arms, clapping, "woohoo"-ing, etc. he looked a little embarrassed if anything. i had him dancing with me - moving forward and back in time to the music - but then a jetski went by and that had ALL his attention (he *loves* fast-moving recreational vehicles, legacy of a puppyhood spent playing with the guy up the road who would have him chase after the ATV up and down the Rail Trail).
at first, he was the only dog in the park and he *owned* the park. ppl kept rushing up and asking "omg, what kind of dog is he!??" and raving about his extremely fluffy coat (still fluffed up from swimming int he lake the other day) and how gentle and kind his face it. at one point, he was surrounded by four little girls ranging from about a year old to 5yrs old, all mauling and petting him. even when the baby lost her balance and grabbed his face to stop from falling down, he didn't budge nor did he budge when she then tried to eat his nose. he just put one big lick on her face and she ended up on her bum laughing and wiping her cheek. really good parents, too: they don't have a dog bec the kids are so little and too much of a handful right now but after we talked and they saw how dandy is with the kids, they will seriously consider adopting an older dog.
behind the bench were two girls. they were sitting cross-legged on the ground and were doing some kind of little craft-y thing - bracelets, i think. they saw dandy and he walked right up to them. i don't know what got into him - he's never done this before to strangers - but he turned around, backed up until he was sitting on one of the girl's lap, then actually rolled over onto his back so she ended up holding him like a giant hairy baby! he did that to me, too - i thought we were leaving but it turned out there was another dance to go so i made a sharp left and sat on the grass. dandy backed into me, then kept on going until i was flat on my back trying to spit his tail out of my mouth.
there were a lot of other dogs there and i can confidently state that dandy was totally the best behaved dog: penny was the love of the day - she's a very petite nova scotia dog tolling retriever. casper, a wheaten terrier, was devastated when he tried to play with dandy and penny ran him off with a few quick snaps. he ran and his behind his owner then peeped out around the side of his legs - i could SEE the "?" floating in the air over his head! there was a german shepherd/yellow lab mix who was going mental - extremely dog aggressive and the woman who had him could barely contain him. i didn't see him when i took dandy to the lake for a drink and next thing i know, this dog came roaring from the top of the picnic table right after dandy.
the sweetest of all was a little yorkie-tzu. he was only 6mo old and was about 3x wider than he was long! he looked exactly like one of those dry floor mops made of loops of string and when he flattened down to the ground, his eyes were below grass level and he looked like a little black-and-white puddle on the ground. he *fell. in. love* with dandy and dandy returned the favour. it was so sweet to see them romping around, dandy being so careful and, at the same time, a bit baffled by the puppy's bitty size.
twice, we lost track of our daughter and both times dandy found her easily.
so all in all, it was a really fantastic day.
it started with a zumba class open to all - LOTS of fun. saari didn't like it at first - she kept hiding behind me - until i told her she didn't have to do the same steps as the teacher, she can do whatever she wanted and then it was a matter of getting her to settle down from all the spinning.
dandy looked on in somewhat bemused amazement but he didn't react at all to the sight of about 50 ppl all stepping, swinging, kicking, waving arms, clapping, "woohoo"-ing, etc. he looked a little embarrassed if anything. i had him dancing with me - moving forward and back in time to the music - but then a jetski went by and that had ALL his attention (he *loves* fast-moving recreational vehicles, legacy of a puppyhood spent playing with the guy up the road who would have him chase after the ATV up and down the Rail Trail).
at first, he was the only dog in the park and he *owned* the park. ppl kept rushing up and asking "omg, what kind of dog is he!??" and raving about his extremely fluffy coat (still fluffed up from swimming int he lake the other day) and how gentle and kind his face it. at one point, he was surrounded by four little girls ranging from about a year old to 5yrs old, all mauling and petting him. even when the baby lost her balance and grabbed his face to stop from falling down, he didn't budge nor did he budge when she then tried to eat his nose. he just put one big lick on her face and she ended up on her bum laughing and wiping her cheek. really good parents, too: they don't have a dog bec the kids are so little and too much of a handful right now but after we talked and they saw how dandy is with the kids, they will seriously consider adopting an older dog.
behind the bench were two girls. they were sitting cross-legged on the ground and were doing some kind of little craft-y thing - bracelets, i think. they saw dandy and he walked right up to them. i don't know what got into him - he's never done this before to strangers - but he turned around, backed up until he was sitting on one of the girl's lap, then actually rolled over onto his back so she ended up holding him like a giant hairy baby! he did that to me, too - i thought we were leaving but it turned out there was another dance to go so i made a sharp left and sat on the grass. dandy backed into me, then kept on going until i was flat on my back trying to spit his tail out of my mouth.
there were a lot of other dogs there and i can confidently state that dandy was totally the best behaved dog: penny was the love of the day - she's a very petite nova scotia dog tolling retriever. casper, a wheaten terrier, was devastated when he tried to play with dandy and penny ran him off with a few quick snaps. he ran and his behind his owner then peeped out around the side of his legs - i could SEE the "?" floating in the air over his head! there was a german shepherd/yellow lab mix who was going mental - extremely dog aggressive and the woman who had him could barely contain him. i didn't see him when i took dandy to the lake for a drink and next thing i know, this dog came roaring from the top of the picnic table right after dandy.
the sweetest of all was a little yorkie-tzu. he was only 6mo old and was about 3x wider than he was long! he looked exactly like one of those dry floor mops made of loops of string and when he flattened down to the ground, his eyes were below grass level and he looked like a little black-and-white puddle on the ground. he *fell. in. love* with dandy and dandy returned the favour. it was so sweet to see them romping around, dandy being so careful and, at the same time, a bit baffled by the puppy's bitty size.
twice, we lost track of our daughter and both times dandy found her easily.
so all in all, it was a really fantastic day.