Oct 21, 2011: Swept Away

Today Thurmon went for his first car ride since we brought him home to live with us. Sara's conference was over, so we all took the day off to run some errands and go on some outings in the rental car.

First we showed her our new house, taking a load of fragile items while we were at it. Thurmon didn't much enjoy the ride, sitting on Mark's lap, with stressed half-mast ears the whole way. But he had a nice treat after arriving, meeting a friendly poodle just down the street.

Then we took Thurmon on his first hike, in the Rouge Valley. Initially he was off leash, and did well staying close to us. But then he ran ahead out of sight, and we were worried about where he might have gone. It turns out there was a dog ahead of us on the trail - Thurmon showed up trotting next to him as they approached. So back on the leash he went.

He did get one more off-leash event - a short swim in the creek. Unlike the creek near our house (which is stepped through a series of dammed pools), this one had a current. It actually seemed like it might be too shallow for him to get in a swim, but when he got to the middle he was able to paddle. But almost immediately he started to be swept away. Thurmon had never before experienced a current, and seemed rather shocked. But when I called him over he swam right away to the edge of the bank.

After all this excitement, Thurmon was finally so tired that he actually overcame the stress of the car ride, and fell asleep on the way home.

Below: Sara, Mark and Thurmon