Christmas Vacation - Part 2

This whole vacation thing has been a learning experience. I have been in my first hotel, first airport, first elevator and first restaurant! You may not know this but these are all places where I have to be on my very best, tip-top behavior. Even when greeting a friend who has just arrived on a plane I have to sit up tall and contain my excitement to extra tail wagging.

I have spent a lot of time in a thing called a “condo.” It’s bigger than the hotel room and it has a kitchen but instead of a big backyard it has a tiny deck. The good news about the deck is that it looks out over the salt marsh and there are birds, boats, kayaks and even the occasional dolphin to watch. It’s like really amazing 3D TV, only with added smells of course.

I have also learned all kinds of things about this ocean thing. First of all, there’s a part where the waves are smaller, it’s called a “bay,” and we spend most of our time there. When we are walking on the beach I have been working on learning several new commands, including “stay around” and I have been getting more practice with commands like “people.” My pack leader, William, uses both of these when I am relaxing off-leash. When he says “people,” I have to rush over to him and sit quietly by his legs while people go past. Often though, especially on the beach, these people stop to pet me, so people-ing is usually fun. “Stay around” can be more difficult, especially when I am playing with a new dog friend and we are just getting to maximum speed, with the wind in our ears, and tearing down the beach, stopping when William shouts, “Ellie, stay around!” … it’s kind of hard. Sometimes my new friend doesn’t want to stop! In the end though, I always do because I’m a good girl. The big challenge when it comes to “stay around” is that birds pay no attention at all. So when I am chasing a seagull, they never stop when I have to head back so we can play some more after I have checked in. It can be disappointing.

There haven’t been many disappointments though. This whole beach thing is incredible and oceans are, clearly, the best possible dog park. Fortunately, my pack says they come here as often as possible. I pushing for weekly, what do you think?

I really want you to experience this with me, so I hope you enjoy this video of my vacation!