Oh how I miss the sunshine already--Rehashing the trip part 1

I'm finally getting around to posting about my trip. I got in late Tuesday night and was exhausted. It did not help that for the last 3 hours of my trip, it rained. Then, poor Tovah was acting strangely in the car. I couldn't figure out if she was thirsty, hungry, or what. Well, despite having stopped to pee on the last 1 1/2 hours of our trip, she apparently had to really poop. Unfortunately, it was too late, and she made a mess on the cover of the seat. Luckily, that is washable. Tovah never has accidents, so I know she was horrified. She sat huddled in a ball the rest of the way home, not trying to touch any part of excrement. Bad mommy, bad trainer.

Yesterday, I spent the majority of the day recuperating, though I did have an evening dental appt. which did not result well for me. My bridge on the upper right part of my mouth is barely holding on and will need to be replaced (no purging in several years with one exception), I have 3 cavities, and a possible infection under the bridge. I know this has resulted from my horrible inconsistency with flossing. For whatever reason, I am terrible at remembering. I go back in a month for the rest of the cleaning and to fill in the cavities. I always wonder what dental hygienists and dentists think when they see my teeth. Are they horrified? Do they wonder how that could have happened at my fairly young age? They never ask though, it's typically me saying something, though I have not with this dentist whom I've only seen once.

Like I said before, the trip itself went really well. Sitting and driving for 32 hours in a span of 6 days was challenging. My record with long distance driving has not always fared well. It was more just getting through it and not having much memory of it. These days, I handle it much better. I have to attest recovery, more sleep, and having a gps for that. Although the gps did kep wanting me to take this one road to my friend's place in FL. My friend warned me it would do this, and if I went that way, I would get stuck in the sand! I almost did leaving her place but was able to turn myself around.

When I arrived in SC late last Thursday night, here are the dogs who welcomed me. Well, the little white one one wasn't thrilled with either Tovah or me. If you do not know what the breed dog in the first photo is, most do not. She is a Leonberger. Despite some opposition, the breed recently became recognized by the AKC this year and was eligible for Westminister. Bella's littermate and brother, Gulliver, was the one shown at Westminister. If you're wondering why some might be concerned about the AKC recognition, it is because there is a likelihood of the breed becoming more popular which places risk for bad breeding and more puppy mills.

The second photo is Leroy, a Treeing Walker Coonhound. He has a bit of a long story but originally my former co-worker found him and fostered him. Then, my step-brother adopted him which lasted only a few years, then my dad and his wife took him.

The last photo is Dasiy. She is the newest member of their family, only having lived there a year or so. She was apparently kept in a crate with a few dachshunds and bred. Her social skills are lacking and she pretty

much snarled and guarded the toys from Tovah the majority of time while we were there. Though I know what to do to help correct this problem, family is much tougher to get through to. You learn to pick your battles and hope for the best before something awful happens.

Tovah was quite wired from her long nap in the car and kept pulling out toys like these and continuously squeaking them. She pulled out ALL the toys. Daisy was not happy.

Tovah and I left for FL the next day to visit my friend. I got lost and drove around for an hour in the rain but eventually made it there. Her property is beautiful--10 acres fully fenced. On Saturday, she had an aggression workshop. I helped out where I could, listened, observed, and chimed in here and there. It was good to get to see my friend in action.

After the workshop ended, we let Tovah and her dogs go out onto the property. She has Irish Setters and Flat coated Retrievers. They all went into the pond. I wish I had gotten photos of the dogs but it was getting dark.

My friend also has goats living on her property, so the next day I took some photos of them. In this first photo, this goat was really pushy at the fence. Lovable for sure but definitely hogged all the attention. It is very evident in the second picture. My friend said that he was much like his dad and she will likely find a different home for him.

The goats were so funny. They especially loved when their dad came over with the food. They were like a bunch of puppies, baa-baa-ing their way in front of each other. They also liked do do stuff like scratch their butts and backs on the fence as well as their horns.

Then, there were the babies. Now, baby goats, much like baby lambs, are just adorable! You can't but say "Awww." There were three of them. They were a bit shy of strangers. Had I had food, they would have been right at my hand likely. If my friend had more time, she would clicker train them. Goats really excel at clicker training, so hopefully one day she will be able to.

The following day, I watched some of her classes--confirmation, obedience, and agility. She let me have the opportunity to work with Tovah in the class, and that was fun. I was really proud of how she did, especially since she has not been in a class setting for over a year in a half. As my friend said, "she did pretty damn good." It was a nice confidence booster and a good source of inspiration, especially since my friend breeds, shows, competes in obedience, and agility with all nationally ranked dogs.

I so wish my friend wasn't so far away, and that she could offer me a job there. I would absolutely love it, even if it is in FL (mountain girl here), but she is not able to. So as she says, she will have to find more opportunities to bring me down there.

I'm going to end this post here as it is getting long. The next post is about the beach and other stuff.