and I lost the pictures, learning to use my new camera. Sigh.

So, if I’m able, I will paint a picture with words.

Back up the hill, behind my house, are two dwellings that are only used in the summer. In July, Will and Claire and their three kids, and their two dogs, were in residence. For a couple weeks, another family was there as well, with THEIR two dogs. So many people, dogs, and cars up and down the driveway kind of made Chico crazy. One day, just as we were leaving on a walk, he went charging around the corner of the barn ahead of me, barking like a maniac. “Oh, calm down,” I said, “it’s nothing.”

Actually, it wasn’t nothing. It was both families and all the dogs, going for a walk to the farm at the end of the road. That’s just where we were headed.

Will’s a good guy, sensible and calm. Their dog Jenny has Chico’s one of Chico’s same issues – she’s scared of dogs bigger than she, and can go aggressive on them – and Will and I have the same attitude about being willing to try and see what the dogs can do; so Chico and I joined in the walk. It was awesome. Chico, Jenny (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel), Max (Fox Terrier), and Sam (German Shepherd), and a little 15 year old Cocker who got carried half way, all went for about a one mile walk with no issues or conflicts. No baring of Chico’s teeth. No guarding of “my puddle” or acting like he owned the whole road.

I attribute the success to calm humans, lots of room, continued forward motion, and Chico’s developing social skills.