Errand Day (3)

Today was errand day and that means that Beeker went with me to Champaign. Yes,a car ride. Beeks loves riding in the car(windows down please). Sometimes he gets so excited he starts to drool. Once when I was visiting my family, and driving around with him he drooled so much I thought something was wrong and ended up taking him to the emergency vet. Diagnosis...drool! That was an exspensive lesson. Now I just let him drool and offer him water. This will get some comments: check out Beeks vest in todays picture. If its cold out, is it Okay to have your dog wear a vest/coat? I don't mean frilly doll clothes but as protective covering? beeks doesn't seem to mind and I don't worry that he might be too cold while waiting for me in the car.

While in Champaign, we visited friends at Parkland College. Beeks is fairly timid when he first meets people. He backed up behind me until I patted my friend saying,"nice Jen". Yes, I patted my friend. Such a brave dog. He's confident while we are out walking, he doesn't bark at other dogs or people, but get him close to something he hasn't encountered and he a regular chicken. You would think he would be excited to get up close and personal with all the critters/animals that he barks at from behind windows but he's way apprehensive. Last fall I took him with me to a friends house in Oregon, Illinois. Her husband is a hunter and had just brought down a deer. When he brought it up to the garage, all of their dogs were so excited and were trying to get as close as possible (ie:trying to get a little taste). Beeker was trying to get behind me. I had to literally pet the dead deer to get him to come close. Anyway, I think that he needs more people socicalization to be comfortable with all the things in the world. Little kids still kind of scare him. They move so fast. He's better with older children,and once he gets a good smell of them he's better the next time.

We went to the grocery stores and then came home. I had to stop at a second store and although I probably should have teathered him with the groceries in the back, I didn't and he didn't bother the food or move to the front seat. This is an interesting situation with Beeks and riding in the car. He loves to move to the front of Brad's car but he prefers the back seat in the Honda. Infact, one Christmas while in Colorado, I moved him to the very back, behind the back seat, due to the number of people in the car. He kept jumping up to the back seat. With people occupying all the spaces. Maybe he just saw himself as one of us.

When we got home, I decided that it was an unbelievably beautiful day so a walk was in order. Beeks readily agreed so we walked down the lane, over the railroad tracks and through the next neighborhood to the Sangamon river. This was exciting because this walk is primarily off road which allows for maximum sniffing,rolling and scenting spots. A Beeker favorite. Only better place nearby is the prairie at the Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve. Thats tomorrow. Its like going to Disneyland for dogs,well maybe the dog park. Thats a toss up. What do you think about the vest? Where is your favorite place to romp?