Dog Germs™

The dogs had a banner weekend to turn the corner to March. On Saturday we packed up and drove out to Lake Corpus Christi State Park on a very windy day. First we trekked the river trails below the dam. It was the first time any of us had been there and the trees definitely blocked the wind quite well. Fun was had by all when my arm wasn’t getting pulled out of socket by Hondo’s “monkey on a chain” impersonation. But really he was surprisingly well behaved and of course Raven was a princess as always.

When everybody had enough of the river we drove on over to the State Park and sat in the shade so everyone could cool off. The wind was sustained at about 30-40mph and the temps were in the mid 60s so we all cooled off really quickly. Then it was off for a walk around the park. Hondo had a momentary dominance lapse when he wanted to chase something in a culvert but the “off” command with a little squirt of breath spray got his attention and he was great for the rest of the day. A good time was had by all and the dogs had a good nap on the way home.

On Sunday we hopped on over to Padre Island National Seashore for Hondo’s first beach trip at Padre Island National Seashore. It was an instant success. He started talking when we arrived at the park while we were still driving. He was so excited he just didn’t know exactly what to do when we started walking down the trail toward the beach. He just wanted to run. After he got his feet wet in the Gulf we started off down the beach. A little dune hunting and then a little salt water wading and back to the dunes again. When we stopped to rest on a log, Raven started digging a hole (she likes to dig for sand crabs). Hondo must have had a whiff of whatever she smelled because he pushed her out of her hole and started digging to China. Pretty funny.

A ways down the beach I climbed up on a big log and called Hondo up. Well Raven jumped up instead. While I was trying to guide her down to keep her from injuring her front legs, somehow Hondo’s leash got yanked out of my hand. He started running straight down the beach chased by his retractable leash! I ran behind him calling “Hondo!”. Nothing. “Here!”, nothing. He just didn’t respond to anything and I couldn’t keep up. I thought maybe he was running from me because I was running at him so I stopped and called. Duck kept running after him. He got about 100 yards ahead of us and suddenly looked back to see where we were. I don’t think he could hear us because the wind was blowing about 20mph. and he was upwind. Duck put her hands up in the air and motioned to him to show him where we were. I did the same. For a second he may have been thinking about whether he should come back or continue running but he decided to come back. He ran straight back to Duck and she gave him a big long hug. I told him “good boy” and we both bragged on him for coming back. So he really does want to be our dog. If there was ever a place to run away and not come back it would be the beach wilderness of PINS. It’s about 80 miles of nothing but dunes and scrub and deer and jackrabbits and all kinds of stuff to chase and smell. Well we were very happy and thankful he likes his new pack enough to look for us when he runs ahead. I’m looking into making a “leash leash” to attach the leash to my wrist to prevent future near dog-owner heart attacks. Anyway I started calling him “The Comeback Kid” after that. And he has a new dog-song…

He’s the Comeback Kid
The Comeback Kid
He came back
Yes he did
Oh yes, Oh yes, Oh yes he did
He’s the Comeback, Comeback Kid

We continued our walk after that and he repeatedly looked back to make sure we were there. I think he got a little scared when he saw he was alone. So all-in-all it was a good day. Everybody came home tired and happy. We made Hondo his own place in the bedroom and set up a makeshift bed for him. He didn’t sleep in it but he did use it for a pillow. Raven woke up the next morning happy with no stiffness. Hondo woke up licking and climbing into bed. 73 lbs. standing on a guy’s privates is not the best way to wake up in the morning. But our dogs really love their morning wake-up rituals.

Visit the Lake Corpus Christi and PINS galleries for more pics.

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