And then he was very happy

A report to the owners of a guest.

It was a crisp and clear day in late autumn. He felt a certain tension in the air as he left his comfortable cave where his bed and spaces were second nature to him. He had the sense that nothing bad was going to happen but he did feel that the pack leaders were somehow less sure of themselves than normal and that made him just a little less certain.
But that was really only a fleeting imagining as the walk was nice, they were all going down a familiar path and along a place where puddles and water lay temptingly on the ground. There are big bottle boxes here that smell of leader's drinks and make noise when leaders put things in them. All was fun until a loud explosion erupted close by. It scared him, and his pack leaders who immediately pulled him in close, despite the fact that he really wanted to find out what had caused the noise.
He began to think the noise was his fault because the pack leaders immediately took him to the yard where he knew he would get stung, feel bad and throw up. That was what happened last time they took him there.
Thankfully the pack leaders didn’t take him to the yard place. Bit they did take him very close. A big plank moved and there was a cave and a leader he had smelt once or twice before.  He relaxed a little now as it was clear that there was no threat and he happily barged into the cave and began exploring. Before he knew it his pack leaders, who had followed him in, were leaving through the same hole and the plank was put back so he couldn’t get to them. No problem he thought, I’ll just got through the other part of the cave and find them.
But no matter how many parts of the cave he went into there was no pack leader to be seen or smelt. Just the smells of this new leader. He was about to go around the cave again when the new leader got his attention, told him to sit and he did that because that is what you do when a leader says sit. Suddenly one of those yummy little bites of food was in the leader’s hand and offered. It seemed it was very good to sit and he relaxed a bit more.

 
It was then that the new leader opened a big clear plank and led him out into the stinging yard . He was not happy and looked at the leader for help. There seemed to be an understanding as a comforting hug was offered that made him feel a bit safer and before he knew it they were walking around the yard and there were no bitings, and no sick feeling. He felt better and followed back through the open plank.
Suddenly there was a problem, this floor felt funny and didn’t like being walked on as it slipped away under his feet. It took him a little time but with encouragement he trusted his feet and followed further inside to a comfy towel on the floor. There was now time to walk around and find out about the place which he did with great concentration.
Shortly the new leader called out his name and clipped on the lead and they went back to where the big bang happened. The leader threw some noise into the big metal smelly boxes and gave him a pat so that he felt okay. A friend walked up with her small leader and while he and the friend sniffed, said hello and romped a little the leaders exchanged growls and whimpers, as they do. With the new leader giving a pull on his collar, he walked off but was not allowed to leave the new leader’s side which confused him a little but he eventually gave in. Only a short time later he got a pat and was told to go play. He was getting much happier and met lots of friends, some of who he knew and some of who he would recognise by smell. At these meetings there were lots of leader growls and whimpers, always started by a noise ‘horse’ for some reason, and he and his friends got on doing what friends do in the presence of their leaders.

This continued for many interesting smells and friends and lots of noises and walking and trying to remember to stop when the leader stopped to let moving metal boxes go past on wheels. Suddenly he was back in the big green flat place near the water but this leader did not release the clip from his collar. Never mind, there were moles to smell and wet friends to talk to. Climbing up some stairs then stopping for wheeled boxes and up some more stairs there was the plank that moved and a nice long drink put out for him.

The leader started to do boring things and he suddenly felt very tired and fell asleep. When he awoke there was the smell of nice moist food and he was suddenly very hungry. It was very good and with a big long drink he was quite content. The yard looked good now and the glass plank was opened for him to stroll around the nice yard for a while. The slippery floor was not so much of a problem this time and the leaders hands started to look like they needed to be played with. For a little while they were quite a lot of fun to play with but they eventually went away and a sudden and deep snoring sleep started to need to be done. He was quite content. But he occasionally woke to look at the plank.

It seemed like no time at all that another leader came through the plank and he was given a lot of hugs for doing absolutely nothing but they made him feel very good.    He felt so good he followed the new leader up the stairs and while she was in a little room he decided he would wait for her up on the big soft flat thing. This created a lot of noise from both leaders and he was bought back down the steps. He stayed awake for a little while to watch the two leaders move  some food things around and then move other things around that smelled like the noisy boxes where the big explosion happened. But other than some more hand and foot playing there were no more surprises until the pack leaders he knew the very best arrived at the plank.
And then he was very happy.

October 31, 2011.
Baby-sitting Bentley the Great Dane.