Over the weekend of May 12th Tom and Timber brought me with them to Mammoth Lakes. The drive over took a long time and we made quite a few stops along the way. I was glad to be going with them, but I wish they wouldn't have gone so far. When we got there I got to meet Jackie, Will, and Stephan. I liked them all at first but for some reason something came over me once when Jackie walked by one time and I growled and snapped at her. For the rest of the trip I was a little weary around anyone that was not Tom or Timber. I think when they take me to training they are going to try to get that out of my system. :-)
On May 7th Tom and Timber took me kayaking with them at Colero Reservoir. When we pulled up to the gate and then into the parking lot I wasn't very sure what was going on. Once they got out and took this really large banana looking thing down to the water I was really starting to get worried. I knew that I didn't want them to leave me alone in the car, but I wasn't sure that I really wanted to go with them. They did end up grabbing me and bringing me down to the water and then Tom threw me into the kayak in front on him. The kayak was a hard, yellow, plastic shell, and I slipped around a little bit before I finally found my footing. I stood there looking around while they paddled around the reservoir. Tom kept getting water on my head, which was ok, but what he did next was definitely not ok. Once we got back to the shore he dragged me down to and into the water. I had never been swimming before and I had no desire to start now, but he didn't give me a choice. He threw me in and I nervously paddled toward the shore, and once I got there he did it to me again. He finally stopped and dried me off and the put me back in the car. My ordeal was over. Whew!
Tom is training for an adventure race on May 21st. As part of the training Tom has been running just about every day. He started out running 3 miles a day for a week, then this past week he went to 4 miles a day, and starting tomorrow and for the rest of next week he'll be running 5 miles a day all week. Then for the week leading up to the race he'll be running 6 miles a day. Guess who his running partner is? You guessed it, his running partner is me. I don't mind, actually I like getting out of the house and getting lots of exercise. But day after day of all this running and all these miles is wearing on me. Just yesterday we got back from a 4 mile run and while Tom was wiping my feet I laid down and let my tongue hang out of my mouth onto the pavement. Hopefully it will get better.
Grandma (Tom's Mom) came for a visit in late April. While she was here some of my worst attributes came out. I didn't think I was very territorial, especially around Tom & Timber, but when Grandma came in the door I was growling and snarling and ready to defend my territory. I was definitely not friendly. Later in the visit Tom had me meet Grandma outside of the house and I was much more friendly. And for some reason I sometimes forget that I've met someone and then bark and snarl at them for no reason. I'm also very protective of the dining room table. I'll hang around under the dining room table and if someone I don't know comes near or to the table then I'll bark and lunge at them to let them know that this is my territory. Interestingly enough, Tom and Timber can come in and around the table as much as they want and it doesn't bother me. They definitely have a laundry list of things to work on with me when we go to training.