Last weekend was pretty busy. Saturday, I volunteered for a couple of hours at the local dog training club, and then went to a potluck with some high school classmates. It was small but fun, so I was glad I drove over.
Sunday was a little more complicated. The original plan had been that somebody was going to call me around 10 and we'd go out with our dogs. But she didn't call until 11:45, when I was in the middle of eating lunch. I said OK, we can go, but I'd like some time to finish eating and take care of the dishes in the sink. She said that she GAVE me time and she wanted to go early so it wouldn't break up her day. I said OK, OK and figured that my cell phone might get at least partially charged by the time she arrived. The neighbor's energetic dog, Bogart, lIkes to go Along with us, so I jump up over and got him.
We headed up to the restored wetlands north of Champaign. I Took Aoife and Bogart, and the Other person follow me with her dog. Went up the drive fine, But Things got more eventful when to Bogart got out of the car. Isn't Recall His strong suit, and I decided to run around the Landowners' yard and barn. Finally I Follow Us Into the prairie, and we hiked around. Aoife and the woman's dog Stay Close by, and Bogart ranged A Little Further. As we headed to Our cars, the guy Who Owns the Land Came out to talk with us. That moment Bogart chose to climb the fence Into Their yard. The guy politely Suggested That I Spend Some Time training Bogart, Especially on recall. All I Could do apologize to WASt home, I plugged my phone in and tried calling her a couple of times, but nobody answered.
Later that night, I talked with another local flatcoat owner who'd introduced me to the wetlands. When she heard about Bogart climbing the fence, she reminded me that I was responsible for Bogart when I took him out, and suggested that I not bring him back to the wetlands. I figured that she was right - he's not an intrinsically bad dog, but I can't control him well enough to take him onto other people's property.
At this point, I've been procrastinating talking with the woman. Navigating county roads isn't hard, since the numbers represent a logical grid, and it was easy for me to find my way back the first time I went to the wetlands. In the future, it'd probably be easiest to just go alone with Aoife.
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