Summer is here

Last weekend Elli and I took our first trip of the summer to the cottage. As I was packing, Elli knew exactly where we were going. She was following me everywhere, and would get very upset if I went out of the house without her. Then, once we got in the car she would cry if we ventured off course.

Once we arrived Elli burst out of the car and ran around like crazy. She went into every room in the house (looking for my grampa), then she ran around the yard sniffing every blade of grass, and tree stump.

Since the sun was shining, and the water was low, we were able to walk along the waterfront all the way to the beach. It was about a half-hour walk each way. I couldn't believe how high Elli could jump on the large rocks. She even ventured into the frigid water. At the beach I threw in a couple sticks for Elli to get. She preferred the big one she could barely lift over the small sticks we started with. But, since she doesn't like to actually swim I could only throw the stick in a couple feet so she could still walk in to get it.

Since Elli is still perfecting her listening skills I only let her off leash a bit at the cottage. I have a long purple rope that I use when I need to tie her up, but give her some freedom too. This time I didn't tie the rope to anything, so the bundle of remaining rope was just dragging behind her. She never went too far, too fast. Although, a couple times she did find disgusting things in the grass--dead animals, gross things to roll in (required a trip to the sink before we left), I even pulled some sort of small skull out of her mouth! The rope was good in these instances because I could easily catch her if she tried to get away with whatever she found (and knew she wasn't supposed to have).

It turned out to be a great weekend, and hopefully the first of many great weekends we spend at the cottage.

(Elli is still recovering by taking extra-long naps)