Macy's here at Camp...

Macy's people took a vacation, and she didn't get to go along, so she is here at Camp Barkalot. Despite the changes to her normal routine, she has adapted wonderfully, and should win our Happy Camper Award for the week.

Of course, it helps that she is our only camper.

Anyway, we have had to make some adjustments too. For one, we are not accustomed to having a dog with a tail...thump, thump...whack, whack...I love you too, Macy. It's weird having a tail in the house. It kinda gets in the way sometimes...something we never have to watch out for with Daisie. And Macy is big -- a big, frame-y, long-bodied, long-limbed dog. I always think of her and Daisie as being the same size, until they are both in the family room. My goodness! When Macy sits on the floor, facing me, on the couch, she's not far off from eye level, and when she spreads out on the floor, that's a lot of carpet coverage.

Macy was raised with a different training regimen, and I have had to adjust my tone to get a response. With boxer Daisie, we chose to motivate her learning by making good things happen when she did what we wanted, and boxers, being predisposed to optimism, believe it will always be that way. So, when we need Daisie to come, we holler with a happy voice, "Daisie, come!" --implied, you won't want to miss the good stuff that is going to happen when you come over here. Macy was raised with a more prohibitive conscience,and requires a low, stern voice, as if to say, come over here or else. Macy is such a good-tempered girl that I don't think she ever had to experience the "or else". Suffice that master is disappointed -- I will come post-haste! She is a good, good girl.

However, my initial calling to her, yielded very slow response because I was cheerfully calling "come" as I do with Daisie. When I switched to a low, serious, "COME", she is right there.  When we are out in the field, I feel like a split personality, hollering the happy "Daisie, come!" and the stern, "MACY, COME".

Macy did earn a couple of badges for her camping week. The first one being BEE RESPECTFUL. On her first day, she learned that bee boxes are NOT some place a dog should go to sniff around. Oh, the circles that girl turned! Fortunately, between the whirling dervish act, and all that long black hair, the small swarm of bees she attracted did not do any damage. The second badge she earned was another costly one, ROTGUT RULES. She quickly found that rolling on rot, and then eating it results in the predictable bath, and then a puke session.

Living with two working people, Macy's outside and people time are limited, so she is having a heyday here with lots of free time in the yard and in the house. She can't stop smiling about it.

Daisie thinks Camp should be held only in the yard, not the house. Apparently, Daisie considers the whole house to be hers. She's not the most hospitable, I have to say, and prefers it when Macy is relegated to her cabin for a while.

And then, there's Olive...who has has come for Day Camp a time or two and has finally found a friend with whom she can play unceasingly. They are nuts when they are together! Of course, Olive thinks she is the same size as Macy, and Macy doesn't mind that she thinks so. They play themselves to exhaustion, which is fine with everyone, because the subsequent naptimes are long.

Here, Camp Counselor Cait is conducting a review of Basic Obedience rules:

Of course, Obedience is more fun at Camp because you get waffles for treats.

Sadly, we did have to let one of our counselors go because he was just too wild with the campers. Fortunately, he has berries to pick, so it's not like he will be without an occupation. He didn't seem to understand that there is no badge for CANINE MANIA.

Although it occurs here regularly.

Soon, dear Macy will go back to life with her own people...And we'll be proud to tell them that she didn't get homesick once...well, maybe once. (Don't want her people to think she doesn't love them!)

I think she will leave with happy memories of Camp Barkalot...

and Daisie will be happy that Camp Barkalot is a memory.

Oh Daisie...