This is the year we took the dog to Hecla.Marc and I have yet to decide whether the above sentence should read "this is the FIRST year we took the dog to Hecla" or "this is the ONLY year we took the dog to Hecla".
Our dog is not well behaved. She's not aggressive, and she likes to play with other dogs, but she will bark at you if you invade her territory, and she will keep barking if she decides she doesn't like you. So it was with great fear and trepidation that we undertook the yearly Hecla trip with the dog in tow.
The kids were all for it. "Jadie NEEDS to come", they insisted. "There is a BEACH for DOGS there." (And there is a lovely dog-friendly swimming area called Sunset Beach. It's not quite as sandy as the main---dog free---beach, but it's not bad at all.)
The first two days were bliss. We brought a short tie-out for her, and she hung out with us outside the cabin. She mostly napped on the ramp up to the cabin, and didn't seem to be bothered by the neighbours' comings and goings. We took her for long walks and introduced her to the joys of fetching a stick thrown into a lake. She actually shook off her collar and lost it in the lake, so we bought her a new one at the store in the village. It was not the greatest collar, but it seemed to work just fine.
Then our neighbours moved out, and we got new neighbours. They were very friendly and outgoing (a little too friendly and outgoing for a couple of introverts and their kids). Anyhoo, they wanted to meet the dog, and she took an immediate dislike to them (mostly to the man, but she would bark at the woman too). So every time they came outside, Jadie would bark. We were apologetic and would take the dog inside, and they were all smiles. So, we thought, this is not ideal, but we are managing.
Then one day, the dog snapped her new collar while running towards the neighbours. We immediately tackled her and took her inside where she remained until I bought her a new one in Arborg (about an hour away), as we had already purchased the last one in the village. Still, the neighbours were all smiles, and we were all apologies. We went to the main beach later (taking turns swimming with the kids and walking the dog). We saw the neighbours various places that afternoon. We all smiled and waved, and to be honest, Marc and I smiled and waved more than we are inclined to, probably just to make up for the dog.
At suppertime that evening, we came upon the solution that Jadie would stay in the cabin most of the time, so that the neighbours could come and go in peace. I was feeling good about our problem solving. It seemed to be working. We still took her on lots of walks and swims, and she was happy enough to snooze inside.
Then the park ranger arrived saying that there had been a complaint lodged against us regarding the dog. She warned us that we could be charged for excessive noise, and that we needed to keep our dog on a leash at all times. I feel petty writing this here, but I was so angry! Instead of having a conversation with us about it and try to come up with solution, they decided the best thing to do would be to get us in trouble and hopefully kicked out. We reassured the ranger that all would be well. The dog barked at her once before we got her quiet, and we saw the ranger a couple of times over the following days, and the dog didn't make a sound (good puppy!). Suffice it to say the smiling and waving to the neighbours stopped rather abruptly.
Having the dog with us was a little limiting in some ways. We couldn't all go bike riding together, and we couldn't go to pizza night at Integrity Foods (a yearly tradition). We had been in the habit of going to Gimli for lunch on the way home, and wasn't in the cards as well. I'm hoping as she gets older and better trained, we will be able to do some of these things again.
So, plans for the fall-winter-spring include some obedience training. Plans for next summer include trying to get Jadie to ride in a canoe.
