September was another busy month for us. Our fun camping trip extended well into September and the weather continued to be beautiful. Actually it was sizzling, smoking hot! I say smoking figuratively, because when much of the province was blanketed by smoke from the fires in the US, the air at camp was fresh and clear, if intoxicating with all those interesting things I had to sniff!! I saw the strangest thing most nights – something I have never seen at home in Surrey. The sky was FULL of really bright lights all over the place. Most nights there was one really big light along with all those tiny lights. Mum thought I was really cute when I looked up at those lights. She called them stars. She even brought her book out one night and told me the moon was so bright she could actually read her book by moonlight!! The only part I didn’t like about camping was that the regulations say the only time I can be off leash is when we are at the off leash dog park, which, happily, happens to also be the very best beach In the whole park! I had never been tied up before and although I like being on leash with Mum and Dad I don’t like being tied up, even though it was on a long line. Mum and Dad had to untangle me every time I tried to explore the bushes around the campsite!! I have never been much of a swimmer, but I did have a few good swims, especially when I chased after some of the other dogs whose people threw sticks into the water. it was so much fun! We spent our full afternoons at the beach, and because it was so hot, Mum and I dug some nests in the sand, all the way down to where the sand was damp and cool. Then Mum built a shelter overhead so I would have shade.
We did a lot of walking this month. For MOVEFORPADS fundraiser we committed to walk min 10,000 steps per day. That was two tours of the whole campground plus one walk to the dock and back each day. I even met a released PADS dog who was one of our campsite neighbours! We did lots of walking in the local parks when we came home. I met some fascinating creatures, like a cement frog, and continued working on my dog distraction and durations when we were out on our walks. Mum was really proud of me one day when she was taking a photo of me sitting in a hollowed out tree stump – I held my sit even when a man and his dog jogged right past us! We were very happy to have met our fund raising goal, and I have to say how proud I am of all my PADS human and puppy family who participated and generously donated, so we EXCEEDED our goals. They were a busy and dedicated bunch, riding a bike all the way to Calgary, hiking, jogging, running, walking climbing hundreds of thousands of stairs, swimming, doing push-ups, wheeling in chairs, and keeping an eye on the donations progress to decide where else to donate to help people reach their individual fundraising goals. What an amazing family we have!!
Submitted By:Puppy Raiser Nola Chanroux
