Fishermen's Memorial State Campground
Tuesday, 30 October 2018
No map today because I went where I've been several times before.
First stop was doggy day care for Gracie.
Next stop was PetsMart, because I needed some arthritis pills for Gracie and some training treats for Dexter. I thought it'd be fine to take Dext inside since I'd have only him and I figured he'd be fairly easy to control. I was wrong wrong.
He literally ran around in circles with excitement, refused treats and refused to listen to me at all, instead going where he wanted and doing what he wanted. Complicated by the fact the leash that came with the new harness is about 3' long, so I'm much closer to the action - in this case, his action - and every time he tugs and pulls, he's tugging and pulling me, and I'm way too old and cantankerous to enjoy that or think it's cute or anything. It almost gave me a headache.
By the time we got out of the store I was in a panic. What could make him ignore treats? What was wrong with the training program, or with me, or with him?
So I called the training people and the guy who answered said it sounded like Dext was overstimulated. When he gets like that what I should do is take him back home and start again on the training program. Of course, this guy didn't realize that home is an RV, and "taking him home" had already been accomplished in the PetsMart parking lot, but at least it gave me a diagnosis and a plan.
I went from there to the post office and got the same weird woman, who remembered me after I asked for general delivery mail but this time managed to find David's envelope, which was labeled with a note saying it had been ready for pickup the day I asked for it before. She probably hadn't bothered to look she was so sure I was the one out of whack. Oh, well. I have a really nice brother, though.
Then I took Dexter back down to the John Chaffee Nature Preserve where I'd taken him before. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot, and I knew at least some of them had dogs because I'd seen them, but I wasn't too worried, Gracie not being with us. In fact, we met a beagle, maybe a basset cross, right away and Dext was just fine with him.
As the walk went on, I found Dext is just fine with dogs that are very friendly and those that are okay friendly. But then we met a dog that seemed fine at first but suddenly looked and acted scared of Dext who, up till then, had been looking okay. But when the dog started looking scared, Dext suddenly changed and started growling and trying to lunge, and that wasn't so good. This nature trail is only wide enough for 2 people to be comfortable walking together, so definitely not enough room for growling lunging dogs. Oh well. We tried. Eventually I'll learn how to read him better and how to deal with other dogs' behavior changes, but today it was a bit of a problem.
Still the sun was out, though there was a strongish wind and the air temp never got out of the 50s, so overall it was pleasant and the leaves were pretty.
We still had about an hour before time to get Gracie so I took Dext on down to the Narragansett Town Beach and that was good. He got to sniff beachy things and run around on the sand and generally relax. It was nice despite the wind. There was a person sitting on the sand, leaning against the sea wall, wrapped in at least 4 blankets that I saw, reading a book. I didn't think it was that nice, but it takes all kinds.
Narragansett beaches are where I've been taking my recycling stuff for the last couple of weeks. They're probably pretty surprised to open up the bins and find cleaned jam jars and empty bacon boxes. Rhode Island isn't a state that emphasizes recycling much.
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