Wag It Camp...

For the third year in a row, Bravo and I attended Wag It Camp in New Hampshire. It is held at a Catholic children's summer camp. Picture it this way... a pristine lake boasting  a clean sand beach, with a view of the White Mountains in the distance. The buildings are all painted brilliant white, with deep forest green trim and matching green metal roof tops. There are fields and woods and to explore. Canada geese, ducks and loons call from the lake. There were 20 or so people there, with their canine companions. Each day there are a variety of classes to choose from, but there is also some "down time," so one can rest, read, take a walk or a swim. Three meals a day are provided, meals I neither have to plan, cook, or clean up after. We sleep in cabins, snug and safe. This year the weather was perfect. Cool in the mornings and evenings, warm enough in the middle of the day to make a swim feel just right.  Bravo likes to swim with me, and race on the beach, too.

 We took classes in tracking, water obstacles, (where the dog swims around a post in the water, navigates hoops and "heels" while it is swimming and the handler is walking,) advanced tricks, (where he learned to pull a tissue out of a box, pull a cabinet door open, and walk with his front feet rolling a large wooden spool as he went.  We entered some competitions in obstacles, dog ball and scent work.

He won a few prizes. Better than that, he seemed so happy to be with me in the ring.

We shared our cabin with our friends Rita and Dee, and their dogs, Marcus and JoJo. They played a bit during down time.

And posed for pictures like good dogs. 

 I like Bravo's smile in the above shot.

We spend almost all our time together, and it's a gift. In my busy life, a few days to just be with my dog, and other people who love their dogs (almost) as much as I do, in a beautiful place, is so sweet.

Afternoons, standing with friends in the lake, with a glass of wine in hand, I made a mental note to store up the sunshine, the water, the sand under my toes, and the warm conversation, to remember during some January blizzard. I wonder if Bravo will remember, too?