changes

So, originally when I started this blog, I thought I would just hike various places in Connecticut with Harvey and my other dogs and sort of review them here. Seemed like a good idea, except for three things...

1) Friggin Harvey hates the summer time. HATES IT. He also hates winter. And rain. So there are only about four days a year that he enjoys being outside for any length of time. I bought him a Ruff Wear Swamp Cooler to try to make summer hiking a little easier for him, and it does keep him cool, but he's still not interested in exerting too much energy when it's hot and humid (unless there's swimming involved).

In fact just this weekend I was walking my three dogs. It was probably seventy degrees out, but nice and breezy (again, Otis is a MALAMUTE mix- he is NOT made for heat and he was doing just fine) and Harvey kept dragging me towards the grass. Harvey is a very polite walker most of the time and only pulls when he sees another dog, a friend to greet, or when he really has to relieve himself. No dogs or smiling faces in sight, so, figuring he has to poop, I followed him up to the grass. He just stood there. No sniffing or posturing to go to the bathroom. Just stood there looking at me. Annoyed, I "let's go"-ed him and continued along. Not fifty feet later he did the same thing again. And again after that. I finally realized that what he was doing was dragging me into the SHADE.
2) Harvey is a fascinating pet. He makes friends with everyone everywhere and his fan club includes everyone from little kids to old ladies to golden retriever pups in need of a role model to lifelong dog haters and people who are petrified of pitbulls. He oozes personality (and when he shakes his head it splatters all over my walls!) and his universal appeal never ceases to amaze me. He is the fifth dog I've had in my life and he has an amazing host of followers. So I have decided to blog about Harvey the dog and his adventures in general. For a dog, he has a lot of adventures...

Just this month he's been skunked:



highlighted:


abandoned:


he's eaten a brand new out-of-the-bag tags-still-on-it bra


spent an afternoon in a bar, where he befriended waitresses, bouncers, grizzled bikers, and a couple of strippers.


and today he befriended our plumber and then my hairdresser's five-year-old daughter who spent her afternoon barking orders at him which he reluctantly followed. She made him roll over so many times, the room is probably still spinning. when she left she announced "Harby is a good dog, but I don't like him. He's too drooly."

so here he is, and here's his life. He goes for his CGC and TDI testing on Thursday. Fingers crossed!

Penwood Park

The weather being what it was today (sunny and breezy and not too warm or too cold) and our time being what it was today (limited) we opted to go for a short hike. Checking out my sources, I found that there was a trail in Bloomfield at Penwood Park that could be hiked in just over an hour. Since I was assured that it was a fairly easy hike, and there was a fully paved trail Harvey and I decided to bring the old man.

After an extremely frustrating drive, a GPS that insisted that I enter the park via a private drive and abruptly deposited me in the middle of nowhere with a cheery "You have reached your destination" despite the fact that I was somewhere between two residences with nowhere to park and no trail to hike, and poor Harvey crammed under the dashboard on the passenger's side so that our hundred-plus pound guest of honor could have the entire back seat to sing and dance and fret as he does in the car, we were finally there! (My frustration would increase 100fold upon leaving when I realized that were directly across the street from the Hublein Tower Trail. A trail with which I am very familiar and know a MUCH shorter route than that which my dear GPS selected for us!)

Our companions on this hike were Otis (a 9 year old Rottweiler/Malamute mix) and Affa (a 4 year old Border Collie mix). It was a good place to take the geriatric. Although he's pretty spry, he tends to overdo it and regret it later. Both of his ACLs were repaired when he was younger and he gets tired and sore pretty easily. We stuck to the paved road and it was about a half-hour hike to the picnic area.

There were several picnic tables set out in a grassy knoll near some buildings (we didn't check them out to see what they were, since time was a little tight) but we did stroll up the hill and take a water break by a pond and a nice pavilion with four tables inside. Grills were also available, although we didn't take advantage (Harvey is reluctant to carry his backpack as it is, I'm sure he would rebel if I added steaks to his load of water bottles!).

Several signs periodically remind you to leash your dog, but one of the two other dogs we encountered on our hike who was coming down from one of the unpaved trails was off-leash and the foot traffic on this particular day was pretty light. Affa enjoyed a romp off-leash in the picnic area while the boys rested.

We happened to pick the first nice day after days and days of rain to take our hike, so it was good that we chose a paved hike. The edges of the trail were a little squishy and there were lots of little streams and puddles for the dogs to try to drink from. Everything was green and beautiful though!

The one complaint that the dogs had was that the big beautiful swimming pond we passed was definitely off limits. It took Harvey quite a while to come to terms with this.

Overall I really liked Penwood Park. It was the perfect choice for the day. I definitely plan to come back on a day where I'm not limited by time constraints and the ability of my hiking companions and explore the other trails to see what else Penwood Park has to offer!