Mommy and Roo Day

So, once a week, I try to do an activity with just Roofus and I - no other dogs are invited! The other two boys are in agility, so they get to hang out with Mom for a couple hours just by themselves once a week, not to mention all the time we spend practicing. Roofus doesn't really have a "thing," unless there's some special workshop I've signed him up for, so I like to have a time where we just do something enjoyable together without the other dogs.

Today we went to the local park (human park, not dog park). It stormed a lot yesterday, so I figured the creeks might be high enough to swim in for him. Well, they only came up to his chest since he's so large, LOL. But the first creek we went in, he flushed out a mama duck and her dozen or so babies. Roofus has taken herding classes, so I know he's okay with ducks. I let him practice herding (in the water!) for a little bit and then "that'll do," and we went on our way. Mama was getting a bit anxious because her kids were starting to get washed away downstream!

That was pretty much the norm for our time at the park. We'd do a half mile or so, then into another creek... At least half the time there were more ducks (though I did not let him bother baby ducks after his first time), so we practiced our "walk ups" and come with distractions. He did really well, though trying to herd, in a creek, on a 16 ft flexi leash is probably not ideal!

I got him back home, gave him a quickie bath, and he's happily snoozing on my bed now, no doubt dreaming of keeping those ducks all together in one bunch.