June has been busy. Last weekend we flew up to Washington to visit family and celebrate Michael's graduation from Hanford High School and also Columbia Basin Community College (with an AA). He's headed to WSU in the fall. We also had a chance to celebrate my Grandma's 75th birthday with a BBQ at my parents' house. Although very busy, it was nice to see everyone from both sides of our family in one weekend, and take in some refreshing Washington scenery.
Chris finished up his final exams this week, and I sent a batch of "graduating" toddlers on to preschool. The goodbye was extra meaningful, as I will be stepping out of the classroom and taking a new position as director of another child development center within the same company. I miss the kids already, but I'm excited to experience the management side of things, and be in charge of the day to day workings of a school with 20 regular employees and 100 kids.
This weekend was beautiful, sunny, and not too hot. Today we set off to a new destination with the pups: Fort Funston, San Francisco. I learned about this cool location from a the book "One Nation Under Dog," a gift from Courtney. Thanks Court! Of all the dog friendly places we've hiked or visited, this one was my favorite. The property is the site of an old fort with camouflaged gun batteries, and now functions as a HUGE, public park within the Golden Gate Parks Conservancy. The park is rife with amazing scenery and wonderful natural landscapes, including towering cliffs, 20 foot sand dunes, patches of forest and scrub pines, and a vast sandy beach that runs for miles, bordered on one side by crashing waves and rolling surf, and on the other by tall sea cliffs and rock formations which house nesting sites for several endangered seabird species. It was pretty awesome, for both us and the dogs. It was also fun to watch the hang gliders- dozens overhead at any moment, who use the park as a launch site and ride the winds and drafts along the cliffs.
Here is the website:
http://www.parksconservancy.org/visit/park.asp?park=42
The whole park (aside from a couple of nesting areas) is totally off leash, and today there were hundreds of canines, every shape and size imaginable, enjoying the beach and hiking the trails with their humans. Best of all- we had Luke completely off leash for the entire time we walked the beach, and much of the time we were on the trails. He stayed close, came back when we called, and was just a really, really good boy! Scout was awesome as usual.
I'm sure this seems trivial- but to us it was a huge milestone. I don't think we ever really addressed Luke's serious behavior issues and separation anxiety in the blog- but basically, when we rescued him he was a pretty screwed up little guy. This was thanks to his rough beginning- he had distemper as a puppy, no vet care, no training, was malnourished, lived for some period of time on the street, has bite scars on his face, and shows signs of not being treated so nicely by people. We have worked with a behaviorist that the SPCA connected us with (and fully funded. Thanks Yolo SPCA!), taken him to lots of dog classes, and patiently and extensively worked with Luke and exposed him to different situations in hopes that he could become a well-behaved and normal dog. He's been with us for nine months now- and I think it's safe to say that he's made it!
Where we once had a barking, spinning, anxious rascal who didn't know how to behave around other dogs or in our house, we now have a sweet boy who behaves himself and is able to be calm. When we adopted Luke we never envisioned how long the actual process of "rescuing" him would take. Watching him running on the beach, playing with the other dogs, having fun, and then turning on a dime to race back to us when we called his name, I felt like I was breathing a HUGE sigh of relief and thanks- it was such a rewarding day. He's still a rascal... (destroyed his 3rd gentle leader harness this week. chews them up so we can't make him wear them- pretty smart) but overall we are all a lot more happy and relaxed, and it finally feels like all of the hard work has paid off.
We're looking forward to two upcoming trips- a weekend in Carmel and Monterey with my side of the family, and a weekend in Cannon Beach, OR, with Chris's. Hooray for summer!
Scout is scouting
A hang glider (top left) soars over the dunes and waves
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