Sleeping in the Park

This experience is AMAZING. Never did I know, through all my years of loving animals, just how soft and warm you can feel when looking at a sleeping puppy, and knowing that when she wakes the first thing she will look for is you.

Daniel and I went to the park today, in the sunny early afternoon. After about an hour of sniffing around, chewing yummy sticks and playing funny command learning games (mainly consisting of finding Daniel or me running off somewhere, setting chase, hearing "come Leia, COME!" and getting candy) Leia was exhausted. We brought water, of course, and after drinking a bit it was time to collapse in the sun.

We had a towel for her, but it was much nicer to sleep on Daniels jacket. Notice his reading material.

Having a relaxed moment in the spring sun.

After a while I sat down, and Leia decided that my lap was an ever comfier resting spot than Daniels jacket.

Ah, be still my heart! Leia slept like a baby (which she is) for almost an hour here.

We tried to wake her up (notice my hand on her tummy) because we needed to get back home and wanted her to wake up and preferably go to the bathroom again before we got back inside.

But the moment I stopped rubbing her belly, this happened:

I'm a novice at this, but I would say that this is not a puppy with trust issues :) It can be hard to see in the picture (click it for a bigger version) but Leia is fast asleep on my knees, again.

We carried her to the spot nearer our home which is her designated "quick potty" area and Daniel went home because he needed to "go potty" too :) Leia and I spent another 30 minutes or so there, but no sign of any need to go, so finally I gave up and brought her home.

This time around we walked the whole way home (well, its only about 100 yards) along the very well populated road. We live on one of Gothenburgs busiest streets (people, not so much traffic) and with a lot of patience, love and attention (and tiiiime!) Leia walked all the way home. That's another first! Go Leia!

When we were about to cross the street a tram came by, which scared her a LOT. She has never been on the ground when one passes before. I used a lot of calm energy and took the pack protector role by placing my body between her and the tram, paying her no attention at all but focusing on the tram, until it had passed. I'm hoping I'm sending the signals of "pack leader facing the danger and scaring it off" - but no way to know until the next tram comes by =)