We attended the New England Golden Jubilee at Dog Mountain!!!!  BEST WEEKEND EVER!  Sorry for barking, I’m just really excited.  We experienced so many firsts this weekend!  First time staying in a hotel!  First time meeting over 100 Golden Retrievers in one place!  First time Asa met his biological Dad!!!  Our first visit to Dog Mountain, which is a dog paradise!!!  Where to begin to even tell you?  My mind is racing!  I haven’t slept in days!  Please bear with me and read this great post from 2015 about our first vacation with Asa that included many memorable moments.  In the meantime, I’ll collect my thoughts, and will share with you later this week all our exciting adventures at Dog Mountain!  *Yawn* But right now Asa and I are exhausted and really could use a nap.

“Don’t Lick My Toothbrush” and Other Traveling Tails (July 2015) 

Mom and Dad have a few days off from work.  Time to head to my Grandparents’ lake house for a vacation!  But before we head out, we need to pack.  Asa and I have become accustomed to certain creature comforts.  Therefore when we go on vacation it is like packing for a small army.  Amongst other things, we need our food, favorite toys, life vests, lots of towels, and treats.  We also need to make sure Mom and Dad pack plenty of water for us.  We don’t really need to bring water.  The water there is fine.  This is actually a hold over from Lemmy who refused to drink anything except our water from home.  But don’t tell my parents’ that.  It is nice to have traditions!

Vacations are a great time for family bonding!  By living in close quarters we get to learn new things about each other.  For example, Mom doesn’t like sharing.  I’m not sure why she got so upset when I licked her toothbrush.  I’d gladly share mine with her if she needed it.  Also we learned that Dad snores…rather loudly.  I’m pretty sure poor Mom has never had a decent night’s sleep.  However, I discovered that a lick to the face would rouse him from even the deepest slumber.  Wonder why Mom just doesn’t do that?  These close living conditions also gave my parents the opportunity to enjoy more quality time with Asa.  For months I’ve been telling them that Asa only sleeps in ten minute intervals before waking recharged and ready to play.  I’m so glad Mom and Dad packed his favorite squeaky toys so they wouldn’t sleep through this phenomenon.  I have to say though, so far the best part of going on vacation is discovering new things.  Like the fact our barks echo across the lake!  It was very nice that at 6:00 AM our neighbor on the opposite side of the lake was outside waving at us!

This was Asa’s first time at the lake, and as a good big brother I was prepared to teach him how to swim.  When I was a little scamp Lemmy wasn’t exactly a good teacher.  Ok, he was awful!  Lemmy was a bit of curmudgeon and wasn’t good at explaining things, so instead he knocked me off the dock into the water and expected me to swim beside him.  Well I would have none of that, and tried to save myself by climbing on his back.  Needless to say it wasn’t an easy lesson.  But with time I became a great swimmer.  So I was determined to make Asa’s first swimming lesson as positive as possible.  After much consideration I developed a lesson plan that was designed around teaching by example.  This way he could watch how I do it, and then when he felt comfortable could slowly coax himself into the water.  There would be no falling off the dock in my lesson!

Well you can’t even begin to imagine my astonishment when Asa immediately followed me off the dock on my first dive, and swam alongside of me like he’s been doing it all his life!  Asa may be convinced that he is a Dire Wolf, but I’m going to call him Aqua Dog!  But please don’t tell him how impressed I am with his innate swimming skills.  He already has a bit of an ego about it.

[Editor’s Note: Thanks again on taking this stroll down memory lane with us on our first vacation with Asa.  Once we get a little sleep and sort through all our photos we’ll share with you our most recent adventure at the New England Golden Jubilee at Dog Mountain!  Oh and Chuck Billy wasn’t exaggerating, it really was the best weekend ever with Golden Retrievers as far as our eyes could see!]