The Curious Incident of the Dirty Dog (December 6, 2014)

Today, I walked past the dog and he was intently staring out the window. He looked like he was deep in thought (although I am sure he was just wondering where his ball went). With the cold weather and rain just settling in these past couple of weeks, I caught myself reminiscing about the warmer days of summer. Particularly about the dog. In the summer, we generally spend a lot more time walking around outside but he is limited to just a few short walks a day through the winter.


A fond memory that popped into mind was early in July, when we decided that our Dog Boke (pronounced Ball-keh), an Australian Blue Heeler, is in dire need of a bath. But just a bath is not fun for anyone so we thought it was a good opportunity to take him out for a swim and a hike. We chose Buntzen Lake in Anmore for its close proximity to our home and also for the natural beauty that surrounds it. They also have a great off-leash area for dogs and easy trails that we specifically went for.

The walk up to the dog park involves a nice short hike, which it is always refreshing to feel the breeze through the branches of the shaded path on a hot sunny day. I recall that this particular day was in the low to mid 30s as I already shed my shirt a few minutes into the hike.

The dog park was crowded this day, filled with over 20 canines and many more of their 2 legged companions. Boke saw the water and was a bit worried at first but soon he was chasing other dogs and out swimming on his own. As he is obsessed with balls, he can't help but go out and retrieve it even though he doesn't swim often. It is pretty funny to remember that he lunges up before going into the water.

Our beloved furball was having the time of his life, until his eventual bath of course. Maybe that is what he was deep in thought about too.