Great Falls with Kelli

On Saturday, my friend Kelli came with Bennie and I to Great Falls. We walked to each overlook then hiked the trail for a bit.

Bennie checking out the rapids



Kelli and Bennie on overlook 3



An exhausted Bennie

Dog Beach with Gisele

On Saturday, my friend Gisele came with Bennie, Violet and I to the dog beach. It was super-helpful having her along. I felt Gisele needed to experience the intensity of two bouncy, hyper dogs pulling us down to the beach.



Gisele and Bennie checking out the Chesapeake Bay





Me with the two pups

Violet Visits

My friend Emily had to travel on Friday night so I took her dog Violet for the evening. Bennie and Violet had lots of fun wrestling and chewing on bully sticks.

Here are the two pups, happily chewing away...





Check out the size of this bone!



Sharing a water break



Playing a little tug o' war



Wrestling buddies

Best Friend, Shane, Visits

My friend Stephanie and her puppy Shane came to visit on Thursday. They had a ton of fun wrestling and playing with all of Bennie’s toys. Shane pulled several toys out and liked Bennie’s blue puppy bone so much I couldn’t help but let him take it home.



This photo makes me laugh. It looks like a super-vicious fight, but they were actually very gentle with each other.



Shane looking through the toy box



Shane found the kong Bennie rarely plays with (unless there's a tasty treat inside)...



Here is Shane chomping away on the little, blue bone.

Great Falls National Park: VA Side

Last week I had lunch with a friend who mentioned a place called Great Falls National Park. I have lived in the D.C. area for over six years now and until this weekend I could not imagine a place this awesome exists so close to the metro area. It’s a section of the Potomac River where the water picks up speed as it flows down over jagged rocks. The River then flows through Mather Gorge. There are several areas, uniquely called Overlook 1, Overlook 2 and Overlook 3, where you can look out over the gorge and the rapids.

On Saturday we went with my friend Stephanie and her dog Shane to check it out. Shane looks a lot like Tramp from Lady and the Tramp. Unfortunately, neither of us remembered to bring a camera so I can’t prove that just yet. I’ll snap a photo of him the next time we go. With Stephanie and Shane, we walked on a path that looked over the rapids and the gorge. Because we had so much fun Saturday, Bennie and I went back on Sunday evening. We walked in the opposite direction on Sunday. It was amazing how quickly the Potomac goes from quiet, serene waters to treacherous, rough rapids. Here are some photos of Bennie from Sunday.









He was exhausted by Sunday night and fell asleep while chewing on his duck.

Yet Another New Toy

Every time I go to the pet store to pick up a bully stick or Bennie’s food or a new leash, etc. I am very careful to stay away from the toy aisle because I know I’ll end up leaving with something new. However, any time Bennie tags along, it’s a completely different story. He takes me straight to the toy aisle and you know the sales team displays the toys at dog height specifically to get you.

So, this weekend when we ran out of bully sticks, I let Bennie come along to the store. This is the latest toy Bennie picked out. It’s awesome for tug of war and he loves when I put another ball inside it. I’m just glad it wasn’t another furry toy. I can’t listen to him rip the hair off another stuffed animal. That squeaky, teeth rubbing on faux fur-noise makes me shudder.

Dad/Papa Visits

Dad/Papa came to visit. We had a blast taking Bennie for walks and visiting the museums in Washington, D.C. On Monday we went to Annapolis and walked around the Naval Academy. We also took Bennie to Roosevelt Island for a walk.

Here are some photos of Dad/Papa’s visit.

Bennie and I at Roosevelt Island with a statue of Teddy Roosevelt behind us.



Dad and Bennie at Roosevelt Island.



Dad and Bennie on the bridge leading to the Island. Georgetown and parts of Georgetown University can be seen in the background.



Dad and Bennie bonding.

Is “Boy” Really the Right Word?

Story for the little boys. All Other can skip to the second paragraph…
Bennie went to the doctor on Wednesday. The doctor gave him a shot that made him very sleepy. He didn’t even get a sucker after his shot! When he woke up his tummy had a small owie. For two weeks he had to wear a funny looking hood around his neck so he couldn’t touch his tummy. Now, Bennie feels a lot better and gets to play at the park with all of his friends again!

Bennie was neutered on Wednesday. He generally loves going to the vet's office. The reception staff are very sweet to him and his vet is a very nice woman who doesn’t force a temperature reading on him if he’s not in the mood.

When we arrived at the vet’s office in the morning, Bennie sent me into panic mode when he jumped over me out of the car and ran through the parking lot to the vet’s door. When I caught up to him, I told him he’d better remember how eager he was to see the vet because I guaranteed him he wouldn’t be that excited the next time. I ended up eating my words, though. He was happy as a clam when I picked him up after the surgery and he still enjoys going to the vet's office.

It went very well and he’s recovered fast. I was actually surprised with how much energy he had when I picked him up. He bounced out of the vet’s office and probably could have gone for a four mile hike...

The vet placed some cool camouflage medical tape around his arm where the IV had been placed.



He also had to wear a cone for a couple of weeks. We started with a soft, flexible cone. He was able to circumvent it in one night though so I had to switch to a hard plastic cone. Here he is with the flexible cone.

Fighting it.





Giving in.









When Bennie crushed the soft cone, I decided to try a T-shirt. Unfortunately, his body was a bit too long. So I thought I’d try it on the other end. The T-shirt covered his stitches, but Bennie could still get his head under the T-shirt to lick his stomach. So I thought I’d double up and put on a front T-shirt and back T-shirt. I think it would have worked, but it looked awfully goofy. I decided to stick with the cone…



Modeling the new plastic cone.



Thankfully, the vet sent us home with some happy pills that, after about an hour, made Bennie super-drowsy. I’d give him one in the morning before leaving for work, and one in the evening before bed. Here are a couple photos I snapped after giving him his first happy pill. If you thought he was goofy before the pills, you should have seen him after...







A photo after about a week's worth of recovery. It’s like nothing happened.

Roosevelt Island with Bennie's Valentine

Bennie and I met up with my friend Lesli, her husband Gary, and their pup, Valentine (Val for short). Though Val has a few years on Bennie, she likes to run and play with him as though she were a 6 month old puppy. Here are some photos of the fun they had at Roosevelt Island.

Bennie and Val



Bennie at his happiest: with a stick.



Bennie and I (it was really chilly)...





Lesli and Val





Bennie loaded in the car and ready for a nap.

Fishy Fishy in the Sea…

Bennie is officially a swimmer. He spent three minutes at the dog beach pretending to be afraid of the water then surprised me by jumping right in. I couldn’t keep him out of the water after that! He swam and swam and swam. He chased every stick I threw. He even jumped in for sticks I didn’t throw. Now, I just need to get him to retrieve his water toys.

Here are few photos of Bennie chasing sticks.



Of course, he found a bigger stick he preferred to play with...



Then he decided it was better to play with both sticks...



Waiting for me to get my act together and toss another stick (You can really see what a skinny-ninny he is and how long his tail is in this picture)...



Drying off and taking a breather (FYI, his breather lasted about 10 seconds)...





My friend Ellen and her puppy Freddy drove to the beach with us. While Ellen spent the ride in the car trying to stop Bennie from jumping into the front seat with her, Freddy slept like a little champ behind my seat.

Here's a nice photo of Ellen and Freddy



Ellen trying to get Freddy used to the water



YAY! SUCCESS! Pretty soon, Bennie will be fighting Freddy for his sticks...




Here is some video of Bennie. The first video is cute because he’s getting his bearings in the water. His stroke is a little choppy…



Look at the little pro in action!