It's been a long time since my last post and felt it was time for an update now that Surf is almost three years old. I don't know where the time has gone! Surf has matured into such a lovely young lady and I am thrilled with how she's recovered from her bad early experiences.
When we were at the beach for the 4th of July holiday, we had a situation that could have been awful. But it showed me just how far we'd come! We arrived at a soundside beach and we were the first ones there. I had only Surf with us as we were hanging out with my niece for the day and didn't want too much chaos. And Surf is Evelyn's favorite of all my dogs. She was still on leash right near me as we got settled. As we were setting up our chairs, tents, etc, another truck pulled in a few hundred feet from us. They opened the back of the truck and instantly a huge silver pit/lab mix bolted for Surf. He clearly had seen her from the car and was off like a shot towards us as soon as the door was opened. Thankfully, I was facing that direction so I saw him coming and had enough time to react. I got Surf behind me and held onto her leash with one hand and as the dog approached us, I was able to grab his collar with my other hand and hold him a few feet away from her. I yelled for his owner to come get him and he kept screaming "he's friendly and just wants to say hi". Well I yelled back that my dog did not want to say hi. And he got mad at me!
This is where things got interesting for me. This man walks over, clearly in no hurry to get his dog, and says to me that he didn't bring a leash for his dog as he's very friendly. I told him that my dog had been attacked numerous times by other dogs, and was not interested in interacting with his dog. He actually had the nerve to tell me I should just let her say hi, they'd be fine. Mind you, this dog was three times the size of Surf! And while he certainly didn't look like he had any malicious intent, I still wasn't going to trust him!!! The man finally grabbed his dog and walked off angry that he'd have to find something to secure his dog with. Who goes to a public beach without a leash???
The best part about it was that Surf was totally cool. She trusted that I had the situation handled and just sat behind me. I was so proud of her! It showed me just how far she's come in not only her own confidence, but also her trust in me. We spent the rest of our time on the beach showing off what a good dog she is, even without a leash on! Surf is starting to remind me a lot of Rival as he matured---the kind of dog who knows how to behave in different situations and always tries to do what I ask of her. Okay, except maybe when she's working sheep! But boy is she a darn good one!
