Yup, you remember correctly: Vermont — the place where Kemba cut his paw wide open in mid-November, forcing him to the D.L. for an entire month. But Vermont is also, for a
cold-weather dog who hails from Nova Scotia, a little slice of doggy heaven. And as they say, you gotta get right back on the horse. So on Christmas day, to Vermont we went. And stayed for 10 days. And Kemba loved every minute of it.
Cold, cold water: Kemba put another notch on his tail, conquering a new large body of water. We drove up to
Burlington on a non-ski day, and as we got within sniffing distance of Waterfront Park, Kemba started shaking with excitement and dragging me lake-ward as I tried desperately to hold on to his leash. Within seconds he was retrieving tennis balls in the water, looking as if he just might paddle all the
way to Quebec. In the process, he added Lake Champlain to his list of “majors,” along with the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Lake Michigan, and Lake Erie. Over the course of the 10 days, he also scored his water fix at Hapgood Pond in Peru (twice), Equinox Pond in Manchester (twice), and Grafton Pond in Grafton.
His nephew Ruckus:
Did I not already tell you? The Ruckster came up to visit Tuesday through Sunday! (He brought Greg and Kelly with him.) And though the two dogs have their different styles (Kemba, obviously, likes to swim while Ruckus would
rather dance on the shoreline; Kemba likes to fetch while Ruckus prefers keep-away; Kemba likes to hike while Ruckus is more about “exploring”), they were inseparable. Given their druthers, they would have wrestled 24/7, but Greg and Kelly, as diligent new “parents,” saw fit to step in and break them up periodically. (Beagle Man tends to take a more “Darwinian”
approach.) But it was clear there were never any hard feelings between uncle and nephew: Just take a look at the two pups cuddling after a Hapgood Pond hike (photo right).
Club Glendon Hills: The Gilbertos, to our right, have
Watson the Kerry Blue
Terrier. The Delaneys, just across the way, have Lola the Something-Something-Teensy-Dog. Denise and Rob, directly behind us and through the woods, have Cody the Golden and Zeppelin the adorable little 10-week-old Husky pup furball. Throw Kemba and Ruckus into the mix. They meet in front of our house several times a day and all go
nuts together.
Next up on my boy’s busy social schedule? He’ll be getting a visit here in Westport this Sunday from his Cousin Bruce! No new body of water to explore, but if I know my Duck Dog, he’ll be hauling his cuz off to his local fave, Lake Mohegan, for a polar bear plunge.
LOOK FOR A NEW BEAGLE MAN POST EVERY THURSDAY. OR PRETTY CLOSE TO THURSDAY. COULD BE WEDNESDAY. OR FRIDAY. LET’S NOT GET TOO OBSESSIVE HERE . . . OH, AND BTW, YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER, AND INSTAGRAM.
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