Dog Camp June 2008

Over the weekend of June 27-29 we had another exceptional Maian Meadows Dog Camp at Camp Colman on Key Peninsula, WA. The weather was perfect, and we had a great group of people and dogs.

The only odd thing -for me - was that I didn't bring Maia and Meadow, the original inspirations for the camp. This was the first dog camp, in ten, that they weren't in attendance. They're getting older, less willing to play with other dogs, and Maia developed a fear of barking (of dogs she doesn't know) at last year's camp that she hasn't seemed to shake completely. Last year, I could barely coax her out of our cabin. And bringing just Meadow to camp would have been like punishment to Maia, left behind. It was a huge, sad dilemma, but ultimately I felt it was best to have someone stay with them at home.

I was able to enjoy everyone else's dogs, much more than I've been able to in the past, but I caught myself, at dinner the first night, starting to set aside some meat to take back to them in the cabin.


I just had to include these two photos of Whitey. He's a nine year old Aussie-Pyrenees mix. No tail. White, thick, fluffy fur. Big soulful brown eyes - very expressive. Usually expressing things like, "Are you serious?" and "All these young dogs move way too fast." And, "Can't I just have the treat, without having to play the stupid game?"

Maybe to cool off, or maybe to show his Mom, who brought him all the way from CA, that he's much too sophisticated for all this camp nonsense - for whatever reason, Whitey made of joke of his name by frequently gravitating to the one muddy spot at camp. Legs and belly were usually covered in muddy glop. He seemed serene about it, as did his Mom, who just laughed and made jokes at Whitey's expense. When it came time to give out gifts, I couldn't resist giving Whitey's Mom some dog shampoo.

In the first of the photos below, Frodo is sniffing Whitey as if to say, "Geez, Man, that's a really bad cologne. Don't come too close." The look on Frodo's face is priceless.

In the second photo, Whitey was banished to the back row - away from all people and dogs - while the rest of us enjoyed the giant swing.


Camp was, as always, a blast. Somehow we always get lucky with the weather. The location is perfect and we all enjoyed every aspect of it. Well, except for the bear (previous entry).