Traveling The World with my humans

My mistress got up very early again to keep an eye on everything and see what has to be done. Joyce was in the kitchen this morning. I don’t like getting up that early; my preferred time to get up is between 8.30 and 9.30 in the morning. Anything before that is cruel. My master did not get up as early as my mistress and I could sleep until he got up but it still was way before my wake up time. During breakfast the humans gathered in the garage where all the tables were set up and they talked about the brigade and that they were not very happy with what happened the day before and how Tim acts. Some of them were very angry, especially some of the crew from Sault Ste. Marie. They talked and decided that one of them had to tell Tim what they think and that they want to paddle because that’s what they came here for. It was hard for me to get along with all that aggression and anger and I could feel that my mistress felt the same way. After some discussion with Tim they decided to go t...

This morning my mistress got up at 4:45 am to make sure to be in the kitchen by 5 am and get the hot water started for coffee and prepare breakfast. She was alone in the kitchen until the helpers showed up and together they made sure everything was set up when the paddlers arrived to eat. Today they had pancakes and eggs and some left overs as well as the usual things. I stayed in the camper with my master because I love to follow my mistress but I would have been in the way and she does not like me being in the kitchen. The busses arrived at 7 am again and by then my master and I were awake and at the garage. Again it took a while for them to take off. My master and Marc went with the cars to the launch point to help them launch the canoes and bring the trailers back. The paddlers had to carry the canoes for a long distance this morning to bring them into the water. We were told to be in Cochrane at the boat launch at 1 pm to pick them up and the bus would be there too. After t...

My mistress had to get up very early today to prepare breakfast for the paddlers. Luckily my master and I had another 30 minutes to sleep before we had to get up. It was still way too early and I was very tired. When my mistress walked into the kitchen Holli was already there and took over to tell the helpers what needs to be done and prepared. Unfortunately she knew nothing about the groceries my mistress and Joyce made and the budget. So they used things that were not supposed to be for breakfast. My mistress walked away and let Holli do her thing. Instead my mistress took care of some other things and went back to the camper after a while as she had the feeling she wasn’t needed in the kitchen. A little while later she, my master and me went to have breakfast. Well, yes you are completely right; I did not get breakfast although I would have loved to. They had eggs, bacon, sausages, fruits, bread, jam, cereals and oatmeal. I love oatmeal and I think they could have kept some for me...

Today was arrival day for the paddlers. They all arrived during the day. Everyone could choose their own spot for their tent or camper. After they took care of that they came to the gazebo where my mistress has set up her computer and the t-shirts for the brigade with their nametags were ready to be handed out. I did not get a nametag, that’s not fair. I am part of the brigade too and I was told I could be in the canoe with my mistress. Everybody had to prove that they were capable of having fun and had to twist a balloon dog. Of course one of my humans showed them how to do it. Last minute Tim went to get some canoes from Camp Bickell. Marc was late in camp because his truck broke down and he had to repair it, so they went to get the canoes after the paddlers arrived. In the evening the humans had pickerel fry with salad and backed potatoes. The fish smelled very yummy and I would have loved to get some but I was not allowed to try it. There were 25 people on the property now....

These humans were very, very busy the last couple of days and they did not have time for me. They didn’t take me to the lake, they didn’t play with me and they did not cuddle me as they usually do. Instead they were running around and moving things from one place to the other. They told me they get ready for the True North Voyageur Brigade. Just wondering, when there is a True North, is there an Untrue North too? What does True North mean, where does it start? That language humans speak (I am talking about human language in general) is way too complicated. Dog language is way easier. Where was I, yes, the humans worked hard to prepare the property for the paddlers that were expected to arrive the next day. Some of them said they would come one day earlier, which means today. Joyce and my mistress decided to make Chili for those who come earlier to give them a warm welcome. I kind of like Chili, well at least the smell of it, as I never had a chance to try it. They keep telling me th...

Today was a bad day, at least for me. My humans went to a Powwow in Mattagami, ON. No pets are allowed there and although I am a service dog I had to stay at home. They put me in the Paddle Room and I had to stay there. No, I did not like that at all. In the afternoon I was tired of being there and just jumped out of the window and joined Tim and his dogs. A Powwow, never heard this word. What is it? According to Wikipedia a Powwow is a social gathering hold by Native People. They meet and dance and often have competitions. Wikipedia says the name Pow Wow “is derived from the Narragansett word powwow, meaning “spiritual leader”. “ Does not sound too interesting to me but my humans were all excited about that. Again they put on that bright orange brigade shirt. Joyce was with them and they wanted to do some groceries on their way. Later my mistress told me all about the Powwow. A lot of the Native People were dressed in colorful clothes with beats and feathers. There are different...

Today Joyce arrived. She is part of the Brigade and responsible of all that medical stuff. But she did not come on her own; she brought her cats with her. Well, I know what a cat is as Bandit the cat lives in the house of our friend Ken in Nevada. Bandit wasn’t to keen on dogs and he chased me around in the backyard a couple of times, hissing at me and trying to scratch me with his nails. And now two of them? I am not really don’t know if the cats will be happy with all the dogs around. Sally and Silver have never seen a cat in their life and they do not know how dangerous they can be. I need to warn them. On the other hand Silver and Sally chase chipmunks, mice, rabbits and whatever is on the property. They might even chase a coyote or a bear I am just not sure if they would survive that. Nevertheless I have to warn them about cats in general. These two might be friendly, especially as one of them only has three legs. I need to find out more about them soon. Maybe I’ll get the chan...

Yesterday Tim had to empty his freezer because the fish for the Pickerel Fry on the arrival day of the True North Voyageur Brigade needs to be picked up and put in the freezer. He had a moose liver in his freezer and my master wanted to try that and he said he would take care of it and cook it along with onions and apples. My mistress is not very keen on things like that. Me personally, I think it smelled very good when it was raw. The liver was a huge piece of meat, well yeah, a moose is big. Do you want to hear the story of that liver? I will tell you anyways. Tim was in a car with a friend heading towards Timmins and they could see that obviously somebody hit a moose. But all that was left was the liver. Tim made his friend stop the car and Tim grabbed a plastic bag and took the liver. At home he cleaned it and froze it. So now my master is cooking it. He and some more people had it for dinner and they said it tasted very good. Did I tell you it was a huge piece of meat? Too bad f...

Today my humans loaded the van and we went to Cochrane. Holli accompanied us. I told you my humans are part of that True North Voyageur Brigade and they wanted to promote this at the Summerfest in Cochrane. They also wanted to make balloons. They all had this bright orange brigade t-shirt on. I personally think they look like buoys. Our van had some issues this morning. It has been raining and as our van is used to the desert it is not used to that much rain and humidity. The van just stopped running a couple of times, the engine stopped. At the gas station my master found out what the reason for that was. There was water sitting on the battery and every time we went over a bump (oh there is plenty of bumps on the streets here) there was a short and the engine turned off and would not start again. After my master fixed this, the van was fine and we made it to Cochrane. There was no time for breakfast before we left and my mistress gets grumpy if she does not get at least a cup of ho...

I need to apologize for not blogging for a long time. These dogs Sally and Silver, they have been in heat again and I just could not think straight. This time I had not only to deal with Sally and Silver but I had to make sure Diesel and Snoop Dog stayed away from them. Ice Cube is not old enough yet. Oh man, I tell you, that really was a lot to take care of. Also I had to try to escape from my humans to do all this. They kept me on the leash most of the time because Tim doesn’t want little puppies. Puppies with Silver and/or Sally would look so cute, I am sure. But it looks like that’s not going to happen because I missed it this time. There might be puppies with Silver or Sally and Diesel as he was after them all the time. Yes and than there is Lady. Lady is Leonce’s new dog. She is only three month old and loves playing with me. The thing is, she is young and has a lot of energy. She is jumping around me all the time, trying to play with me and she is pinching me. Did you ever ...

I kept this a secret for a while but I think I need to tell you about this incident. It happened in summer 2017 while we were at our friend’s house in Pahrump, NV. My humans took me for a walk in the evening this day and as usual we walked around the block. A couple of days before some new neighbors moved into the house across the street. With them their two dogs moved in, a small one and a big one. The property does not have a fence and the dogs where not tied to a leash or in a kennel. As far as I could see they stayed on the property. I don’t know how they knew where the property ended but I think their humans might have told them. Everything was fine until we were almost home. The women of the property next to our friend’s house talked to my humans for a couple of minutes. While they did that I was on the leash and waited patiently. The dogs of that new neighbor left the property and came across the street to say hi to me. While I am on the leash I can’t use my full body lang...