Church Retreat

This past weekend, Dante and I attended a retreat with my church.  It was a stretch for Dante to be in public all weekend.  I have a tendency to over-prepare as far as keeping him busy and making sure I have (tons) of toys to play with during breaks, but he did much better then I expected.  

Friday night was just one workshop, and Dante did well and slept through the whole thing.  Usually this is the time when he gets his walk (because it's so hot during the day), so I was expecting him to need a toy to stay occupied, but he was very good.

On Saturday morning, we arrived at the camp and our workshop was at picnic tables outside, and Dante did OK.  He kept trying to eat the ants and dirt on the ground, but I gave him a Nylabone, and that kept him occupied most of the time. 

After lunch (where he took up the WHOLE underneath the table) we had some free time.  And Dante got to go . . . SWIMMING!

When he first set foot on the sand, and saw the lake, I could see him thinking "OMG!  I know what I'm doing here!!!  This is the BEST day ever!"  He must have remembered swimming with Margo.  He.  Went.  Crazy.  

By the time I got his vest and gentle leader off, he was so excited and crazy that he almost pulled me over.  I can walk on my ankle, but balance is still not the best, so before I landed on my face, I decided it best to hand him over to my mom and stick with picture taking.

I'm starting to wonder if I'm ever gonna break his habit of carrying the leash.

 He insisted on holding onto his leash until we gave him a ball.  He was so cute!  When he first went in, he was swimming funny trying to keep his whole body up high.  It took him half an hour to swim normally.

He had to come out every 5 minutes to shake off and get everyone else wet:

After an hour or so, we decided to get him out so he could get cleaned up and dried off.  After Dante calmed down, he then got to go on his first boat.  He didn't want to get into the canoe at first, but some kibble fixed that and he had a fabulous time!

Dante doesn't "wind down," but goes a mile a minute until you physically make him lie down, and then he conks out cold.  He was out in less then a minute of getting inside.  Then he slept . . .

. . . And slept . . .

. . . And slept . . .

He's not technically sleeping here, but you get the idea ;-)

. . . For the rest of the afternoon and night.  Tired puppies are good puppies.  Dante was a very good puppy.

On Sunday, I don't think Dante had recovered from all that swimming, and he slept all morning during service and lunch afterwards.

Oh, and he also got a matching shirt like the rest of us.  I took off his vest and let him wear it because everyone knows him and I knew there wouldn't be a problem with him.

I had to take this picture at lunch on Sunday as proof that he CAN, in fact, curl up in a tight ball!

 Have I mentioned how much Dante LOVES everyone at church??  And they love him.  A little too much.  I noticed especially after this weekend that Dante is getting too distracted by people (my fault as much as his), so we are back to "no petting" for a while.  

Dante was so good all weekend.  At the stage he's in right now, his behavior is often hit or miss, so I am so glad he did well.  

And to end, here are a few pics that my sister took of us working: