Walking on the road...

We had a warm and  glorious afternoon, after a very cool morning... perfect walking weather. When I came back from errands in town, I thought it would be a great idea to take Savannah on a long walk along the road, going towards the main highway. The first time I did this with Savannah, she was curious along the way, watching the livestock in the neighbors' pastures, trying to play with Diablo (a neighbor's horse), and she seemed to like taking a walk that was out of our ordinary routine.

We started off just fine... down our hill, a right at the corner, and off we went along the winding road. At one of the first houses we passed, the neighbor and her son were putting up Christmas lights along their fence line. Savannah has seen this neighbor lady before, but has never met the son. (He lives in Alaska and comes to visit his mother once or twice a year.) Savannah took one look at the son (while the lady was saying "Why hello Savannah, don't you look sweet today!") and all Savannah wanted to do was go back down that road towards home. Still, after three months with us, this puppy has a very hard time with men. She doesn't like them, plain and simple. Savannah paid no attention to the woman, and just wanted to get away from the son.

So there I was in the middle of the road, Savannah is trying to pull me towards home, the neighbor is telling me "Don't worry... we'll see you on your way back." and I'm apologizing to her son for Savannah's bad manners. I just about had Savannah's leash wrapped around my waist, trying to keep her from pulling me towards home. This is one strong puppy wrapped up in all of that pretty fur, and her fluffy tri-colored tail seems to weigh as much as one of her legs.

On we went.... past Diablo's pasture, and this time Savannah didn't want any part of that horse. Diablo came right up to the gate and gave Savannah a hoof-in-the-dirt greeting, but Savannah just kept on walking. Fine. At least she was walking in the direction I wanted to go.

We got to the next neighbor's property and their two dogs started to bark... that particular house is way up a long driveway and the dogs are in a fenced enclosure by the side of the house. Savannah heard that barking and she again turned herself around and wanted to go home. No way. I pulled her leash tighter and kept on walking, with my leash-holding hand behind me and Savannah trying to make me turn around and head back home. When she realized I wasn't about to do that, she started walking more easily with me.

Two properties up... and there were two little dogs there in the yard, barking at Savannah. Again, she turned right around and wanted to go home. I kept walking, with my left hand behind me holding tight onto that leash of hers, telling her we were not stopping till we got to the little creek. Of course she had no idea what I was talking about but at least she stopped trying to pull me home. We got to that creek and I made her sit down on the road and I told her "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?!"  (I was exhausted from pulling her leash while she pulled the other way, but Savannah seemed just fine.) This puppy sat there and looked at me, and then got up and turned towards home. And so did I... we had gotten to the creek, which is nearly up to the main highway, so she walked further today than she did the first time I took her for an extra-long walk.

On the way towards home, Savannah seemed more relaxed, and she was more curious than cautious. She was walking in the grass and smelling every blessed little thing... and heaven only knows what sort of wildlife is out there along that road at night so she had plenty to smell along the way. When we got to those properties with the dogs in the yards, Savannah didn't pull me along... she must have realized that we were headed towards home and she didn't even miss a step when the dogs started barking at us.

The neighbors were still putting up their Christmas lights on their fence when we got by that house, and Savannah once again tried to pull me towards home, but I held fast to that leash and made her wait until I talked to them for a couple of minutes. (A couple of minutes? No.... it was more like a couple of sentences.)

Savannah is too cautious at times for her own good... and at other times, she's too protective (if there is such a thing). Cindy was here this morning and Savannah seemed to be fine when Cindy first walked in the back door, but after a while Cindy walked into the kitchen and I was in the breakfast room with Savannah and you would have thought there was a serial killer in the house... Savannah started her roaring-bark and moved towards Cindy as if she'd never seen her in all of her puppy life. Cindy is here every week.... Savannah clearly knows who she is.... yet if I'm sitting in my chair in the breakfast room and Savannah is near me, she feels as if everyone and everything is a threat to me. (She has done the same roaring-bark to my husband when he walks into the kitchen and I'm in the breakfast room.)

I have no idea what's in this puppy's mind. At times she is the sweetest old soul and you just want to hug her to pieces... and other times she acts like a lone wolf whose mission is to protect the settlers from war-ravaging Indians. I just don't get it. Hopefully, she will out-grow this behavior. And hopefully, my leash-holding left hand and arm won't be stretched out and become much longer than my right arm.