Sunday, July 19, 2009

Hot summer walks

Summer weather is here and we are all enjoying it to the max. Luckily for Louise, it doesn't really get scorching hot in Vancouver, at least not downtown. Even on the warmest of days we seem to be able to find a cool breeze, so she is still very enthused to go out on multiple walks.

Last Wednesday we were at work and I happened to be chatting with my niece Sarah. I said I would share some photos with her from our lunch walk and I did, and here is another one from that day. Now fast forward to the weekend and you see us down by the beach again. At this time of the year the Downtown areas are extra busy with tourists so we sometimes get a lot of questions. Louise is sometimes into it, enjoying the attention and at other times, just not wanting to be bothered. One can not really tell ahead of time how she will react at first but generally if she is having a good day, the whole day goes well.

I took the third photo over at the church next to our house. It has been for sale for a couple months now and the garden doesn't seem to be as closely groomed as before. Volunteers are still looking after things, but it is taking on a 'vacant' character. Louise prefers the new feel to the area as longer grass is something of a luxury for her. She's taking a good sniff of something I prefer to remain ignorant of in this photo, let's pretend she's smelling buttercups or something.

That brings us to the walk we took this evening, where we met this little girl and her family walking along the seawall at Coal Harbour. She noticed Louise back on Denman street, and we happened to be walking the same way so she had some time to get used to Louise. She was quietly watching from afar until just after this photo when I indicated to her papa that Louise was friendly and would be no trouble. He laughed and said 'she isn't', nodding toward his daughter.

She was very nervous when he told her (in Spanish) that she could pet Louise. With one little finger she cautiously touched Louise just above her tail so softly that Louise barely noticed. Louise has been, and is always, fantastic with children, be they timid or boisterous. She just stood relaxed and let the child have her encounter, careful not to do anything to startle her.

Yeah, we got a great dog. Nobody can tell me different.

1 comment:

Sandy said...

Who would even try!!! It is obvious every day that I look at her that you (and she) really lucked out when you found each other. I also enjoy the pictures of Vancouver--one of my favorite cities.