Making new friends

The more we walk in north Marquette, our neighborhood (also called the Swamp, which makes it sound worse than it is), the more we meet other dogs. There's Joey, who lives in this cool house with a cool color scheme and a pretty garden, which he might not notice. We met a pitbull named Becky today. Now I'm guessing on their name spellings, but that's irrelevant. We like making dog friends, although with Digby he's still a wild card. He still prefers big black dogs. Yesterday at Mattson Park we came across a Finnish laphund Digby seemed to like. However, the owner warned he was an unneutered male, so we kept our distance. No matter. That's one of the dogs' favorite walks. We will visit soon as weather permits. Walking dogs and watch sailboats is a good combination.

Getting used to the neighborhood

We have our tried-and-true routes in the neighborhood down pat. There's South on Van Evera, which brings us past a field by a wooded area where Digby and Susie Q can do their business. There's the Summit route, which takes us along one of my favorite streets in the 'hood (it's very shaded). There's the Tourist Park trek, which is for longer walks but winds through woods and ends at a lake. The Beach walk is for sunny days when Mama has a lot of energy. Susie particularly likes to frolic on the sand. I just have to keep Digby on a short rope when there are kids and younger dogs around. They still haven't gotten used to surf yet. I wish they'd understand breaking waves aren't necessaily fatal to a dog.