Monday, July 7, 2014

A sunbird's summer travels with humans

 Cheyenne is a sunbird if ever there was one.

She explained patiently that a sunbird is just like a snowbird, but in reverse. A Floridian who temporarily migrates north to avoid the sweltering summer heat.

Cheyenne will tell you, if you take the time to listen her, that humans are a dog's best friend.

As long as you take the time to train your humans just so, that is.  Cheyenne has done a stellar job with her humans.

She managed a road trip up to the much cooler northeast coast, where temps were, by some accounts, overcast and in the 50F's.  Just what a Golden Labrador Retriever yearns for as an escape from the stifling tropics.

In for a penny, in for a pound.  She figured a short hop across the border to the wild and chilly Great White North might be fun.  She seemed a little disappointed with the balmy weather she found in Beaconsfield.  She told me she was hoping for the Labrador-in-September kind of weather.

Sorry Cheyenne.  You're still too far south.

Fortunately we had the air conditioning going.

Initially Cheyenne thought she'd keep her humans company in the den.  After all, you don't want your humans worrying that they've been abandoned far from home.  But the carpeting proved just too damn hot for a golden lab, so Cheyenne picked a nice spot in the kitchen, in the shade of the table, on a nice cool ceramic tile floor.
Ahhhh!.... now that's the life.

That's not to say that she forgets about her humans' needs.  She made arrangements to take them out to Smoke Meat Pete's.
Some humans claim that the Montreal smoked meat at Pete's place is the best in all the world.

She told me candidly that she just doesn't see what humans see in that stuff, or how they can stand to eat it.  Oh well, whatever floats their boat.  Cheyenne is philosophical that way.  But she wasn't having any of it.  Yuck!

She picked a breezy spot in the shade on the veranda and was content to wait patiently and take in the view, and maybe take a little nap, while her humans ate their fill.
In the end, she had expectations.  Places to go, dogs to see, grass to sniff.  So she gathered up her humans Michael and Layne and coaxed them into the car.  It was too damn hot here anyway, she said.
She wasn't sure where she would head next.  Definitely back to Key West, but only later on, she said.  Who knows, in the meantime she told me she would likely bum around the Northeast for a while longer, looking for more of that nice cool weather she was after.  So long as her humans didn't get too cranky.

Sometimes even the best-trained ones can be unpredictable, she said.  Something about constantly stopping to chat with humans, and then all it takes is for a motorcycle or scooter to cross your path and well they get fixated on that, and it all goes south pretty quickly... what's a dog to do?

11 comments:

Trobairitz said...

Such a cute post. Great pic of Cheyenne too. I am glad Michael and Layne made it up to see you even if it was warmer than Cheyenne would like, I bet they had a chance to thaw a bit.

Unknown said...

Cheyenne:

you sure get around. I met you you back in 2010 in Bend, Oregon and it was hot there too but you were just a youngster back then.

enjoy your time in Canada. I also recognize that spot on the floor, it was just where I was sitting not long ago

bob
Riding the Wet Coast

Anonymous said...

Woof (oh hi Bob), woof (remember it well), arff-woof (Canada sucks, too hot), arfff (anyway come for a visit why don't you?), aaouuuunnggg (yawns), rrrrrrr-rrrrr-rrrrrr (snoring).

David Masse said...

Brandy, we thoroughly enjoyed the visit. We did our best to entertain in the short time available.

Cheyenne is very sweet.

Coop a.k.a. Coopdway said...

You might be surprised how happy and content I could be to just rub those ears and that cleft between those eyes.

Conchscooter said...

Cheyenne is like that. She plays the low key hard done by dog for strangers and as soon as she is out of sight she turns back into a demanding princess. Its hell.

David Masse said...

I can easily guess Doug. I put some wear and tear on that head myself.

David Masse said...

She didn't fool us. We can tell a spoiled pooch when we see one. Rarely one with such a fine disposition though.

VStar Lady said...

Too cute. Cheyenne - there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a princess!

David Masse said...

A Princess Pooch who has trained a human to do her bidding, and blogging too. Wait a minute... make that two humans. I just realized she did a guest post on the ScootCommute!

That's one smart dog.

Deb said...

It's a "ruff" life, but someone has to put up with it!

Good for you, Cheyenne! You're a doll!

*puppy hug*

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