Playful Paws lead me to Bootcamp

Well folks, laugh you may, but tonight I am off to Bootcamp.  I consider this my one good turn of the day directed solely at the soon to be Mrs Baker.... and how did I end up having a friday night date with Bootcamp?  Well, I can simply thank my best 4-pawed pal Jozy.

A lot has changed this week other than the obvious new home, new surroundings.  I have been rigidly taking our sweet pup Jozy out every day.  We live on the top of a hill - like a fort.  Every which direction you look in, there presents a great excercise challenge.  Should you go down the hill once in the day on foot, you will inevitably have to climb your way back up it to get home.  Well may it last, but I have actually taken this as a challenge this week and not chosen to stay home lazily, knowing that leaving is not worth the coming back.  So, down the back of our house, you come to a river.  Over the bridge, take a right and you are at a beautifully big, dog-perfect green.  It stands side by side with the river for about a half mile, then there's a bit of forest, then a small housing estate, and then..... you reach the canal.  What's amazing about Leixlip is the amount of water.  As you walk up and down the hills, you glimpse different parts of the waterways and the best part is that they are all accessible and make for great walks.  There is one part where all three water ways meet - the canal at a slightly higher elevation running it's perfectly straight course, the river at the back of our house meeting it a little lower and then on the far side, a drop, and yet another river, joined to the canal by an off-shoot waterfall.

Now, we really couldn't have picked (though technically I had no idea how much there was here) a better spot for our water-loving Lab.  Upon returning from such great territory, swimming, running and playing with other dogs, it's off to the bath tub for a quick hose-off (since we unfortunately do not have access to an outside tap) and then straight to the preferred downward dog position - taking up 3/4 of our 3 seater couch.....typically looking in sequence like this:

As to what else has happened on walks this week, all I can say is that having a dog is a great way to make friends.  I have had some great conversations with other owners and I believe Jozy has been initiated into the 8:30 am walkers club and the 9:30am walkers club.  She has also met the others dogs in our complex and is in love with the other 2 golden labs.  As a result, I have been invited to Tuesday night soccer, Monday and Friday night bootcamps, had coffee in another dog-walkers house, and been invited to a girls night with our neighbours.  Way to go Jozy.  In specifics, Jozy has a new best friend - Maggie, who is a small terrier mix, the exact same age, and can run faster than her.... perfect for Jozy's attempted domineering.  It is maggie's owner who has me roped into Bootcamp and how could I say no... with another Baker wedding looming and a lake holiday with the Limpachs only a few months off...well, there's no time like the present.

As for now, I'd better get started on the chaos of the upstairs.  I will soon have photos and videos to share.