We are now settled in at Lake Jennings campground in Lakeside, Calif.
Weekdays are fine, but the weekends are busy and filled with people who can’t follow rules – the big one being keeping their dogs on a leash.
I often hear, “but my dog is so friendly.” That’s all well and good, but my dog is not. Oh, she loves people. She thinks the world is filled with people who need to meet her and love on her. But don’t bring your dog with you.
Petra is a rescue and while I do know a little of her background no one knows why she simply does not like other dogs. But she doesn’t. Not even a little bit.
A few minutes ago a large dog, which looked like a great dane/lab mix, wandered into our campground. Petra went into attack mode. Or perhaps the other dog attacked Petra, I didn’t see. Since Petra is tied to the trailer I could yank her off and the other dog’s owners followed the sound of the fight and pulled their dog off (actually they used their shock collar).
Let me explain something here. A shock collar is all well and good, but you have to watch your dog ALL THE TIME to make certain they don’t wander off.
I know they felt badly about it, as they immediately came back to apologize and make certain Petra was not injured. The woman kept asking if Petra was OK, and I kept asking if her dog was OK. We canceled one another out, I suppose.
Then the husband came over and asked to pet Petra. I know he was looking for injuries. Or maybe he was checking her collar to make certain she was up-to-date on her rabies shots (she is). While he was loving on her their dog came back to see what “Dad” was doing. I just looked at the dog, said, “Nope, not happening,” and hauled Petra inside the trailer.
King sat quietly in his chair through all this. I’m fairly certain he was silently seething. I’m the type who always has to smooth things over. I’m debating going over to their campsite to make certain their dog is OK.
In the back of my mind I wonder if they are going to complain to the campground host. Reality is, their dog came onto our site. Our dog was under control. Reality also is we both could be invited to leave – all because someone couldn’t follow the rules and be responsible.
I have a friend who travels five months out of the year. They don’t stay in campgrounds – choosing to stay on Bureau of Land Management land (the original BLM) or dispersed camping at national parks. That means no hookups of any kind. King and I enjoy that form of camping as well. No people. No neighbors.
Even then we’d still keep Petra tied to the trailer or on a leash. In that instance it would be for her protection from the wildlife. We don’t do it often because these campsites are a long way from our daughter and that rather defeats the purpose of helping with her sons while she works.
Sometimes people are simply too peopley.
Play nice. Don’t kick sand in the sandbox. Tell your representatives to leave my social security alone.
