Thankful to be Home
Our human family members spent the week of Thanksgiving in Tennessee. Cabana went to stay with some friends of ours, where she got to hang out with two chihuahua mixes, Scooter and Maggie. Cabana had a great time with them.
Cabana got a good report from our friends, and they taught Cabana how to catch treats in the air! It's pretty nice to come home to a dog that's even more trained than when you left.
In Tennessee, as probably in most parts of the world that are more rural than the Bay area of California, dogs don't seem as fortunate as the ones I'm used to seeing. When I went for walks in the morning there, I saw dozens of unfenced, unleashed dogs, hanging out in front of their owners' homes. As I approached, they would bark at me like crazy, sometimes running up to me, trying to make sure I wasn't going to enter their territories. I did my best to avoid eye contact, mind my own business, and continue walking along on the street. A few times, though, I did turn around when a dog got too close, barking at my heels, and tell them to knock it off and leave me alone. Good thing they did what I asked because I don't really know what I would have done if they threatened me further. 
It made me sad to see so many unsocialized dogs, dirty and scared. This dog behind the fence barked ferociously, even though his face is so sweet. His skin was covered with little nicks, maybe from scratching fleas or mange. He looked like he had LOTS of health problems. So, so sad.
The dog below barked at me for a good 5 minutes straight and was one of the ones I had to turn around and shush. But later that day, she ended up on my mother-in-law's front lawn. She kept barking at us and was skittish, but when we picked up a stick and threw it for her, she eagerly ran after it. We had made a friend! She didn't really want to be petted, but she loved playing fetch and would hang around for as long as we'd play with her. It turns out this dog is a stray that goes from house to house, getting fed and played with by the neighborhood kids. My daughters thought she was great and wanted to bring her back home to CA with us. It was a nice thought, but not too realistic!
I'm so thankful to be home and thankful to have Cabana back. We went for our walk this morning, stopping to play at the dog park--ahh, nice to get back into our daily routine. I'd say Cabana is pretty darn thankful to have us, too!
