Daisy

This is Daisy.

She came to her people as a six week old puppy.  I'd never seen an Australian Shepherd puppy before...she looked pretty cute, much like a little bear with her bobbed tail.  The grandchildren were given the task of naming her..."Daisy" is a good dog name.

I take care of the trees and shrubs at Daisy's house in Medicine Hat so I'd often see her outside in the yard.  We quickly became buddies...she loved to play "fetch" and would literally jump through a hoop to retrieve a ball or other toy.  Once I learned that she needed to be taken care of for a few weeks while her people were on a cruise that winter I immediately volunteered for the job.  Soon after her second parvo shot Daisy was off to Nevada for the winter.

Move ahead a few months to late January of 2013.  We were having some harsh weather in southern Alberta at the time and I was getting a little concerned about my trip south. I don't care to travel during extreme winter conditions but then all of a sudden there was a short break and I was on my way.  There were some exciting winter driving conditions for the next few days but once I made it to Saint George, Utah I new the worst was over.

After a couple days of "reacquaintance" her people were on their way to Florida for a cruise and Daisy and I were on our own in Henderson, Nevada. We had a nice place to stay and there were a few dog parks nearby.  But...I easily get bored so I packed up the puppy and we were off on a road trip to southern California.

I'd never travelled with a puppy before but I quickly learned that it's best to stop every hour or so for a walk and a pee.  Daisy is great in the car...even though I had the air conditioner on most of the time she loved having the seat heater on.  She'd curl up and sleep on the warm seat for an hour and then she'd start to do that whistle-through-the-nose thing that dogs do.  That meant it was time for a pit stop.  We had a great time out on the road and she was just the best in hotels...no messes and no barking.

We saw a good chunk of Los Angeles (where they have the best food trucks in the world in my opinion) on the trip...Hollywood and the Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills and Bel Air and many other places that one just hears about.  It really is a different world on the southern California coast.  Having a puppy along for the trip helped to keep me "down to earth."  Daisy saw lots of things and traveled many miles before she was a year old. She was a lucky puppy...and I was lucky to be her guardian for the time.

Zoom ahead several years to the here and now...I still take her for walks when our schedules align.  And now she has a new roommate...a border collie puppy named Jesse.  They get along fine...and they both like to play "fetch."

The above photo of Daisy was taken on November 22, 2019 while we were on a walk through Police Point Park in Medicine Hat, Alberta.