Ridin' the Rails

Barry, the dogs and I took a ride on the Downeast Scenic Railroad (http://www.downeastscenicrail.org/ride/) this morning. What fun that was. The rail's staff are all volunteers and very passionate about all things rail. It made me sad to think how much this part of life (railroads) has disappeared just during my lifetime.

And, I never knew it was as complex as it is. For example, I didn't know there was a pattern to the train whistle - two long, one short, one long equals crossing ahead. And, every mile along every railroad in the country was marked with a stone (granite, I think) pillar.

I remember reading somewhere that we should preserve the rail corridors for the time when we have a high speed rail system. But, alas, that isn't to be.

The dogs were amazingly good on the train. Spirit worked the crowd from her position under the picnic table. (Well behaved and 'owner restrained' dogs are allowed only in the open air car.) Spirit had been on our commuter rail; however, it was a totally new experience for Willow. We used classical conditioning to pair the loud noises with a yummy treat from Bark Harbor. Soon, all was well and Willow was laying under the table getting up only to play with the kids who wanted to pet her. It was a great experience.




This is Spirit having some fun, bonding time with her dad on the train.

Thanks to the volunteers. Highly recommend this slice of history. Dogs who aren't sound sensitive may enjoy the ride if they enjoy human attention and just like hanging out with their people.


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Location:Ellsworth, ME

Notes on taking five Goldens into Bar Harbor

We took all five dogs into Bar Harbor yesterday. Walking them around town led to several lessons:
1. For a lot of people seeing five quiet, well-behaved dogs walking together is a major event. Many, many asked us if we were a club. Many more felt it was a major 'event' - one worthy of photography! A number of folks wanted a picture of the dogs - some with the human in the picture, some just of the dogs. I was shocked. I guess we live in such a dog-centric world that this seemed unremarkable. Not so.
2. Thank goodness I've taught all the dogs good restaurant manners. We had five dogs at a table with four people and, aside from one deciding that he needed to stretch out, no one knew they were there.
3. My two Goldens are bilingual. They are fluent in Aussie! Having seen them around Goldens for a week it was so wonderful to watch them erupt into fluent Aussie when they met a family of three in town. All play and frolic from my guys.
4. Even if you have a good loose leash walk, taking water-loving Goldens on a walk along a path that is on a cliff above the ocean produces pulling on the leash. Enough said?


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Location:Green Lake, Maine