Four More Sleeps Until Camp

Finding a place for Sebastian to stay while we are away has been a project in itself. After looking at a number of options we decided to send him to a dog camp in Grafton, Ontario for 16 days. He is being supervised by an incredible dog whisperer called Linda and will be living with her and anywhere from 3 to 8 other dogs. We had a trial visit in February to see if he had the skills necessary to stay with Linda and her pack of dogs and he passed the entrance requirements. We looked at other great kennels but most of them put each dog in a fenced in enclosure. Sebastian spent lots of time in this type of kennel while he was on death row in New Orleans, Louisiana so we did not want to consider a setting that might bring back bad memories that would complicate any emotional growth he has experienced since we adopted him in November. I am very excited for him as he needs to further develop his socialization skills and this will be a great opportunity for him to become more accepting of and sociable with other dogs. It is not close to our home but it is a good choice for him so the drive is worth it!

Linda has an incredible property in the countryside that provides a fenced in and wooded area for the visiting dogs to play and explore. She take them on long walks in the woods three times a day and sometimes goes on day trips to other interesting trails. When the dogs are not outside they live inside Linda's home with her. He will be in Heaven running through the forest and the mud!

Sebastian is packed and ready to go! All he needs is a bag of dog food and medical paperwork proving that he has had all of his inoculations. He may have a rough go of it at first as he can't take any chews or toys and he will not have a queen size bed or floor cushions to sleep on. Linda has beds and kennels for the dogs but it is a first come basis. If Sebastian wants to sleep on a cushion rather than the floor, he will have to hustle his butt and make claim to a cushion before another dog takes the one he wants.  

I drop Sebastian off for this great experience on Saturday the 13th, the day before we leave for Thailand and will phone Linda regularly on Skype to monitor his success. He will probably not even want to come home when I go to pick him up on May 2nd! Every morning and night I talk with him about making new friends and count down how many sleeps he has until he goes to camp! He seems excited! LOL!
I am sharing a photo album of Sebastian so I can practice the skills of importing photos off of a memory card and embedding the photos in a blog. Enjoy! The photosharing was easier than creating the page for my blog.