First Vacation with SSD Kindle

Guest post by Gwen Wenger

We had our first vacation with Kindle. We went to the beach for four days. She exceeded our expectations! She was on the floor of the backseat of the car for the two hour drive from my sister’s house to the beach. She slept. She did great!

Kindle was a little unsure of the room at first and was sniffing and investigating all over for the first half hour. After that, she reacted like she does when she gets home. She was content with the blankets, toys, and her family. She also did great on the three hour trip home, where she laid on the seat beside Emma. I realized that she works a LOT when we are on vacation because of how little time is spent in the room. She handled this beautifully! She followed cues and she was startled by NOTHING. She sat by the edge of the pool with one of us while Emma was in the pool with the other.

Kindle slept under tables beautifully at all the many restaurants and ice cream places we went. She greeted strangers appropriately. Our biggest concern was the actual beach. We took her out in the evening for the first time. The sand was cooler and there weren’t many people. She was so much to watch as the waves washed up. She did the sweetest thing. After experiencing the waves for five minutes, she turned around and ran up to Emma in the stroller, hopped into “lap” position, and licked Emma excitedly before running back to the waves. She was very clearly telling Emma ALL about it and wanted to share it with her. It was so sweet!

When we took Emma to the edge of the waves in her little beach chair, Kindle followed cues to stay with her girl. Needless to say, lots of people has smiles on their faces everywhere we went.

We also saw other dogs in some of our activities. Kindle was a bit distracted with one, but with more treating, she stayed on point. She had an opportunity to actually greet another dog and visit a little. She did great, and I was pleasantly surprised she kept going back and visiting Emma without being cued during the interaction.

Another favorite part for me was when Emma would come out of the pool and sit in a lounge chair. We would have Kindle jump up and block Emma by staying in a down position at the bottom of the lounger. Too cute and very helpful!

We went miniature golfing. Kindle stayed right with Emma’s stroller as we went from green to green. She was so cute! At one point, she nosed a ball toward the hole. It was Keith’s [Gwen’s husband]. She was bribed, I’m sure!

After returning to our room twice, we let Kindle show us where it was, and she went right to the door every time. We had lots of great elevator practice, too. She was taking some pretty serious naps under the table by the end of the trip. She was pooped!

Kindle also enjoyed her own cup of ice cream at Stewart’s Original Root Beer Eatery. Great trip and we should expect nothing less from Kindle. She is an amazing dog!

Read more about Emma and Kindle’s summer.

Gwen and Keith's daughter Emma is partnered with SSD Kindle. The Wengers have also volunteered with SSD as puppy sitters, and they recently whelped the "C" litter.