Saba, Swimming and Slate

Maeby got to visit another canine cousin over labor day weekend. We went up to the Finger Lakes where my brother and sister-in-law live. Her cousin Saba is 11 years old and has just one good leg - she has two torn ACL's and an injured front leg from jumping out a second story window to get away from the noise of fireworks over the Fourth of July -- as such, she didn't seem to enjoy having a young whipper-snapper running around her territory and chasing her tennis balls, but there wasn't much she could do. They did have words though when Maeby landed on Saba as she was trying to catch a ball, there was much growling and snapping, but no blood was drawn and we got them separated. Most of the time they were cordial to each other. 

A little info about Saba. 

Saba is a rescue dog, we're not sure exactly what her heritage is, but she looks kind of like a tall Corgy. She is named after the Dutch Caribbean Island and is a allergic to most dairy and meats, so she eats vegetarian dog food. She is a really smart dog who used to take care of  a cockatiel (that's a bird, not a bluish green cocker spaniel), until she passed away -- her duties included waking the bird, Dulce, up in the morning by removing the blanket on the cage and watching her intently when she was out of the cage. 

Maeby also has a feline cousin who lives with Saba, Chico, but he stayed away from Maeby, they met once, but only long enough to sniff each other, then Chico took off into the garage.

Some Pictures of Maeby and Saba being cordial with one another:

Maeby decided to give Saba's vegetarian lifestyle a try and had her first taste of corn on the cob.

Maeby taunted Saba for a little while by running circles around her. Saba just growled and tried to snap at her, but was always a bit too slow.

Maeby also got to go down to the lake for some kayaking and swimming

Here she is checking out the water

Most of the time she just seemed a bit wary of our kayaking skills. She always thought the other kayak would be safer. 

Action Shot!!!

Then on another day we took a hike up a nearby gorge. It was a beautiful hike and the slate stream bed was amazing. Then we walked back along fields of corn, alfalfa and soy. 

Maeby trying to get dry - it was a losing battle

Maeby looking out contemplatively (is that word) over the fields of green

In this one I think Maeby looks like a frog. Her legs are too short to be able to run through the alfalfa, so she had to take a series of leaps to get through the field. In real life she looked more like a bounding deer, but this one is all frog - or maybe toad.

Cousins!

For the 4th of July weekend Maeby got go down to South Carolina to visit her cousins for the first time. She has plenty of human cousins, most of whom she has met already, but only two dog cousins and these are the two that she got to visit.

This is Weezer. He's a tiger striped labrador mix.

And this is Blink, she's blueberry tongue labrador mix.

They are great dogs and they immediately accepted Maeby into the pack -- well after the expected initiation process:

Maeby absolutely loved their huge house and the private dog park (backyard) something she doesn't have, being an apartment dog, and she quickly learned how to use the dog door to get to the private dog park, even though the door was designed for big dogs and she had to jump to get through (sorry no pics).

They also had fun going for a walk around the neighborhood despite the extreme Southern heat.

Overall it was a great holiday weekend, and Maeby was sad to have to leave them. Maybe we'll head down when Weezer and Blink welcome a human sibling into their pack at the end of the month.