More "Firsts" with Kino

I mentioned in a previous post that Kino tends to get very over-excited the first time we do something.  In recent weeks, we have had two more "firsts" that results in the usual level of over exuberance and I couldn't stop smiling as I witnessed his reaction to these new experiences.

One new experience was when Kino and I had our first trip to the beach together.  I was so excited to take him to one of my most favorite places in the world and hoped he would like it as much as I do.  He started out a little tentative, just taking in all the new sights and smells, but as we walked along the ocean his exuberance to get away from the water began to escalate. Each time the tide came in, he bolted up the sand, nearly taking me down each time.  I finally got smart and put him on my left, so his over-exaggerated flee from the water didn't result in me going for an unexpected dip in the ocean.  I began to worry that maybe I had over-done it when I had my talk with him about how dangerous it is to drink sea water.  Since he seemed to be afraid of even letting the water touch his feet, chances are I laid it on too thick.  No matter how many times I tried explaining to him that the water wouldn't hurt his feet, it didn't seem to matter.  He was determined to keep his feet dry the whole time we were there.

Since Kino doesn't consistently come when called, I was nervous about letting him off leash.  Therefore, I decided to walk really far down the beach to a deserted area where no one else was around.  I felt it would be safer to let him off leash to chase the ball down there and I was so glad I did because he was in absolute heaven.  In fact, when I first took his leash off, he ran around wildly in the sand, running and skidding with glee in his eyes for at least five minutes before I even got around to throwing the ball for him.  I think he was so excited to be free that he couldn't contain himself.  We spent a good hour chasing the ball and I giggled as I saw his reaction each time he got a mouth full of sand.  He would try getting the sand off the ball by dropping it, where it would just end up with even more sand on it.  He was perplexed but it didn't stop him from wanting to continue to play.

Our next "new experience" came when I decided to tackle a home improvement project and re-paint a room in my house.  While I was doing all the taping and the edging, Kino was perfectly well behaved, so once I finished that part, I thought it would be no big deal to start rolling the paint on the walls.  Boy did I have that one wrong.

Just as I had finished the first coat on one of the walls, Kino jumped up and excitedly started rubbing himself all over the freshly painted wall.  I was laughing so hard, I could barely get a convincing "No!" out of my mouth.  Unfortunately for me, he was so pleased with himself he went back to the wall, tail wagging, to rub himself on it again.  He was covered in paint.

I ran to the bathroom to wet a wash cloth so I could get the paint off his flanks as quickly as possible.  I was relieved by how easily it came off, but I didn't notice all the paint he got on his ears until it had already dried.  Consequently, I've got a German shepherd with blue tipped ears and I think they will be that way for a while.  Who knows, he may set a new trend in highlights for dogs.

I look forward to taking him to the beach again and hope that in time, he will be less fearful of getting his feet wet.  I am not sure I am going to paint anymore rooms though.  I may have to wait until the paint wears off his ears before we tackle another home improvement project.