Colorado pet visits

On our recent trip to Colorado we had lots and lots of fun pet meetings, from puppies to dragons.
This little girl was Laila, a doodle meeting up with her peeps at puppy play sessions in Broomfield CO. I sure wish we had these controlled play sessions in MD as we are set to get our new poodlepup in a month.

We left our hotel Sat morning headed to see this group and learned a lot from the people while remembering what it's like to have a wee doggie. Better have another cup of coffee. Do you have puppy groups where you live, just for the purpose of good play in a safe place?

We landed in Denver on Friday night and headed for Monika and Sam's place for some poodle time.

They met me at the door with lots of pets,
"She really needed a poodlepet", said Sam
"I liked her" said Elsa, "She smelled like Salmon"
I forgot to pack their bones so I brought them salmon left from my dinner plate.
(I'm not above buying friends) (I know a poodle's love of fish)

Sooooooooo
"are you going to eat every last crumb of that homemade chocolate cookie Mr. Drew???"said Sam while Elsa just made herself visible to help with clean up.

These two were as loving and beautiful as you expect them to be and more. Monika and Wayne take such good care of them.




What a beautiful family and we had a great time laughing and talking.
While Drew and Wayne played guitars, Monika and I went to her studio (her tour next week!)

Huh?!?!  you ate it ALL???

Monika and the two poodle tour guides showed me the creative place where Monika paints, felts, makes glittery and papery art as well as concocts her healing salves and yummy dog treats. 

All too soon for me, it was time to go check in at our hotel and we said our farewells

 "Sigh... must you go?"

We were able to schedule one more evening together on our short 5 day visit but rain and traffic interrupted the planned dinner. Still Monika and Wayne forgave our tardiness and we spent another evening of lively conversation over dinner at their place.

On Saturday we were able to see Mary, Ben and Paul's refinished home in downtown Boulder. Lovely! It comes with their cat Fetcher who greeted us warmly.

While we stood outside getting our bearings, several neighbors walked by and asked "is that your cat? We love him!" I mean, Fetcher is so social everyone loves him. He's so social Mary and Ben ran into him at a neighbor's house up the hill when they went for a party once! The kids at that house introduced them to their own cat by saying, "and this is our cat!"

I finally got to meet Spikey who's activities I follow on Mary's blog. The unaware might not realize how connected this kind of pet can be but he followed me with his head and eyes, and I got to watch him catch dinner (crickets)
SNATCH!
GOBBLE!

and am told by Paul, he feels quite soft, the spikes feel more like feathers! He is a glorious color and incredibly interesting to me. I don't know why, but I could watch him for hours. It feels primal.

There are no lack of dogs in Downtown Boulder. I almost got my fill, if possible! I loved one musician's puppy who mostly stayed in the open guitar case while his dad played.

we even spotted this bear.... at Celestial Seasonings Factory showroom!
 Just outside the factory are large open fields of prairie dogs. There is a bit of a struggle going on between developers and nature advocates on this issue of prairie dogs.
Having no dog in this fight, ahem, just a figure of speech, I enjoyed watching them scamper freely about.

There are real bear, mountain lions, snakes, and assorted other wildlife sharing everyday life in Colorado.
People are aware and respectful of nature here.
I love that.
I'm not sure how people began to think they were the only important part of nature, but we should wake up and realize we are only a small part, and do the most damage.

We're going to miss clean air and water when it's gone.

(the quote says:
"The present never ages. Each moment is like a snowflake, unique, unspoiled, unrepeatable, and can be appreciated in it's surprisingness" Gail Sheehy

We went up into the mountains on Chautaugua and in Estes (rocky mountain national park) but did not spot wildlife as it is still a bit early for many animals. It's been warmer than usual however so we heard bears and others were already waking. I only saw horses, cows, and I pined for an alpaca.


I may have decided to find a home on 2 acres if we do move here, so I can have a small pack of two alpacas, a poodle and two persons.

linking to among others http://abcwednesday
http://camera-critters.blogspot.com/
saturdays-critters-