Happy Canada Day!

Since Canada Day was cooler than usual this year, we took Duncan down to the celebration at Spencer Smith Park this afternoon. It's always a crowded, noisy event, so it was a good chance for him to get some practice at behaving himself in a tough situation. 

It's a very nice park, with a walking path along the lakeshore, nice fishy smells if the wind is right, lots of big grassy areas to explore, and special dog fountains. A civilized sort of place.

Nothing like a sea breeze in your face!

The highlight of the afternoon was the show put on by Duncan's alma mater, Scholars in Collars. Every year they do a demonstration of agility, obedience, tricks, and high jumping using mostly instructors' dogs. It's always fun, and we watch it every year, but this was the first time we knew several of the people and dogs in it.

Setting up the agility course.

Duncan did amazingly well. He managed to last through the whole hour-long show, with only a few lapses when we had to go for walks and explain that one does not jump on small children, even when they're jumping on each other. 

That's my friend Shanty in that ring!

Of course, it helped that I started off with a pocket full of freeze-dried chicken. Then his teacher spotted him, told him how well he was doing, and contributed a handful of duck treats. And finally, Daddy bought him his very own hot dog! He managed to get through almost half of the wiener, in tiny little pieces, as rewards for being so good.