The Labraventures of Carbón, Spanish (ex-) foster dog extraordinaire

Ah hope you catch up on some quality rest now, hooefully with a duvet of Beanwood labrdadors snuggling up with you.

I just wanted to add about your travels with Carbon, those take offs and landings sound awful. But what I am ultimately so impressed at is that Carbon stayed calm, didnt bark, didnt move around for 12 whole hours with all that other stuff going on. To me that is mind boggling and that's some amazing training.
 

Beanwood

Administrator
Carbon and @Emily_Babbelhund landed at Beanwood around 4 ish. :inlove: Considering all the travelling, both looked remarkably fresh! Carbon was delighted to be back, especially as he now has his own fangirl in Otter, who ADORES him, she nibbled, tickled and playbowed, just thrilled to see him. Not sure the hoomans were quite as thrilled as her over excitement was a bit infectious, 5 excited labbies having mini hoolies in our little lounge is a recipe for disaster! OtterPotterhead was a bit hyper though when it came to "The Scary Lady", but over the evening and the morning, just occasionally she forgot her suspiciousness and stole a sneaky sniff when she thought TSL wasn't looking! :hug: I think that relationship might take a bit more work. Otter was definitely more relaxed in the morning, so a little improvement!
It seems we talked forever, but only feels like the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Emily and Carbons amazing travels! So hopefully when can have a Part 2 on the way back from Ireland. Talking of Ireland, I think they should be on the ferry right now from Fishguard. Safe travels both...:sun:

A sneaky quick vid...the gang together! :inlove::inlove:

 

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
As the internet on the ferry is really “internet” (i.e. in name only), I decided it was the perfect opportunity to ramble on via Word and then transfer it over to the Forum once I’m at @RosieC’s tonight. You have been warned: extreme wordiness ahead!

First things first, a huge thank you to Kate @Beanwood for letting me stop by what I think of as home for a flying visit to see her, Marcus, the pups, Remy and Stoli. Otter is looking so well: Kate pointed out something still a bit off about her leg but frankly as a non-professional I couldn’t see it at all. She just looks like a normal happy puppy on that miracle leg.

Harry (my new name for Otter: Otter -->Potter --> Harry!) is not too keen on me. I tend to be way too full on with dogs so it was a really good exercise for me to not look at her and simply ignore her in general. She nearly burst my eardrum last night as she told me how she felt about me, but she was doing much better this morning. Or maybe it was ME doing better with my own “Don’t be so scary” training? As I’ve learned from Carbon, I need more training than any dog!

As for yesterday’s drive from Folkestone (Eurotunnel) to Beanwood, it would have been easy peasy had I not been so darn sleepy. I was so nervous about checking Carbon in to the Eurotunnel Pet Control that I only got a couple hours of fitful sleep on Tuesday night.

I was worried there would be other dogs in the control area that he’d react to. I was worried that they’d reject him as an Assistance Dog as he’s admittedly only half-baked at this point and his documentation rightly reflects that. I’m worried about my job as I’ve done practically no work since going to California. I’m worried about my tax deadline that is looming. Yes, all this is pretty frivolous: or maybe “unwarranted” is a better word. But it’s a good example of my mental health quirks and how I get stuck in circular mode: even fairly insignificant things start to spiral into a big fat worry blob. That’s where I was on Tuesday morning.

The verdict on my job and taxes are still up in the air, but the Eurotunnel Pet Control couldn’t have gone better: no other dogs when we arrived, super nice woman who checked in Carbon and they didn’t ask for any of his SD paperwork even though I had it in my sweaty little hand. Carbon was a superstar focusing on me turning the short inspection and when we met another dog on our way out the door, Carbon stayed focused on me. Thank goodness (again) for greedy Labradors and turkey bratwurst!

Then it was straight into the train, out of the train and finally down the motorway towards London. I managed to miss all the traffic (a first) but the longer I went on the sleepier I got. Solution: quick nap and a stop to stretch my and Carbon’s legs. Instead of letting myself be tempted by M&S along the way, I treated myself to a calorie-free dip into Seasalt. It was supposed to be for five minutes but soon I had three saleswomen throwing stuff at me. I’m now WELL equipped with winter clothes: that place is deadly.

Then we arrived at Beanwood and you know the rest. I almost feel like I SHOULD have stopped at a fast food place just so I’d have a better story to tell! :giggl:
 

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
But what I am ultimately so impressed at is that Carbon stayed calm, didnt bark, didnt move around for 12 whole hours with all that other stuff going on. To me that is mind boggling and that's some amazing training.
I'll take that compliment on Carbon's behalf but not on my own - that's really just his nature and not any training. The irony is that the stuff we really worked on for the airplane - all that backing up and scooting and going under seats - he didn't even have to use! Not a waste though as it all builds teamwork. :)
 

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
I can’t believe your travels - you achieve so much in such a short time - one minute California, then Germany, then France, then UK, now Ireland 🇮🇪 - no wonder you are tired!!!
To be honest, I took on way too much this time around. I've neglected my job to the point that I don't know if I even have it any more and I'm having nightmares about it. I just have this overwhelming sense of panic about the things I've let slide, which normally isn't me at all. If I try to look on the positive side, maybe it's this: even after all the years of traveling, I'm still learning and my 'learning' from this is to plan in more time to get over jet lag so that I can function properly before taking on a kamikaze cross-Europe drive! :rolleyes:
 

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
I hope you have built in some good rest now
Mmm...not quite. I've not actually got ANYTHING planned right now. Much like last year, I've arrived at @RosieC 's like a big lump of over-kneaded dough and not much thinking us going on. The vague plan is to work my way northwards on Sunday...maybe my brain will have taken up residence again by then!
 

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Hola todos! ML is having a siesta, but I asked her to get some photos from our cruise ready so that I could show you all how guapo I looked while sailing. And claro que si, of course your gentleman dog was doing his best modelling on the high seas!

Here I am being very serious while demonstrating our ship's safety ring. I wanted to play a game with the ring but ML said, "No, no, Carbon...just pose!". Pfft. She is no fun at all.
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Que es eso?! What is that?! Another of ML's "artistic" photos. Que lastima, such a shame - it could have been so much better if it had just a small bit of me in it. Like my nose. My nose is very nice, no?
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Ah, mucho mejor! Much better. Here is my lovely tail as I pose on the storm-swept cruise ship deck as we prepare to set sail for Africa.
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Oh, Ireland. ML says we were setting sail for Ireland, not Africa. It is true that we are now here in Ireland visiting my friend Curly Murphy, so our cruise was to Ireland. Lo siento, sorry Curly - it is only that Africa sounded much more exotic for my loyal readers.
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Pfft! Another boring scenery photo.
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And por fin, finally, a spontaneous shot of me. Claro que si, of course I am guapo even when I am not even trying.
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ML says I must come to bed as I get a little silly when I am sleepy and only think about how handsome I am. Do not worry, after my beauty sleep I will be both guapo and a hard working assistance dog helping ML explore Kinsale. Buenas noches a todos!
 
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