[bajoiner]

Well we are back from the Smoky Mountains and I must say it was a great vacation. We stayed in a primitive campground (as we always do) and Sassy was in hog heaven. Michael you were right Sassy had a ball as we could let her run loose some and take walks off leash (although you were not supposed to) and all the new smells just kept her attention. We could not let her run loose as much as we wanted as the people next to us would bring their dog up at night which was an aggressive dog with other animals so Sassy was kept on leash or in the camper when that dog was there. It got pretty cold while we were there (it snowed once) and Sassy loved the cold weather. She saw a rabbit one morning early (I would try to walk Sassy early in the morning before others in the campground were up) and I was glad she was on the leash then as she REALLY wanted to chase that rabbit. She had a friend come over from another campground (a very small terrior dog) one day but Sassy was on the leash so the other dog stole Sassy's rawhide chew she had and took off for home. I actually missed this as I went down to tell the owner of the other dog where her dog was as I was worried she would get hit by a car or wonder off in the woods and there are bears in the area. My husband said Sassy just watched the dog take her chew and run. This was a good vacation that we all enjoyed and I wanted to share the good times. Sassy has been camping with us since she was 10 weeks old so she does not bark, but some people bring dogs that are not use to "quiet time" and they bark constantly. To me those are just not camping dogs. We simply tell Sassy "No barking" and she brings it down to a very low "wuff" or my husband says "that is not your inside voice and she will bring it down to a low "wuff", which cracks me up. Michael as you said, her nose never took a rest while we were gone with all the new smells in the area.