Warning: Photo Heavy Post But No Shots of Knitting!

A few kind readers have asked for more pictures of our "little" guy.

When we first got him he had never really done anything other than play with his litter mates and be viewed by potential owners.  He didn't know how to do every day things like walk down stairs or calmly watch traffic going by. He'd never been in a car or a boat or been in the woods but all that changed in a big hurry when we took him straight to our water access cottage after picking him up at the breeders out in the country north east of Toronto.

We spend many hours a week in our ski boat while Number One Son does what he loves to do at the cottage... Wake Skate, Water Ski, Wake Board and "Ski" Bare Foot. In the shot below he's wake skating only wearing running shoes on a board covered in the same grip tape they use on skate boards.

Of course Hudson needed to learn how to behave in the boat that kind of situation. For example to know to sit still and well braced (as in the shot below) in preparation for the moment the boat lurches forward to pull the skier up out of the water. (Pulling speed for slalom skiing is about 36 mph and the boat goes from zero to that in a few seconds!) This shot shows Hudson's Parti Poodle colouring - it runs pretty symetrically down his back and then down the back of each leg.

He also had to learn not to jump around while the skier is up...

He also discovered ways to entertain himself. (Biting the wake waves is a particular favourite but only in the first few minutes of the ride - after that he doesn't bother with it again until the beginning of the next outing.)By the way he was always on a leash so as not to fall overboard!

Here's another favourite pass time he found...chewing on the end of the ski rope.  He spent hours in this position. I'm worried he won't be able to fit in that spot by next year!

Of course on occasion he would also just relax and enjoy the view as he's doing in the photo below. I think you can really see how he matured as the weeks went by if you look at this shot versus the one at the top of the post...

He also found a favourite spot to sleep (If the water conditions are favourable, these "runs" as we call them, often last more than an hour!) Can you see him there sound asleep under the steering wheel?

I like the look on his face in the shot below - he looks as if he's saying "do you believe this kid? Look how high the moon is and he still wants to keep going!...

In the end Hudson was very comfortable and knew the "drill" to the point of being quite easy to have along for the ride.That boat is now in storage and after this weekend the whole place will be closed for the season and all the boats out of the water for the winter. I think he'll miss it - as we all will until next spring when we start all over again!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! (Ours is earlier than American Thanksgiving because our shorter northern growing season means we have an earlier harvest for which to be thankful.)

Thanks for dropping by!