3 February 2019

The Play Park and the Car Wash Story

Every time I get a free afternoon, I try and get Sue out and about. On this dull, cloudy afternoon a few weeks ago, we went to the play park to get in some new experiences.



Sue met a friendly Border Collie.



She sat on the climbing frame.



She stopped on double yellow lines.



And she stood at the back door of a shop.



She also saw a cyclist and a bin lorry! Exciting stuff.



More recently: the Land Rover is due its MOT test this coming week so we stopped at a car wash. It was a busy Saturday morning so we had to queue. The stop at the car wash wasn't planned or I wouldn't have brought Sue along, but she was with my Dad an I in the queue, looking around her. Three men were washing cars with hoses and I was worried that Sue would be scared of the water and soap hitting the windscreen and making noise.

What a foolish notion that was! Our turn came to get the Land Rover washed. They started with soap and a sponge and Sue tried to catch the sponge, lunging at the window, tail wagging. The men thought this was very funny and they prolonged the sponging so she could play some more. It was the hoses next - I put Sue down in the footwell in front of me, shielding her the best I could with my arms. The hose started and Sue pushed and pushed until she was looking out of the window at the man hosing the Land Rover. She watched the water, lunged like she had for the sponge. By now all of the men at the car wash were stealing glances and laughing at the puppy playing with the hose through the window. So we got extra hosing, too, so that Sue could play.

One of them opened the door and Sue was very pleased to get some strokes, and then it was time to go up the ramp. At its tallest the ramp is probably a good eight feet off the ground. I think I was more nervous of the height than Sue - she was loving it! She listened to the power hose as it cleaned the underside of the Land Rover and tried to pounce on the sound through the floor. When the man with the hose appeared from under the ramp, under the passenger window, Sue scrambled onto my lap and looked down at him, wagging her tail.

Sue loved the car wash! I'm astonished, as every one of my other dogs would have been terrified. But not my Sue. What a little star! It was the best fun I have ever had at a car wash!

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