Springtime at the Dog Park - hooray!

Finally, finally, the snow has melted to reveal the true face of the dog park.

Siena and I went today and she had a nice time exploring all the newly exposed nooks and crannies of dirt. I threw the ball, she chased it and then ran in the other direction without "retrieving," all the usual fun dog park stuff.

After about 20 minutes it started to rain (as predicted - I just knew Siena really needed some exercise so we risked it) so we left to find the driver. Unfortunately he was no where to be found, but fortunately the rain never got to be more than a strong drizzle so we meandered for about 10 minutes in the neighborhood by the park (which is pretty quiet and nice). By the time we circled back to the park, the drizzle had subsided and there were two dogs inside! Yippee!

other dogs at the dog park = happy girl

This time the dogs were reddish brown like Siena. One was huge and a little scary and the other was a daschund. Since I learned my lesson from last time, I knew we needed to proceed with caution. We slowly and loudly approached the dog park fence and I waved to the owner. He came over and asked in fast Russian if Siena was a "devatchka" (девочка) or girl [dog]. I said "da" (до - yes) and the big dog came over to sniff hello through the fence.

Then the owner said something else that I missed, came closer to the gate, clipped his leash back onto the big dog's collar and very graciously opened the gate to the park for us. Yay! Proper Russia dog park etiquette had been achieved!

Then everything went fine. Once inside, the three dogs made their initial sniffy greetings in which Siena rolled over on her back, her usual wimpy submission to the other dogs. The little dog, as is often the case, was a lot feistier than the big one. He wanted nothing to do with Siena and really just stuck close to his dad with a continuous low growl in his little throat. Not ideal but his owner was very aware of it so I felt we were safe. The big dog wasn't all that much friendlier but he was okay with sharing the park.

After about 10-12 minutes it started to rain again so I decided to leave before anyone got too soaked. I also didn't want to press my luck with the little dog since he seemed to have less patience than the big one.

Once we left I still couldn't find the driver, so we waited under a doorway for a while. Everyone who came and went was very happy to see Siena and give her a pat. All in all a very nice outing.

my sweet mushy-ball tired girl :)

These Boots Are Made For Walking...

Siena and I have been taking lots of walks. It helps with curbing / channeling her energy and it's good for me to get out too. So win-win.

The only issue is the wet snow and dirt. Yes it is April 1 and we still have lots and lots of snow on the ground. Temps are still in the 30s. So our Siena is a complete and total mess after even just a short walk. And it's not just the paws. It's the "undercarriage" as we like to call it.

Moscow is SO SO dirty and mix in a little rain / slush when the weather is slightly above freezing (or even when it's below freezing for that matter) and...well, you get a dog with a wet, grimy, matted mess of a coat.

So then you spend almost as much time wiping and cleansing as you spent on the actual walk...and then she needs to go out again and the whole process starts over!

wet. wet. wet. dirty. wet.

But really these walks are great for both of us. I know I feel better afterwards. And once the snow all melts and the rain gets less, I know it will be very nice for us.

The other interesting thing I stumbled on while walking was an ad for a fencing tournament! Totally thought of our wunderkind fencing nephew S when I saw it.

hey, cool, a Moscow fencing tourney!

Golden dreams of Moscow

Getting our 4 year old Golden Retriever Siena-girl from California to Russia (another flashback post from February 22 and 23, 2013)

So, our two big flights were pretty smooth. Checking in took a lot longer than I expected and Siena was in the crate the whole time, not understanding what was going on. They couldn't/wouldn't find someone with a cart to put her on for when she needed to be moved (she was moved 3 times), so they kept sliding the crate along the floor, which I wasn't happy about. At one point after the long checking in process, they slid her down the hall to an inspection area for oversized baggage and they made me take her OUT in the middle of the airport while they checked the interior of the crate. So of course she was totally confused and really didn't want to go back IN when the inspection was done. That was tough. I felt terrible forcing her back in there.

Here's our Siena-girl waiting in her 

crate while we checked in.

Then they slid her away again into where the oversized baggage wait to be loaded onto the plane and I just went to my gate etc. When I boarded, I asked the flight attendant to ask the captain if a dog had been loaded. It took a while but she did come to my seat to let me know, that "the dogs have been loaded." Wait, did she say dogs? I responded, "Is there more than one dog on this flight?" And of course she had no idea, so I was a little worried that even though some dogs were loaded, MY dog wasn't, but at that point I had to just trust them. The flight didn't have a lot of turbulence which was great. I will say though, that everytime I went to the bathroom, I just kept thinking of little Siena in the bottom of the plane, NOT being able to go to the bathroom or even just see outside to understand what was happening....again I felt terrible. But I'm hoping she eventually settled and just napped, despite the movement and noise.

Then in Amsterdam we only had 1 hour 25 minutes to connect, so I literally just went to the bathroom and went to my next terminal without seeing her. Of course at the new gate, I kept looking outside to see if I could get a glimpse of her crate being loaded but no luck. Got on that plane and did the same thing with the flight attendant, who also took a while to find out, but when she did, it was from a printout that I saw and could read over her shoulder; I read where it actually said "1 dog, Golden Retriever" so I knew my girl was there! The Amst - Mosc flight was 3 hours, and was fine.

When we arrived, I went through immigration and then immediately went to a desk in the baggage claim area to try and get someone to help me with a big cart. They had no big carts - of course - but I did get a guy who spoke English from Lost & Found to kind of tell me where to find Siena eventually and he was also able to call and find someone to help me with my bags and the dog. They brought out the crate from the same place where they deliver skis and hockey sticks (oversized baggage -- Siena was, according to the airlines, to be handled like a set of golf clubs!) and we ended up loading Siena in her crate onto one luggage cart and then my 3 suitcases onto a 2nd cart. Then we literally rolled right through customs....no questions, no inspection of paperwork, no nothing! SO strangely smooth! 

Out on the other side of customs, I saw Scott, the driver, and the wife of the vet with whom I'd been emailing. She said, "No problems? I told you it's easy - sometimes they don't even check!" So then we quickly went outside to let Siena out for a stretch etc. Scott was SO happy to see her - he went off to walk her in the snow and she did both 1 & 2. Oh, and when we checked inside the crate, it seemed DRY and not stinky, so we think she "held it" for both flights!! Amazing little dog. The wife of the vet (Valeria) then introduced us to her husband (of course his name is Yuri) and they asked if she seemed ok, which she totally did, and then suggested not giving her too much water and only feeding her half her food for her first few meals, just to make sure her stomach wasn't upset. Then we paid them $200 (the easiest $$ I'm sure they've ever earned!), squeezed everything into the car, and we were on our way! So it really was remarkably uneventful, thank goodness!!!

Hanging out in the apartment after the long journey. So happy to be together again!