The Socialization of Hannah

It was time to take my car in for its complimentary oil change, tire rotation, and safety inspection at the Subaru Dealership.

Charlie has been my companion on these trips for 8 years. I decided to take just Hannah on this excursion to see how she'd handle meeting people in a strange place. 

One of the things I've discovered with her is that she is a quiet dog in the car. Charlie moans and groans almost all of the time while travelling. It is annoying, but I'm fairly used to it now.

Hannah rarely makes a peep. For now, she rides in her crate behind my seat. When I got to the Dealership, I opened up the door and helped her out when one of the 'Associates' came out to get my key. 

I walked into the Service area with Hannah and all the Service people turned to her immediately. 

"Awwwww"
"Awwww, a puppy!"
"Oh my gosh, so cute!"

And then...
"Oh wait! Where is Charlie? Is he okay?"

Hannah was so overcome by all the attention, she of course piddled right there and wagged her whole body.

I had to assure the Service Department that Charlie was indeed okay and that I felt Hannah needed to come on her own this time.

I took her to the mini dog park attached to the Dealership where she stretched her legs and smelled all the interesting signs that other dogs had left behind.

When we walked through the showroom the Sales Staff all inquired about Charlie and mooned over Hannah. 

To her credit, Hannah wagged and behaved with no more puppy accidents. People waiting for their Subies to be finished asked what 'breed' she was and I happily replied:

All American Dog aka Mutt

Hannah wiggled.

I sat down and she asked for 'lap'. 

She promptly fell sound asleep.

Other than her puppy behavior, Hannah is proving to be a super chill little dog. Life going on around her doesn't seem to concern her one bit.

It is so fun to be learning about her personality. 

The best thing about the visit?

The smiles that a nice wiggly puppy brought to everyone's faces.

A few things...

I got through another winterizing chore by having 608 Plumbing [and heating] come out and check out my LP wall heater and Mini Split. 

Dan the Heating Man came out and immediately gave his condolences. He and Rich had great discussions while Dan had worked on our wall unit a couple of years ago and when he came back to install the Mini Split. Dan is very kind and personable. 

He isn't just a heating dude. He is a concerned and empathetic tech.

Everything checked out with the LP heater and he found no leaks in the pipes or anywhere there shouldn't be.

It was worth the price [not much] for him to put my mind at ease for this winter's heat.

Olive texted me that she made some homemade chili and bread if I'd come and have lunch with her and her little boy Orson.  

I felt restless when I got home so Charlie and I went for a color --> leaf peeping walk in the neighbor's forest. I could see colors but getting to those trees was a challenge because of the logging.

This was the view from our land.

The overcast sky and slight drizzle made the colors seem more brilliant. We crossed the meadow and eventually made some headway into the logged area.

Some of the brilliant trees were impossible to get to or photograph because of all the downed stuff on the ground and hang ups of tree tops.

I did manage to get some nice shots. 

These three were in the rain.

I did get to see one of the brilliant red trees and the sun poked out briefly when I shot this one.

I eventually found the old trail which used to be absolutely stunning in the fall. I took a photo.

I can't wait to take a shot of this spot again in the winter with a fresh snowfall. It will be interesting to see how it changes. You can see through this forest now to another section of the hillside about a quarter mile away that hasn't been logged yet.

However, here is a shot from 2 years ago in approximately the same spot. The forest was so thick, you cannot see past the trail bend.

The forest regrowth could take up to 30 to 50 years to replace some of the trees. With the onslaught of invasive species of trees and weeds, it may never attain this beauty again. 

Careful and considerate logging would have provided a better result for the future of the forest. Anyway, that is my opinion.

It was still a beautiful walk and I think winter will bring more adventures as long as the loggers have moved on to the next section. 

To give you an idea of how large this section of land is, one of my walks that takes me in a large circle and back to my land is a 3 mile hike through two valleys.

My last note for this Friday.

Charlie and I went on another adventure to the Subaru Dealership. We had an issue and noise with my Outback which needed to be checked out.

When I turned in my keys with Charlie on leash at the service desk, the service people recognized Charlie and hollered out....

CHARLIE!!!!

then asked my name so they could look up my reason for being there.

I don't want to brag, but dang it, this little dog is SO personable that no one forgets him!

Charlie received a gift from the manager. It is called a Suba-Chew Dog Toy. Charlie was so smitten with it! 

it is supposed to look like an Outback, but Charlie quickly made it look 

like a horrid wreck had occurred.

There is a funny story about my visit to the dealership. The issue was taken care of which was covered under the warranty we'd purchased in 2018.

I'd hate to say it, but Subaru has treated me like royalty for the past 10 years that I've dealt with them.

How to make friends at...

the dealership when having a car serviced.

Bring a cute dog.

Subaru has a kids play room and a doggy play yard at the dealership. Charlie enjoys going to the dealer when we do oil changes and tire rotations. 

He makes good use of the yard and then we tour the show floor while I pretend that he is picking out his next Subaru. Over the years, he has posed with sales people in front of some of the displays. 

Everyone at the Service Desk had to say hello to him and pet him. He was a bundle of wagging little joy. The Service Manager said that he'd like to keep Charlie as a greeter. Oh, they would take GOOD care of him!

This time other patrons waiting asked about Charlie and the doggy amenities. They thought it was great that I'd brought a pet to bide my time. I told them that the dealership loved having pets visit. 

They all wanted to know what kind of dog Charlie was. Well, he is a mutt. His dad was a miniature dachshund and mom was a Pekinese dog.

The conversations all revolved around pets and soon I was peering at smart phone photos from all sorts of customers who were telling me what kind of dog or cat they had. Eventually we had about 7 people all in a circle talking about their pets.

One little old lady sat next to me and shared her stories of her dog who was gone. Then she showed me photos of her grandson's cats. She was now living with her grandson and he had cats. She had 8 grandchildren grown up and something like 8 or 9 great grandchildren and they all lived close.

I learned where she traveled and that she had a home on the West Coast on a beach. Another couple told me about their dog and their daughters, in that order. I learned all about their families just by listening. 

It was fun, another gent shared his thoughts about his son's Miniture Pinchers aka Minpins. He asked my advice on their crazy dogs. [Apparently he thought I was a dog mystic or something!] 

He then told me about his family -- after showing me photos of his dog. A person can learn a lot by just looking interested and curious. But I think Charlie was the ice breaker.

As their cars were ready, the patrons who visited thanked me for bringing Charlie because it was fun to converse with others rather than sit and stare at the large TV in the waiting area. They said it passed the time quickly.

As for Charlie? He was so tired from being such a good little dog that he slept the whole way home.