A hop, a skip, and one hell of a jump away

Summer in the city means less locals and more tourists. And although we generally like to defy that rule by staying in Vancouver while it’s nice here (those 3-4 months we get actual sun and minimal rain), our homeland was calling. –Actually, it were my parents and grandparents that were calling, but close enough!– So we booked ourselves a trip to the Netherlands and arranged for a little stay-cation for Jaz.

jaz_poolLeaving your pets behind is a difficult thing to do, and finding good people to take care of them while you’re gone is key. We have found an awesome cat-sitter for our two feline friends, and Jaz gets top-of-the-line care at one of our trainers, who offers in-home boarding. Boarding with the dog-trainer means that Jaz will not only get lots of love and caring, but will also have to stick to the ‘rules’ while we’re gone.

Left: Jaz enjoying some pool-time during her stay-cation.

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Right: Jaz even had a little summer fling! Meet Fred. The two were inseparable!

 

 

 

While Jaz was having lots of fun hanging out in the pool and making new friends, we were over in the Netherlands doing the same (well, minus the pool…) Namely, besides the usual suspects –you know who you are!–, we also visited some place new, namely: The Sounding Burrows kennel! The Burrows and I met by admiring each other’s Lakies on Flickr, and have been conversing ever since. The Burrows breeds beautiful Lakelands with lovely temperament, and is actively trying to maintain variety by breeding black Lakelands, and, most recently, starting to focus on breeding liver-coloured Lakelands. We share a passion for Lakies, and since this would be one of the few occasions where we’d be on the same continent, my husband and I decided to stop by and say ‘hello!’.

20130704-DSCF1568“Hi! I’m Scott, man of the house!”

We were lucky enough to meet a plethora of puppies, as The Burrows had two litters, one of 4 and one of 5. Needless to say, I wanted to take them all home! They say all puppies are cute, but to me there’s nothing cuter than Lakeland puppies; who can resist those tiny stumbling plush teddy-bears with their cheeky eyes and boastful roars?!

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Puppies – yeah!

Not just the puppies, but the whole crew was a lively bunch; energetic, cheerful, just plain-old happy! I cannot blame them; I’d be happy to be living at The Burrows too. This place was set up with Lakies in mind. A fusion of human and canine space, where functionality and comfort were perfectly balanced… we’d never seen such a thing!

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Happy, happy, joy, joy! Chess is living life to the fullest each day!

It was great to meet someone with whom I share a passion. We could have talked for days, I’m sure of it. But, for now, it was great to put a face to a name, to share in some of The Burrow’s knowledge, and, most importantly, to get some Lakie-love oversees. –Boy were we missing our daily Lakie-fix!– Thanks, The Burrows!