We saw so much progress with Mags at the park the other day when she was around the other dogs, that we finally had to try to get her to meet her cousin Bailey (not genetically, but if it's Uncle Dan and Aunt Pam, then it must be so).

First we went on a trip to Kriser's - the pet food store, where she also gets her nails done. We thought it would be good to take her there and not get her nails clipped, so it wasn't always about something she didn't really want to do.

Oh, but let's back up - her safety harness (ie. seat belt) for the car finally showed up. Maggie is now officially safer in the car than any kid in the 70's. We put the harness on her in the house first to let her get a little used to it. We got the evil eye for quite a while while Maggie stood there like we'd just wrapped a cold, wet jacket around her.

Once in the car, she became her old "I love the car"-self, so at least we have that going for us.

Anyway, she was fine at Kriser's and I'm sure happy that she didn't have to get her nails clipped for a change. They gave us some raw beef to try as treats for her. Kat's still cringes a little at the raw thing - she can't bare watching her little girl tear away at meat, bones and tendons like... some kind of animal - but we'll give it a shot.

So then we were off to visit Pam, Dan & Bailey. Their yard is fenced in, so we decided to put both of them in the yard while we sat just outside the fence to let them bond. Both dogs are pretty chill, so they did the obligatory sniffing (remember, Maggie just started doing this a couple days before) then kind of stood/sat around.

Maggie went both #1 and #2 in their yard (again, sorry guys!) which was kind of a surprise. Mags doesn't really like going #1 except in her spot here (she's never done it on a walk) and generally has stage fright, so with 4 of us plus Bailey, it was a little unexpected. Maybe it was a territorial thing, who knows.

The dogs got along really well, and we all ended up hanging out on their deck. Maggie was great, following us around and being very brave. She even drank some water, which she also doesn't like to do except at home (one of our future problems in Michigan, I'm sure). She's come a long way since the day we got her when Dan & Pam first met her!

We went to the park later, and Mags did her follow-the-leader routine. We ran again and watched her bound playfully behind us. The bounding usually only lasts about 15-20 seconds though, and then I think she gets worn out so that's all we can get out of her now.

Later that night we went to a bar & grill where they let us sit out on the outdoor patio with Maggie and our waitress was nice enough to bring her a bowl of water (not surprisingly, she didn't drink it). She was perfect sitting next to the table and we can't wait to take her out again.

It was all a very big day for Maggie, so of course she slept like a rock.

Tonight we went to the park again and met two new dogs - Morgan and River. We found out River is somewhat famous - if you recall a few years back the helicopter over-head footage of a stray dog stuck on the ice on who was rescued by a police officer - that's him. He was very friendly - and his owner was great to talk to about his experiences with River and the stages of progress he went through. At one point River was maybe a little too friendly and was bothering Maggie. She spun around and let River know that he'd crossed a line. She wasn't aggressive beyond that, she just let him know, he backed off and that was it. It was good to see that she at least had the confidence to do that much.

Tonight it was so nice we had dinner out on the deck. We decided to try to get Maggie to eat out there too, as a practice run for Michigan since she'll have to eat away from her usual spot. She wolfed it down in no time, so hopefully that won't be a problem. Of course that was all a lot of excitement today, so she's back in her usual spot, nearly passed out.