Maggie = 1
Car Safety Harness = 0

As we've reported Maggie's not a huge fan of her car safety harness. I've caught her chewing on it a few times and she has stopped when told. Well, last night coming home from Michigan I thought she was doing some intense grooming when all of a sudden she popped up in the backseat free from her harness. Our little Houdini chewed it in half.

Poor Steve did a lot of research to find the safest harness and now we're back at square one. In the meantime Maggie will be roaming freely around the backseat panting in our ears.

On a positive note we had a great weekend in Michigan with Miss Maggie. On Saturday we were walking thru town when a woman pulled her car over because she wanted to meet Maggie (seriously, things like this happen to us all the time now). It turns out she's a local resident who recently adopted the labradoodle of a friend who passed. We exchanged doodle stories and then she told us about a dog park located within a county preserve in Michigan City. Guess where we went the next day?

So Sunday morning we went to check out the dog park. It's a big, beautiful dog park located within a 112 acre county forest preserve. As usual, we arrived and everyone ran up to meet Maggie (dogs and owners). There was a Beagle that she tried to play with right away, but he denied Maggie and she was a bit discouraged. We kept walking around because we could tell she really wanted to play, but just couldn't find the right dog (all the others were too small, too big, etc). Mags finally gave up and decided she didn't need anyone else to play and just started running wildly around in a circle weaving in and out of other dogs and owners. The whole crowd - owners AND dogs - just stopped and watched. Finally a puppy, Gill, decided to join in and they had a great time running and playing. Nothing makes us happier than seeing her let go of her past and have fun!

We've often joked about Maggie's "prance" of a walk and get comments from people about it all the time. At the park a little girl pointed to Mags and said to her mom, "Look! She walks like a show dog!!" It's like some Rags-To-Riches story - - Ha! Ha!

The park charges a small fee based on the honor system - - it was the best $3 we've spent and we look forward to returning soon.

Post-park Maggie got a very thorough brushing because I'm crazy worried about fleas and ticks. She's had her Frontline Plus treatment, but I'm still worried.

Saturday Steve and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary. We enjoyed a lovely meal at a small Inn near our place in Michigan and spent the entire time talking about our favorite topic - - Maggie!