Duke went to the river the other day with his foster brother Bud. It was Duke’s first long car trip without a crate, and he did wonderfully! He rode shotgun, and delighted in the A/C coming out of the vent :-).
Duke had so much fun at the river! He’s a natural for water, and he was so comfortable with 10 OTHER dogs! His recall was excellent, and after about 10 minutes of sniffing around, he just stayed near the people. Even when he was investigating the new surroundings, he was never out of sight, and he came back each and every time we asked him to. He never ran off to chase critters. He doesn’t seem to be prey driven, unless it’s a tennis ball!
After the river, we went up to the meadow and played Duke’s favorite game, fetch. Duke will play fetch for hours on end, if there are enough people willing to throw the ball (the Chuck-it is best). He’s a gentleman even when he doesn’t get the ball, and plays very well with others. He seems to smile when he gets the ball, and prances back to have it thrown again! He was just a delight, and Mary and Rich have invited him back! Everyone loved him, and he seemed to do better with the more people and dogs that arrived. He’s just a doll! He slept the whole way home 
Duke has shown himself to be a very tolerant boy. He doesn’t seem to care who noses in on his food, lets the puppies steal the tennis ball, and will share his bed with any of the dogs. He doesn’t even react when another dog runs into him. Duke doesn’t seem to have a mean bone in his body!
