Why My Tigger (dog) and I need to go to Camp Unleashed

Tigger is a runner. I am not.

When I came for the first time to Camp Unleashed, I wanted him to be able to run. I had had Tigger for almost 2 years. We were Working It Out still.

I had learned one thing – no – two, about Tigger by then (he was teaching me, but I was a slow learner). One: he HATED the “dog park.” Humans standing, sitting, gabbing. Dogs milling around unchecked, unmonitored, and invasively working out their status. Too often, to get his space, Tigger was in the eye of a swarm of circling barking dogs – and he who was trying to distance himself, was seen as the prey to be chased… and also – caught in the frenzy – became the chasER, on the heels of the slowest and lowest in the lineup. He hated it and he could not stop, look, and listen to me when we were there.

So, Tigger HATES the dog park, and I am no fan of it either. And – I told you I had learned two things – Man! He LOVES playing fetch. He had quickly learned all the tricks I used to fake him out, and when the snap came he bounded away, watching the sky for the manna from heaven that would be his. And then, like a quarterback fielding the kick, Tigger would beeline it back to me, sidestepping or leaping, or leading away with taunts, any and all would-be tacklers, and deposited the ball at my feet for the next throw.

If there is a tennis ball in play, he has a Mission: he has a Purpose.

As I said, when I came to Camp Unleashed, I wanted Tigger to be able to run: free, unfettered, unpursued, and wild – in the best dog sense – I wanted him to Be All That He Could Be. I wasn’t certain of him – he still “talked” too often (and with too much of a bloodthirsty tone for my liking) to dogs who came too close… but I had hope… and Camp provided the environment and the insight, and I learned… and he and I grew together more in that first 4-day session (at the girls’ campus), than in any other 4 days of our entire lives together.

Now, Tigger’s life is pretty good, and I’ll tell you why – because we still need to go to Camp. Tigger and I walk: offleash; in wilderness, EVERY DAY. We play fetch: away from bothersome wannabes, EVERY DAY. But it’s our same old wilderness, and the wannabes are the same old pack members… and it’s just not the same as Camp. It’s Good. Pretty Good. It has its moments: going out on the trail, picking up the Chuck-it and tennis balls… but it’s not Camp. Camp is where IT’s at. Tigger knows it. I know it. And we cannot miss a session. It’s the air that we breathe, the water that we drink. It’s people for me – and dogs for him – that “get” us.

Sure, we could “live” without Camp… but Camp is a too-short microcosm of what Life (capital L) is all about… At Camp, in a matter of minutes, the dogs work out what needs to be known, and then it’s NOT about “winning” every minute, it’s about enjoying every minute as a winner. Sure, there are moments when “reminders” need to be given: from human to dog, from dog to dog, and even (yes) from dog to human (and – jeez! We are all still works in progress! – human to human!)… But more than anywhere else – and I have been a lot of anywhere elses (with and without my dog(s)), Camp Unleashed, be it the girls campus, or the boy’s (Chimney Corners), Asheville, California, or walking a segment of the Appalachian Trail with Annie and Rocky and Mandy (and the spirits of Hero and Tucker, and All Dogs Who Have Gone Before)), is Special, and Camp Unleashed Makes Life Full.

Every day, year round, when we wake up, and get up, we are Choosing Life. Camp – if it’s 2 days away, or 10 months away – makes that choice a “no-brainer.” The dogs know it, even as they embrace each moment that each day brings (which dogs are so good at doing), Camp is “The Best” and, as the skilled staff there point out to us, our dogs want to know, every time we get here: “What took you so long to find this place???”