The Olive Branch Inn

This weekend I had one of my training retreats for church. The last time I went, I found out that the hotel we stay at his pet friendly It’s only about a 30 minute drive away, and just over the weekend so I thought I might try taking Duncan with me. Little Debbie stayed with her Foster-Mom Barbara (and missed her Mommy very much I’m told,) and Duncan and I took off. We arrived at the hotel and I checked in and took Duncan to the room first so that I could bring my bags in without having to worry about dropping his leash or anything. He was of course a little nervous being in a new strange place at first and immediately jumped up next to my roommate Brenda (who had agreed to staying with Duncan and I before hand) on her bed. We got settled in, and then Brenda and I had to go to our first meeting. I had brought Duncan’s kennel, but felt that for the most part I’d be able to leave him loose in the hotel room. When we got back later that night Duncan was fine, as I had expected, and I took him out for a nice evening walk around The Temple with Greg, another friend of mine attending the retreat.
That night I did not sleep well at all, though it was through no fault of Duncan’s. As it turned out, it seemed that my bed seemed to have a few broken springs. When I laid down it was immediately apparent because of the slant. I felt like I was sliding out of bed Duncan didn’t seem to be very comfortable either. We’re both used to a fairly firm mattress, and this was decidedly soft I woke numerous times throughout the night, and at one point found myself and Duncan both scrunched up on the far side of the bed where the springs seemed to be the strongest. But it still felt like I was going to roll off the bed, so I rolled on to my back. I found Duncan laying next to me down by my knees and when I reached down to pet him, he lifted his head and actually laid it down on my stomach. I petted him for a few moments and then let my hand rest on his head, resting on my belly. It seemed so precious; Duncan was actually semi-snuggling with me He had never done that before

The next morning- Saturday (not very rested) I left Duncan in his kennel while we went to breakfast so that there would be no issues when housekeeping came in. We came back to the hotel several times during the day for meals and in between seminar sessions and I took Duncan out to potty each time, leaving him free in the room when we left. He actually probably saw me more while we were there for the weekend than he does when I go to work during the week That evening I took him with me down to the common room in the basement where we ate our meals and let him say “hi” to my fellow retreatants. Everyone loved hearing his story and seeing how far he had come since I had adopted him, and it was great socialization for Duncan. We went for another evening walk again that night and then went to bed.

We slept a little better that night (across the bottom of the bed instead this time, although I was tempted to just sleep on the floor,) and I kenneled Duncan again the next morning as I loaded my bags in the car and we attended our last sessions. Duncan said goodbye to everyone as they left for the airport. We jumped in the car and took Greg to the airport ourselves, and then headed over to Barbara’s to pick up Little Debbie (who was exceedingly happy to see me. It seems she thought that I had just left her there forever and was very sad for awhile.)

So Duncan handled yet another new adventure with me like a little angel He continues to surprise and please me with how well he handles new things every day