Driving home from my synagogue on an early fall holiday, I debated driving right to the riverside park where members of the community were meeting. I decided to stop at home first, though, to see whether Orly was home and wanted to come along.

As I am sure you know, Orly is a dog. If she wasn’t with me, why wouldn’t she be home?

But she wasn’t; Orly was still out hiking with her friends.

Orly has a more active social life than I do, yet she’s always looking for new friends. Like many goldens, she has no concept of a ‘stranger.’ All new humans, dogs, cats, deer, and birds are unmet friends.

That’s why I wasn’t worried about her recent ‘orientation’ at a nearby dog boarding, training, and daycare facility where she might need to spend a few nights soon. Part of the mandatory half-day session is spent introducing her to different potential playmates to see how well she interacts with other dogs.

Orly, it turns out, plays very nicely with others. She also excelled at using the dog door, taking treats (do dogs really flunk that?), walking on a leash (THAT was a nice surprise), and not fence-fighting or barking.

My little social butterfly, transformed from a fuzzy golden ball of fur into a dripping ball of mud, seemed to have enjoyed her morning at camp. She was less happy about the bath that followed … but returned home a tired dog indeed.

By the next morning, she was wide awake and ready for her next adventure.