That's One Smart Dog

Here is Katie. Here is her puppy, Flynn. 

Flynn is happy. Katie is not happy. 

See Flynn run. Run Flynn run.
See the problem?

Flynn has just gone for a swim in our neighbor's pond and a 40-minute unplanned romp through the fields.

Katie and Flynn stopped over at Farm Dover last night on their way from Madison, Wisconsin to Fayetteville, North Carolina. Katie, a First Lieutenant army nurse, has recently been assigned to the hospital at Fort Bragg and so North Carolina bound she is, Irish Setter puppy riding shotgun. (She and Maggie were crew mates on Wisconsin's rowing team and this is the first time we have seen Katie since the girls graduated.)

Here's why I think Flynn is one smart dog. We have these magnetic screen doors leading to our back porch, which many of our family members and most of our guests can not figure out how to open. But this morning, Puppy Flynn figured out how to open the door with just the right nudge of his nose. Open popped the screen and out went Flynn. Thirty-eight unspoiled acres on Farm Dover for a rambunctious puppy to explore – and then there were the neighbor's fields and pond....

Yes, he heard his mistress calling for him and even came eye-ball to eye-ball with her a couple of times; but, it was just too much fun. Over the fields and through the woods. Over and over again. Playing hide and seek. And then, that cool, clear pond just called to him and he had to take a swim. Dog paddling out to the middle and back. Over and back again.

Finally, he just pooped out and fell for the old fetch trick. Like a good bird dog, he fetched the stick and brought it back. A quick nab to his collar, a scolding by Katie, and then they were off to their new life in North Carolina. A place where they don't know a soul...but have each other. One smart girl and her very smart dog.

Katie and Flynn: We wish you both the best and hope you return often to Farm Dover.