Addie Meets a Llama

We are visiting some friends in Washington, and Addie is having a wonderful time!  Of particular interest to her are the blackberries, which she eats enthusiastically, and their three llamas; Wally, Ollie and Dolly.  She is oh so curious about those llamas, and they seem not even aware of her existence.  I was worried about her getting in their pasture and annoying them, but my friend Gary said not to worry.  "Those llamas can totally take care of themselves," he told me.  "Really?  You sure?" I asked.  "Believe me, they'll be fine."  So I didn't call her back to me and watched her slip under the fence.  A bound or two and a stop and sniff... a crouched creep a little closer and a stop and sniff.  The llama paid no attention.  A long stare and a creep a little closer, then she laid down and sniffed and stared.  A long time.  The llama moved and she darted back a little.  And so it went... no actual contact.  I got tired of it and called her back.  She wasn't really wanting to do that and it took quite a bit of coaxing to get her to crawl back under the fence.  All that day and the next she spent quite a bit of time peering down at them from the porch balcony, watching.

On our third day here, the husbands went out into the pasture to pick blackberries, and they took Addie with them without a leash.  Being the overprotective mom I am, I protested a little.  "You'll keep an eye on her?  Really watch her?  Are you sure you should take her?"  My husband rolled his eyes. "She'll be FINE!" he insisted.  Now my husband, Woody, is way more liberal with her than I am.  He lets her off the leash and trusts her in unfenced places, and he's always telling me "she's fine!" and that I am being ridiculous, etc. And so far nothing bad has happened to her, but I'm just not that trusting.  She could get into trouble so quickly!  Anyway, I watched them disappear down the hill and went inside.  Pretty soon I heard them talking and laughing and they came back with the berries... and Addie. Of course.

Well, apparently Addie helped them pick and eat blackberries, and then she sneaked off to check out the llamas.  They didn't see her, but heard a loud "Yipe! Yipe!" and Addie came running back to them.  The men were having a big chuckle over how the llama must have put her in her place.

So this morning, I went with Addie outside without the leash with new found confidence.  "She'll be fine..." I thought.  A llama was close by the fence and Addie fixated on him (I think it was Wally).  There are plenty of places for her to get under the fence, but I wasn't worried.  I stepped back in the house and told Woody she was out there checking out the llamas.  "No!" he exclaimed. "Don't let her go out there!  Those llamas can kill her!  One swift kick and its over, she'd be dead!  Bring her back in here!" 

Go figure!