Oliver takes the Go Train

What a weekend Oliver has had. His weekend started off on Friday night when Hubby and I took him to Niagara Falls for a long walk. My goal for Oliver on Friday was to get him used to crowds.

We walked up and down Clifton Hill and proceeded to the Falls. After a while he was walking smartly on a leash beside me while we walked through crowds literally. Oliver wasn't stepped on and he was doing very well. He was sure tired when he got home.

On Sunday, I really wanted him to get some more travel experience so we took a trip to Rens' Depot in Oakville to see about picking up a few show related items. We also came back with three toys I had not planned on bringing home but who can resist?!

That could have been good enough but I thought we had some extra time that day and why not take the Go Train and see how Oliver does traveling on a train.

From Burlington, we jumped on the Go Train to Union Station in Toronto. We walked around for a bit and checked out some possible airport run type of services.

According to the Go Train website, I should be able to get to the Toronto airport using their service right from Grimsby. Their website isn't very clear on the matter and when I asked around, no one seemed to be clear about it either and looked as though they too were having just as much trouble figuring all the connecting services to get to the airport. It would seem getting to Pearson airport using the Go Train service may be risky business.   MetroLinks (Go Transit) recently announced improvements to their airport service but unfortunately they won't be ready for upcoming trip to Halifax.

While in Toronto I did find another service with Toronto Airport Express which could take Oliver and I to the Toronto airport as long as I could get to Toronto. Taking the Go Transit service plus this other independent service may be my cheaper route to go versus using Niagara Airbus service which is a door to door airport shuttle service.

After some time in Toronto, it was time to go home via the Go Train of course. Both there and back Oliver did very well. No one heard a peek from him and I don't think too many people realized there was a dog on board with them.

We walked about the grass for a while before heading back into the car. I was please to see Oliver didn't seem phased by all this traveling he had just done and still seemed himself.

I realize a commuter train is not the same as an airplane but it was the closest Oliver is going to get to the real thing for a while. I find the airplane can do funny things to dogs, even with dogs who travel a lot. Take Caillee for instance. After her first airplane ride, she was really out of it for the whole next day. Even then I would have described her as a seasoned traveler going from one dog show to the next, and some as far away as Edmonton, Alberta back when we were living in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

When Oliver and I travel to Halifax to this years' Canadian Havanese Nationals, I am totally planning on Oliver needing a day to collect himself and if he ends up not needing that day well then he too can enjoy an extra day in Halifax with me.

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