Sunny is a 6 year old Malinois, as her human companion I'm pretty sure I'm obligated to start off with that so you don't call her a German shepherd.

We had a chance to go camping with some friends on their property over the weekend and she did great.

The first night temperatures dropped below freezing. I'm a firm believer that there is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate gear, and we managed to stay warm and cozy together in our tent overnight.

She got to spend almost the whole weekend off-leash, a rare treat for this suburban pup.

Her herding and guarding instincts got a bit of a workout, when some new (to her) friends arrived, she gave them a good barking-at until I caught up and greeted them, at which point Sunny saw that they were ok and immediately rolled over for belly-rubs.

The whole weekend Sunny would position herself around camp to make sure that she could see all of us, and if anyone wandered too far away from the group, she would go with them to make sure they were safe.

My friends' property is large, remote, and provides some safe natural backstops to set up a shooting range. Sunny has never been the least bit bothered by fireworks or thunder, and I'm happy to report that she showed no signs of fear at the gunshots (from a hearing-safe distance) but was a little annoyed at it disturbing her midday nap, so we cut our shooting short. I'll be getting her some hearing protection if we ever try that again.

On the ride home, my check engine light started flashing and my car went into limp mode on the highway so I pulled over and called for a tow, I've never been happier to have that premium AAA towing package. Sunny was not a fan of the tow driver strapping our car onto the truck, but again warmed right up to him. Unfortunately she was not allowed to ride in the cab with us and had to ride in the car by herself until we could catch up with our friends off the highway to transfer her into their car. She didn't seem too bothered by that and I think she appreciated the higher vantage point. She got to ride the rest of the way home with her new friends and behaved very nicely in their car while I continued with the tow truck.

After an exciting weekend of hiking, meeting new friends, and new experiences, she spent most of the next day in our bed catching up on some missed naps, and I got to pay for new spark plugs and ignition coils.