by Kimberly Foster

Created on: October 16, 2009   Last Updated: October 18, 2009

A little background, I heard about Camp Dogwood from someone at church. They told me that my dogs would love it and they'd come home exhausted. That they came home exhausted was true, that they loved it was not true.

My dogs are rescue dogs. I got them two years ago from a shelter after I lost my beloved Buddha, my dog of 15 years. It hasn't been easy for them or me, rescue dogs have issues that I wasn't used to but I love them very much and they have truly come a long way from the shelter dogs they were. For our second anniversary, I thought it would be a great idea to do this Camp Dogwood. I looked online and found their website, it looked so awesome! I really began to get excited. Here's where I say do not ignore the warnings the universe sends. In fact, as I write this I'm going to point out the warning signs with an asterisk * just to identify them clearly so you don't miss them like I did.

*The Camp Dogwood website is a bit odd. They don't tell you where the camp is, it's not very clear what was included with the camp fee but there was a ton of information about the classes and events for an additional fee. It does make you want to go; it just leaves you with a ton of questions. There was a number to call, so back in July I did but never got a call back. I'd actually forgotten about it until my boss mentioned it last month. I called again and still got voicemail, no callback, I had already planned the time off from work so I reached out via email and got a call back from Dave Eisendrath co-owner of the camp who told me that they are extremely busy and have a hard time getting back to people. By this time, I was a bit concerned about the deadline but was assured that I could get in. I took about a third of my savings and paid for space for a four-day weekend. The cost was $425. $425 paid for shared housing in a "rustic" cabin I was asked if I wanted a cabin, because of the late date the available space might be challenging. I told him that I really wasn't very concerned with the accommodations; my main thought was that of my dogs. This was a mistake. .

*Arrival at camp. I was so excited for my dogs I could hardly contain myself. It was a wet and miserable week here in Chicago but nothing could dampen my mood. My babies were going to have the time of their lives. We were to check in on Friday at 12:30 and I thought Friday would never come. We got to camp about 12:15 on Friday October 9. We were lucky and didn't encounter a ton of traffic but it still took

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