The view never changes

There's a saying that goes something like this: "If you're not the lead dog, the view never changes." That proved to be at least partially true for Emmylou and Cabell today. We went for a hike with my new three dog rigging today. Molly was out front because she's a natural scout anyway. Emmylou seems to prefer the anchor position and I like her there because she helps control the pace of the other dogs. Cabell was in the middle because he's relatively new at this and has a tendency to wander off the trail if given the chance. When he's suspended between the two girls, they keep him moving forward down the trail pretty well.



The dogs' harnesses are connected by 6' ropes, so they are not exactly nose-to-butt, but they are close enough that they know their place on the team. Cabell had two ropes to contend with and he got tangled a couple of times, mostly when he would stop to lift his leg. Once he stopped that and got with the forward motion program, it all went remarkably smoothly. They all figured out that it worked best if they kept minimal slack in the rope, and Cabell learned that he walked a bit out of the line from the other two he had less chance of entanglement. They are all resting quietly this evening. Cabell isn't accustomed to our walks and he is pretty wiped out, but he enjoyed it. Emmy has been objecting to the lack of outdoor activity lately, so this satisfied her, for today anyway.










There is a limit to how many nice days like this we can hope or expect to have in February, so I took advantage of this one to cook outside this evening.