Short days

Sparky.  I just love that face.

We are just making our way through the work week around here. The time change means that it gets dark very early, so I'm hiking mid-afternoon and then finishing up with work in the evenings.

Maya and Max on a leaf-covered trail.
Some of the new trails are rather hard to
follow when covered with leaves, but Max's
nose is pretty near infallible and he sticks
to the route even when I can't see the trail.

Tuesday I walked 5+ miles with Maya, Max, and Sparky. It was Sparky's first time out in a while and it was a warm day, so five miles was probably enough to hold him for a few days.

Max, on the other hand, really wants and needs to go out daily. However, I really needed to take Theo and Summer on Wednesday, and I had to take Maya, of course, and I wasn't sure I could handle Max as a fourth dog. I'll have to make it up for him on Thursday.

It seems that everyone has decided to stay at home since the time changed. Even in the afternoons, we've pretty much had the entire trail system to ourselves. Mid-afternoons are generally pretty quiet, I guess, but there's just no evening any more. I'm lucky that I can split up my work day to get out mid-day.

Left to her own devices, Maya wouldn't stick to the trail
the way Max does. She would follow a scent through the
woods. Since we always stick the trail, I'm not sure it has
ever occurred to Max to do otherwise.

Sparky doesn't care about deer, he likes
being out with me.

Theo, Maya, Summer. I think that these
three could pull a plow. This evening my back
feels like that's what we were doing today.

Maya (rear), Summer (front) and Theo (right).
Summer was due to be spayed last week, but when Clay took her in they discovered she was in heat.
She's got another appointment but it's still two weeks off. Fortunately, she's an easy keeper.

Theo has got a good looking head on him.

This is not a great picture, but it's a great
thing to see, Max and Maya playing indoors.
On days that he doesn't hike Max actually
engages in play with other dogs, that's normal
behavior for most dogs, but it's been rare for Max.