Duggan's first hike

Rex is at the vet today for his second round of heartworm treatment. He's spending the night and will come home Tuesday evening. That left Duggan alone in the big kennel today so I took him hiking with Maya.

Maya probably though I was crazy taking a vision impaired male shepherd pup on our serious deer patrol hike, but we all muddled through it for about three miles. That was far enough today because it felt like a sauna outdoors today, and actually it pretty much was. 

Duggan wore a harness that Debbie had fitted on him at the adoption event on Saturday. He really isn't bad on the leash. He didn't know where we going, of course, but that didn't prevent him from being out front most of the time. The trail pretty much guided him along although he's not really one of those dogs that feels obliged to stick between the lines.

You could see him listening and it was clear that he was relying on his ears at least as much as his eyes. I only saw him run into a tree once, and that was probably as much about puppy stupidity as it was about vision impairment.

Maya could have been very helpful if she had played the role of seeing eye dog, but she didn't want to be bothered by the pup and mostly walked behind me, keeping her distance from Duggan. He didn't trip me, his head wasn't badly hurt by the tree, and we all made it back in one piece so I'd have to say it was a success. Maya would give it a lower evaluation, however, because we didn't spot any deer today.

Duggan was really pretty good for it being
his first hike. He kept moving forward for
the most part even if he did occasionally
want to venture off into the woods or grass.

The water came as a nice surprise for him. Duggan loves water.

He's going to grow up to be a very good looking German Shepherd Dog.

He tried to make friends with Maya, but
Maya really isn't looking for any new dog
friends right now. She has Trooper and TJ.