Deer hunting

No, this is not really a post about hunting, pro or con, I'm not getting into that.  It's about Max mostly, who has discovered deer in a big way and is determined to find them whenever we go walking.

Sparky is less concerned about wildlife than he is about scent marking.  He wants to make sure that everyone knows that Sparky was there and he wants to keep track of any markings left by other dogs. Max, on the other hand, has become a real wildlife fanatic ever since he spotted his first deer.  His ears are up and listening constantly and he alerts at the sound of any bird or squirrel, assuming that every sound is a deer until proven otherwise.  He barks at horses too, but seems unsure about what to make of them.  He goobles up horse poop as we walk whereas Sparky just steps over it, unconcerned about anything other than canine smells.

Max was so keyed up today that I couldn't keep up with him.  My legs were a little sore starting out from the five miles I did with Sparky on Sunday.  Max and I put in another four miles today but by mile three I was needing to slow down the pace a bit.  We didn't actually spot any deer today, thank goodness, but he was convinced that the woods were full of them.  It is nice to see him focused on something, I wasn't sure he was capable of that in the beginning.