Spreading Sparky

Sparky and I hit the trails again today.  We did a little over four miles and covered some new territory, or at least a different route.  It was good.

When Sparky poops or pees in the woods he finishes up with a lot of kicking with his rear legs. It sends detritus from the forest floor flying for several feet and I've been told that it's a way of spreading his scent and marking his territory.  When I pee in the woods he does the same thing, usually after adding his mark over mine.  I don't know if he's spreading my scent because he thinks I don't know how to do it, or exactly what the motivation is, but he wants everyone to know that Sparky was here.




















Max has been indoors for a couple days and nights now and I must say, he's a different dog. Actually, he's the same dog, but he's happier and more content now.  The screaming and tail chasing is definitely frustration at not being with me. Indoors he's much, much better.  He has stayed in a crate in the office the past two nights with no problems.  I suspect he's more trustworthy indoors than Maya.  No house-training issues at all.  He was in the kitchen while I was cooking this evening, playing with Maya and generally being underfoot.  When Clay got home everyone got excited to see him and Max went into a little tail chasing behavior, but nothing like he did outdoors.  He will still do it outdoors if he's in the dog yard and I'm outside, but the key definitely seems to be keeping him inside and with you as much as possible.



















I want to thank everyone for the kind words and thoughts about Bremo sent via email, comments on the blog, and on Facebook.  I really appreciate it.  I don't write those things to garner sympathy or attention, it's just a part of life with dogs.  I try not to cover up or shy away from the tough or unpleasant aspects of dog life on here.

Bremo was a lucky dog in many respects in contrast with so many of our fosters -- he had the same home for his entire life and he never knew unkindness from a human.

Bremo with a prize pear.