Our little girl

I'm sending in the adoption contract on Maya, a formality really as she's been "our dog" for quite a while now.  I don't know what it is about me, but I'm a sucker for these problematic female dogs.  I've said before that she combines traits of our Gypsy, Emmylou, and Molly, so how could I not fall for her?



Maya on our hike today. I'm wearing
the blaze orange Ruffler as a headband.
It was great for keeping my ears warm.

I took her on my trail hike today.  I needed to get back out for a walk but I still couldn't handle a strong puller.  That eliminated Max from the start.  Sparky will take it easy on me if I ask him, but I have to ask repeatedly, and I just needed an easier dog today.  Maya was perfect, no pulling at all, in fact I had to encourage her to walk ahead of me at times.  She's not nearly as confident when you take her out of her element as she is here at home.

We had a good walk, over 4.5 miles, on a cold but sunny day.  That's the best walking weather as far as I'm concerned--no bugs, no mud, and no people.  We saw a few deer and she was interested but she didn't proceed to drag me along running after them as Max would have done.

Saturday evening we took Maya down to Scottsville to the James River Brewery.  She's been there a number of times but tonight's crowd was the largest, and friendliest, she's encountered.  Everyone wanted to meet and greet her and she was better with strangers than she's ever been.  She even kissed a baby who very much wanted to meet her.














Maya and Trooper: 
she adores him and he likes her
more than he cares to admit.

Tired, in the back of the car on the ride home.