Maya and Max

It's another pretty day here today, but it's warming up again. I wanted to do a five mile hike but I knew it was too hot to take TJ for that distance, so Max came along in his place.

Max set a faster pace than we had been doing to accommodate TJ. It felt good and Max enjoyed it as well as Maya. This was probably first time I've walked Max since I officially adopted him. He's good on the trails, but he's got a very strong prey drive, which I experienced a couple times today. Once was a small creature right near the edge of the trail that scurried off into the bushes as we passed. That type of animal is the most natural prey for a dog, but it's the deer that we saw near the end of the walk that really gets them excited.  I had Max on a harness, which is fine until he spots a deer.  I need to put a prong collar on him that I can grab with a short leash for those occasions when I need better control.

We have been seeing turtles frequently since the rain as well.  If the dogs spot them moving they will want to stop and sniff but I keep them moving on. If the turtle is motionless, there's a good chance that the dogs will walk right over them without noticing.

The wildflowers are trending towards the late summer/fall varieties and I even noticed some red leaves and berries beginning to form on the sumac.

It felt good to do a full five miles again.  I'm going to start just walking the younger dogs until it cools off this fall.  TJ didn't seem to mind staying home, unlike Maya who insists on going with me everywhere.