Walking with Maya

I've been taking the other dogs out to the pasture about every day, but that doesn't do anything for Maya. It's so dry now that the grass is barely growing. I've been able to get caught up on the yard maintenance, so I've started back to hiking, which I haven't done since we had the puppies.

I need it as much or more than Maya, and since the other dogs have been getting out to run, I've been taking her alone, at least for now. She likes that and she's easy to handle so I like it too. Trooper really wanted to go with us today and I felt bad but I couldn't take him because I wanted to do a longer walk than he can handle these days. Maya and I went alone and we did five miles - the first time in a long while I've walked that far. I made it up to Trooper by letting him out to the pasture with the other boys when we got home. He was fine with that, but I will try to get him out sometime soon when I'm just doing a very short walk.

It's always nice walking at Pleasant Grove and I decided that as dry as it is, I probably didn't need to worry too much about ticks, so we went back to walking in the woods. It's still warm and I usually plan our route to include a few water crossings to give Maya a chance to drink and cool down. However, there's been so much news about toxic blue green algae in the lakes and streams this summer, that I planned a completely dry route instead. "Planned" is a bit of a misnomer, the planning I do is in my head, as we are walking, and as I decide how far I want to make the hike. It's sort of a mental game I play against myself to make our walk come out to an even mile. Today's hike was 5.05 miles, which is pretty close.

The sumac is about the first thing to turn and it has turned
a nice, deep, shade of red. Most the other leaves are just
brown because everything is so dry.

Maya was out front most of the time today.
She seems to sense the tension on the leash
and adjusts her pace accordingly. She doesn't
pull but she stays far enough out front that
I'm not constantly kicking the backs of her legs.
I think the tail serves as a sensor; if it's
touching my leg she needs to move out a bit.

The calendar may say it's fall, and it's certainly getting dark earlier now, but the temperature still feels more like summer. The dry air is more comfortable at least. A lot of leaves have turned brown and fallen prematurely, but there's not much real color yet, except on the sumac. Maya and I spotted some deer (her favorite) on a walk Thursday evening that ended when it was just about dark. Today we saw a juvenile turtle on the trail and we had an encounter with a burro. That was a first. I was just glad that I had Maya, and only Maya, with me. It would have been a much different scene if I had been walking some crazy shepherds or even the Danes. Maya is solid and dependable. 

Maya spotted the turtle first.

He was no more than half the size of the box turtles that
we usually see, so I think he must be a juvenile.

We stepped over and around the turtle
and went on our way.

We had seen the little burro hanging around
a horse trailer while a man and woman were
saddling up their horses for a ride. The burro
saw and followed us, mostly interested in Maya.

The riders came along after her and told me
that she plays with their dog at home. She was
a bit cautious approaching Maya but Maya
didn't even put her fur up like she does when
meeting new dogs.

They touched noses and were fine, but I
didn't hang around for them to do anything
more. The woman got her on a lead and
Maya and I finished our walk.

This was the route of our 5 miler on Friday afternoon.