Grooming walks continue

This is proving to be productive. I did two miles with Maya and Trooper this morning with several stops for brushing, primarily Trooper. Two miles was enough for Trooper and he enjoyed getting out. No one understands why we aren't going into the woods, but they like getting out anyway.

Later in the afternoon I went out again, this time with Maya and Max. I haven't walked Max in ages and he's really pretty good. He's great on the trails, unless deer are spotted. He scared up a rabbit today but he didn't actually see it. I did some good brushing on Max and he really needed it. He is a gorgeous dog. A couple people driving along the roadway at Pleasant Grove stopped to tell me what a good looking dog he is. Fortunately, Maya just walked along beside or behind me, and let me pull her over next to Max when cars came by. Whenever two or more shepherds are gathered together, Maya is in charge of the collective brain.

Max takes a nice picture. I got him up on a picnic table for some
grooming and photography. He was cooperative for both.

Spreading our scent

Today was the best day we've had in weeks, so I needed to get myself and some dogs out for walks. The trails are still muddy though, and I'm still averse to ticks, so we needed to stick to the roads at Pleasant Grove. I devised two strategies to combat the monotony of walk walking. First, I walked multiple dogs for short distances: 2, 2, and 1 mile stretches with first Maya and TJ, then Maya and Rugger, and finally Obi by himself. The other plan was to stop when we encountered a shady spot and do some brushing. In this way we left a variety of dog hair floating in the breeze across the fields at Pleasant Grove. That's got to be as good for scent marking as pissing on everything. Plus, it got rid of fur that would otherwise be forming dust bunnies in our house. That's my theory and none of the dogs argued with me about it.

Maya's butt and belly are white, in addition to
her undercoat and her pretty white feet.

TJ's tail holds a lot of excess fur and it doesn't
come out on its own, it needs to be brushed.
He's much better about it than he used to be.

TJ always looks good after a brushing.

I kept trying to get a picture of Maya and this
is what all the pictures looked like. She was
walking in my shadow for shade. Smart girl.

Sorry for the shadow, but a brushed out TJ is a beautiful dog.

TJ still has that happy smile.

Maya sticking close, and
not just for the shade.

Rugger's walk with Maya

I've got to get this dog adopted, he is really
bonding to me.

"Look at me as if I mean, something to you."
- Mary Chapin Carpenter, "The Hard Way"

"I'm going to be responsible for your protection and welfare
on an ongoing basis. In other words, I'm your dog."
- Spots, from "Isle of Dogs"

We walked down the hill from the pole barn to check the water
level in the stream. The flood water had receded, but you
could tell that the low lying area had been underwater.

This is Maya alerting on something in the woods.
Tail up and curled tight, ears like radar dishes.

Rugger is a great dog.

Maya had already had two walks totalling four miles, so I
took Obi out on his own. We walked just about one mile,
down the trail from the dog park to the river.

The river had receded back to its banks, but
there was a lot of debris in the low area and you
could tell that it had been under quite a bit of
water at one time.

A pair of ducks trying to find a calm spot in
the swollen river, hoping for a return to normalcy.

The river was still quite high so the area they
call the "sandy beach" was submerged. This
sandy spot was at the top of the river bank.

When his feet hit the sand he started running around like a madman
and even grabbed a mouthful of sand in his mouth. I don't
know if it's because of the new, strange texture on his feet that
excited him, or if he was getting hit by the same biting flies
that started attacking me.

It was another new experience under his belt.
I would have taken him into the dog park, which
is something I never do, but there was no one there!

Obi goes for a walk

See that light band across his snout?
Everyone thinks its from a Gentle Leader.
Actually, it's a slime trail. He drools, shakes
his head, and leaves a slime trail across
his own nose.

I hadn't taken Obi out on a hike until yesterday evening. It's been too hot, too humid, too stormy, too muggy, too buggy. It rained again yesterday afternoon, of course, and I spent the day cooking. But by evening the rain had slowed to a drip so I loaded up Obi and Maya and we headed off to Pleasant Grove.

We got in our three miles by just walking the roads, but it felt good to get out. The temperature was actually pretty decent after the afternoon storms and there was a good breeze to move the humid air around. It may have been one of Obi's first times on a leash, but he wasn't the worst dog I've ever walked.

Obi has a typical puppy attitude of excitement, wonder, and awe. Everything is new, everything is fun. We had the entire park to ourselves, except for a wedding reception behing held under the pole barn. That was perfect for Obi's first hike because he didn't need the distraction and attraction of other people and other dogs. Maya tolerated him quite well, as she always does with noobs. At least he provided some relief from the boring roadway walk.

Obi didn't really pull or fight the leash, but he didn't
understand why he couldn't periodically leap forward.

Maya modeled good walking etiquette, as she
usually does, but he failed to follow.

Maya exercised her patience more than her legs.

He would stop, stick his nose into something for a bit, and
then leap forward and try to run like he was afraid he was
falling behind. 

He also tried to play with Maya. 

In the right time and place she might have played with him,
but this was not it.

She explained that walks were not play time.

I'm not sure he ever understood.

This stride shows how the prints to the left were made.

At least he looks serious here. 

The serious look was always short-lived.

This was the only time I got him to sit
long enough to take a picture.

Standing still never lasted long.
I cheated with this picture, taking
it while he was taking a piss and
the cropping off the back end.

The best description for Obi is "long and floppy."

Obi got excited because Maya was excited, but of course
he had no idea why. He thought she wanted to play.

Near the end of the hike, Maya alerted on
something in the woods.