Sweet Serena

It's no secret that Sweet Serena has walked in and plopped her big Dane self down on my heart. How she found room with Maya occupying that space is a mystery, but she has and the two girls have co-existed very well. Maya is quite confident in her position around here, and Serena is young and has a lot to learn. I'm not sure I want Maya teaching her everything she knows, but there's not much I can do about that.

Serena's bed is separated from mine by a narrow walkway,
about 18" wide. Somehow, her bed seems to be inching closer
and closer to mine each night.

I'm quite smitten by this big girl and these pictures explain why.

She is a fine looking dog.

She's young, inquisitive, goofy, and fun. Serena makes me smile.

She's also incredibly endearing.
Gigi got to me by putting her paw on me.
Serena puts her head under my hand for contact.

We'll be walking along and her head appears under my hand.
She'll walk this way for a bit, keeping my hand in contact
with her head. The side of her face, her ears, and her
muzzle are some of the softest things I've ever touched.

She sleeps in what had been Vince's spot and she shares nicely with Sparky.
Sometimes they even share the giant crate in my office, although Sparky would rather not.

We need more days like this

It doesn't get any better in this part of the country than a day like today. Sunny, warm, 70 degrees, no wind, no rain, no humidity, no bugs, and it was on a weekend. In fact, both Saturday and Sunday were picture perfect.

Sparky meeting Smokey. In his younger days
Smokey is just the sort of dog Sparky would
have beat up, but he has mellowed.
They met with no problems.

I got stuff done, took six dogs to the pasture to run and then walked two. The only dog who didn't get any organized exercise today was TJ, but I let him wander the yard on his own and that's enough to satisfy TJ these days.

Smokey has now met the entire pack. Sparky and TJ were the latest and last pack members to meet Smokey nose to nose. Smokey clearly doesn't have a problem with dogs, other than he just doesn't really know how to play or interact appropriately. His real issue, it seems, is barrier aggression and guarding behavior, and most of that seems to be defensive in nature.

Smokey, Max, and Sparky

Sparky doesn't do a lot outdoors these days, but it was a beautiful day and he wanted to come outside when I was taking everyone to the pasture. He ran around a bit and had a good time, but he tires quickly these days so I brought him back inside before the others.

That's Serena dogging Smokey in the foreground.
Look at Sparky down below. There really should
be name for Sparky's gait; it's sort of a bounce
and skip. I've never seen another dog do it.

Smokey in front, Max behind in the shade working on a
tennis ball. Max destroys them and Serena picks up the
remains and eats them.

I spent most of my time chasing Serena and getting stuff
out of her mouth, mostly tennis ball fragments. She will
eat them. I used to just let Max and the mower chew up
old tennis balls. Now I'm playing pick up to keep Serena
from eating them.

Smokey is usually found following Theo around, as he is here.

I was glad Sparky wanted to come out with us today.

Serena, Smokey, and Sparky

Theo, Smokey, Serena, and Sparky

Sparky, Smokey, and Max

This picture actually has five of the six dogs in it. You may be able to spot Theo's tail on the left,
then there's Max, Sparky, Serena, and Smokey.

Smokey seems to idolize Theo. That's not uncommon when
we have a young male shepherd around. They all want to 
grow up to be Theo. 

Smokey mostly kept his distance today but here's Theo
delivering a correction to Smokey, only taking a small tuft
of hair off his butt this time, however.

Here's Smokey and Sparky again.

Theo and Serena

After destroying a couple tennis balls, Max found this
flattened soccer ball to carry around.

Trooper didn't get in many pictures because he spent his time
out at the front fence as he always does.

The way Great Danes play ball is to the let the shepherd get
it and then knock them down and steal the ball when the
shepherd drops it.

Serena about to steal the ball. That's Trooper (rear left), heading back to the dog yard.

My little girl, Maya

Maya and Serena on the afternoon hike.

Maya was alerting on a lot of scents on the trail. The excitement
spread to Serena and she gave me a good pull.

I like this picture of Maya.

There was not a lot of slack on the leash today.

The Next Day

My Friday afternoon walk with Maya, Serena, and Theo got stormed out, so I tried it with the same trio on Saturday. The day was bright and sunny, not a cloud in sight. There was some wind but it was really a nice day. There were quite a few other people out, but really we only encountered a couple and we were able to switch directions to successfully avoid them all.

The woods aren't green yet but you do see buds forming.

Theo was our fearless leader for the whole four mile route. Serena either walked with him or by my side most of the time. Maya brought up the rear, allowing her to keep an eye on everything. She would take a forward position when she sensed something interesting, but it was midday so there wasn't much wildlife about.

The "trails closed" signs were up because things were pretty muddy from the rain the other day. We did head into the woods at both ends of the roadway, however, on trails that I knew would be pretty dry and solid. I did avoid the really muddy routes, because slogging through mud is no one's idea of fun.

Near the end I tried getting them up on a picnic table for nice heroic poses against the beautiful blue sky, but no one really cooperated. Serena wouldn't get up on the table at all. Theo and Maya did but wouldn't put their ears up for me. Gigi was the only dog I've had who really knew how to pose for pictures.

Maya likes bringing up the rear and I don't
have to worry about her back there, which
allows me to concentrate on the other two.

Serena's ears and jowls show that there was still some pretty
gusty wind out there today, but nothing like yesterday.

A windy spot or moment.

I'm glad the two girls get along so well.

Theo hopped right up onto the table for me and stood nicely,
but he would not give me both ears up.

I need to carry a dog whistle or squeaker or something to
get their attention for pictures.

We had a really nice walk on a beautiful day.