A sunset hike

Yesterday evening, the Duo and I took a snowy hike in the hours before sunset. We wandered through the windblown snow, and the Duo held impromptu races. Sometimes, they were neck-and-neck, 120 lbs of Labrador hurtling toward me at warp speed.

Sometimes, R leaped into the lead, kicking snow in K's face as he accelerated.

Sometimes K took the long way around while R flew over shrubs.

But, K is amazingly fast for how much she's been through. In the photo below, you can see how she's adapted her gait to cope with having only three toes on her left front paw. She lands on her large triangular heel pad instead of flatly on her whole paw. You can see her preparing to put her left front paw on the ground and her toes pointed upward. The vets told me that dogs who "successfully" adapt to the amputation of a weight-bearing toe use this strategy. It was cool to see it in a photo!

After all that action, R shook, and snow crystals flew through the air.

As he finished his shake, he turned toward me. What a hysterical look!

You might be able to see in the previous photos that R looks very thin. We weighed him, and he hasn't lost a pound. So, why does he "suddenly" look much thinner than before? The next photo might give you a clue.

This one shows the same thing.

R's legs have suddenly grown! Our friend noticed it first because she hadn't seen him in a while. Then, I started looking at current photos of him and K side-by-side and comparing them to older photos. Our 3 year old Lab has sprouted longer legs.

I'm completely surprised. I thought that dogs his age were finished growing. None of my Labs have ever had growth spurts so late in life. Indeed, xrays taken when K was between 1 and 2 years old showed that her growth plates had closed. I guess that R's haven't! Have any of you experienced a late growth spurt in your dogs?

We finished our hike as the setting sun painted streaks of clouds golden in the sky.

As the moon became brighter in the sky, we heard our coyote pack raise their heads to howl and yip. What a chorus!

During many nights, part of the coyote pack visits our clearing. They're welcome guests, that is, except when they decide to have a chorus at 3 AM and R decides to sing harmony.