A Better Day

Finally, a normal day. The meds that the vet gave R worked, and he didn't barf this morning. So, we could have a nice and relaxed day.

I exercised the two dogs separately. In the mornings, we try to give them each individual attention. Then, in the evenings, we all hike together.

It's amazing to see Shyla get physically stronger by the day. She sprints and leaps with such grace.

This leap didn't seem to have any particular purpose. She landed in the deep grass and then stood up looking a little confused. It made me laugh!

When we made it up to Hug Hill, we saw the result of the past two days of rain at our elevation. It was snow, and lots of it, up higher. Shyla and I hiked in the mountains behind her last week. Some years, the first snow on the high mountains will melt away, and we can sneak in one more hike. We'll have to wait and see if that happens this year. Regardless, I love the combination of the yellow and red areas in the forest and the white mountains.

Shyla is doing a sit-stay in this photo. Her traditional training (sit, down, stand, stay, come, target, leave it, etc) is going stunningly well. The harder part for her is the socialization sessions in town but we are slowly but surely seeing her become more comfortable with strangers and the bustle of a town.

One of the fun training games that I'm playing with her is teaching her to poke a person's shoe with her nose. It's a good way to teach a dog to approach a stranger without any temptation to jump on the person. We're finding that she can very rapidly transition from being afraid of someone to jumping on them but we don't want to do anything negative near a stranger since it's taken a month to convince her to approach any strangers. So, my trainer suggested the "substitute behavior" of poking a stranger's shoes so that Shyla won't become a habitual jumper.

I've never worked with an older pup like Shyla who has never navigated the real world (that's why I'm working so much with a great trainer). I'm finding it to be incredibly rewarding. She's learning so fast, and she looks to me for guidance all the time. I think that this process will make our bond very strong.

Today, after I took Shyla for her hike, I took R out for some exercise, just a short session to let him have some fun. He visited Hug Hill too!

Soon, very soon, I want to tell you more about seeing a bobcat close-up in person. He was so close that I could see his ribcage rise and fall with each breath, and I could see the details of his pupils. I was glad that he was a small bobcat (30 lbs, maybe) rather than a mountain lion!

Have a great weekend! And, thank for all the well-wishes for R. I hope that he doesn't need them anymore sometime very soon.