The Future is Bright

The biggest news is that R's blood test showed no signs of a heart hemangiosarcoma tumor. So, we're finished "hunting" for cancer for now. We'll wait a few weeks and hope that his blood spontaneously returns to normal. We feel optimistic that R will be fine.

This morning, Shyla and I were out on the trails before sunrise. It was dusky in the low meadow but then the eastern horizon brightened. Soon, the sun peeked over the eastern hills and bathed us in red light after we'd climbed up to a high point.  Although Shyla is a dark chocolate Lab, her fur turns red in the sunrise light just like K's did.

Shyla is already amazingly good at keeping her eyes on me when we're on the trails. This was just after sunrise.

I called her, and she accelerated toward me, wide-eyed and happy.

She adores clambering on the boulders that are strewn all over our mountains. She gracefully leaped onto one this morning and then looked at me quizzically.

After our morning outing, we went to town for training class and some socialization. This girl is incredible. It's as if she landed on Mars a few weeks ago, and she's already adapting. During training class, she decided that it was time to shower other dog handlers with kisses during playtime. They all knew that Shyla was shy so they were so nice to her! The key thing seems to be that *Shyla* chooses to approach them and not vice-versa. If a person walks straight toward Shyla or looks straight at her, it's scary. But, if she wiggles her way until she's next to a person, it's not at all scary. In fact, it's fun for Shyla.

And, our little girl was the ringleader for playing among the dogs. At one point, the other three dogs in class were all chasing her in circles around the facility as she had a "zoomy fit". Everyone was laughing.

Yes, I am smitten. The future is bright.

And, it looks like Shyla agrees!