Almost Wordless Wednesday - Canine Eyes

We had a dog visitor for a few days recently, and her eyes mesmerized me. They are so beautiful!

 

Eyes give us a glimpse of the inner spirit of a dog - and this dog's spirit is beautiful!

Yellow Lab Puppy!

Puppy cuteness can help cure all that ails you! This is the puppy who I photographed early in the winter. Now, she's about 5 months old and has become so devoted to her humans. When they're around, she can't take her eyes off of them.

She's looking up at one of her humans in almost all these photos. She was in a serious mood. She also has a playful and silly side that I hope to see before she grows up!

Her humans have been working hard at training and socializing her, and it shows. She and I were on the deck alone briefly, and she even dropped her bone to come running when I called her!

She's a beauty. Even her eyelashes are gorgeous!

I came home smiling and started searching for a yellow lab puppy to adopt. After a few minutes of looking at very cute puppy faces on my computer screen, I realized that we cannot adopt a puppy right now. Shyla needs us to keep her world stable - and, when we do add a puppy, to plan it out carefully.

I think that I'll have to get doses of puppy cuteness from friends' puppies.

As for my knee - thanks for all the nice questions and comments - the pain is decreasing although there's still a fair bit of swelling. I'm hoping that the icing brings down the swelling soon so that the docs can figure out whether the cartilage and meniscus damage requires surgery.

Moose in Winter - Watch out for the Thin Ice!

On a recent fat bike ride, Shyla and I saw seven moose on one ride. The first group appeared to be three. They were all bulls, and they didn't show much interest in us besides a quick look as we appeared. All except for one were too deep in an aspen grove to photograph.

Despite their lack of interest in us, it wasn't easy to convince Shyla that it was okay to make a circle around them. She firmly wanted to turn around. Before I worked hard on convincing her, I snapped a few photos with my little point and shoot camera.

This is the same bull, now letting us see his full antlers. They're pretty big for around here.

He was busy eating the aspen trees and seemed to ignore us although his ears might have been monitoring us.

He stuck out his tongue as he processed the aspen twigs. Then, I finally convinced Shyla that it was okay to circle them and go on our way.

We rode for a little while, and then Shyla planted her butt in the middle of the trail - her moose alert signal. Again, she refused to move so I looked around for a moose. It's amazing how hard it is to spot such huge animals. Indeed, I spotted a group of at least four moose! As usual, most of them weren't clearly visible but here was one bull.

In the next frame, it appeared that a calf passed by him. The odd thing was that I never saw a cow moose in this group. Perhaps she was out of sight.

It looked as if the calf bumped an aspen tree as s/he moved past, releasing a shower of snow onto the bull moose. Typical teenager move!

Then, another couple of moose came into view. It looked like a bigger bull moose in the foreground and a younger one behind him.

With all these moose in a small area, I started to wonder if they were having a family reunion or some sort of party!

Part of the reason why we see so many moose in the forest in the winter is that their favorite feasting site, the bottom of a pond, is inaccessible. I was lucky enough to be able to put trail cams by a pond last autumn, and they are still there today. It's amazing how much the animal activity has gone down in the winter compared to autumn!

The biggest reason is probably that the ponds freeze, cutting off access to the moose's staple - plants growing from the bottom of a pond. Also, the pond ice is treacherous - it can break, sending an animal plunging into ice cold water.

Today's video shows some moose at ponds and shows an elk falling through the ice but managing to save herself.

Enjoy the video!

Frosty Day in Every Way

We got a very intense snowstorm on Friday evening which dropped about 8" of snow on us in a few hours. I would have loved it except that the snow was followed by intense winds faster than 60 mph. That meant that the fresh powder was flying through the air and freezing me and Shyla when we tried to go out to play on Saturday.

It stuck to Shyla's fur and obviously bothered her eyes, based on the closed right eye in that photo. The wind was coming from her right.

For me, the wind whipped snow into my face, leaving me absolutely freezing and uncomfortable. No matter what I did with a balaclava and a neck gaiter, the wind driven snow seemed to find cracks in my defenses.

While the wind put a damper on my mood, we still managed to have some fun in the snow filled world.

I'm glad that Shyla wasn't airborne during one of the high speed wind gusts or she might have blown away!

Shyla's love of leaping never ceases to amaze me. She especially loves to do it when there's fresh snow... perhaps because it softens the landing. She gets serious air!

I took one more photo before I lost all feeling in my fingers. You can see the wind picking up the snow from the ground to transport it eastward. There's a chance that someone who lives to the east of us will have all our snow by tomorrow morning!

After heading home, I spent the majority of the day in a recliner with a circulating ice bath cooling my knee. It's still very swollen so this is the new strategy for trying to get my knee back toward normal. Given the freezing experience outside, I was not eager to subject myself to more cold... but a roaring fire built by the Runner has made all the difference.

Yes, it's been a frosty day in every way!

Labraduo Joy

Today, I got to enjoy our Labraduo, with a big brace on my knee and a smile on my face. It started as a bluebird winter day.

I find it almost impossible not to be swept away by their joy.

Then, I came home and rested, watching the day turn from a bluebird day to a snowstorm day outside our windows. The snow is coming down hard!

I worked a bit on this week's Dogwood Photography Challenge which is to use a zoom-burst technique to create an interesting photo. That means that I used a long exposure time and quickly changed the zoom on my camera while the shutter was open. That leads to fun distortions.

I had already decided to use our living room for the photo. Its symmetry makes it a fun choice for this technique. I had a fire burning in the fireplace - but not on the living floor as this photo might suggest. The "zoom-burst" created that distortion of the fire, and also distorted the light rays coming in through the windows.

The next one turned out differently because you can see our windows at the wide angle and most zoomed points in the photo - creating an almost 3-dimensional effect. The fire isn't as crazy looking but I like tunnel-like perspective of this one.

Which one do you like better? I'm trying to decide on one to submit for the challenge.

Thanks for the uplifting comments yesterday. I've spent a decent part of my day supine with ice on my knee. I'd say that I followed instructions for about half the day. That's pretty good for independent-minded me!

Discouraged but I'll Bounce Back

I would have to say that 2018 hasn't gotten off to a stunningly great start . Yes, Shyla, I agree with that little tongue you have stuck out.

My knee is still ailing. I initially thought that the MRI results were good news, and I'm now learning that they are not so good. The happy news is that my ACL and other ligaments are intact.

The bad news is I have an exceedingly angry bone bruise and possible "occult fracture" in the part of the tibia (shin bone) that meets the femur (thigh bone) in my knee. Essentially, my femur crashed into my tibia so hard that it left an imprinted bruise on the top of my tibia. When the knee and calf swell to the extent that mine have (and remain swollen for 2 weeks), there's often an invisible fracture too so they tend to treat it as if there is a small fracture.

When I read the MRI results, I thought "Great, a bone bruise. It'll just heal on its own.". Hmm, after some consultations, I'm learning that it's not so simple. It can take 6-9 months to heal. I won't even tell you the measures that they talked about to help it heal. It's crazy, all due to one awkward landing.

The bottom line that this is a very serious thing. It may still be hurting at the start of NEXT winter! I'll be darned if it's going to stop me from having spring-summer-fall adventures! No way.

Tonight is my time to be discouraged, and then tomorrow I'll get up and seize the day. That's my style, no matter what anyone says. I get to play with this amazing dog tomorrow morning!

R has lived with elbow pain for his entire life due to congenital elbow dysplasia, yet he gallops with a frenzied joy unmatched by anyone I know.

Within reason, I plan to follow his example. I may not be able to mimic his happy (and very loud) joyful barking but I will look for the joy in life, just like he does.

Thankful for Snow!

It finally has felt like winter this week. It snowed (not enough) and temperatures were below zero when we started out into the world the other morning. Shyla was overjoyed.

She loved sitting in the frost covered shrubs and then leaping out toward me.

I'm not sure why leaping was her chosen method - except that it expressed her happiness!

Every twig was holding frost and snow.

And their snow would go "poof" into the air when someone touched it. That's why Shyla was so often covered in a dusting of snow.

This non-winter has made me realize how much I actually do appreciate winter. We need it so that the world can rest and recover from the summer. And we need the water from the snow.

We say, "thank you for the snow and please send some more!". It's beautiful, isn't it?

Snowy Wordless Wednesday

Finally!

Someone was happy about the snow!

A Mountain Lion Marking Spot

Last week, I lucked out. I had just scouted for a spot to put a trail camera. I chose a spot where multiple scrapes were left by a bobcat in the pine duff. Often, multiple carnivore species all mark in the same places so I didn't know what animals might mark there.

Within days, a mountain lion killed an elk extremely close to that spot. The lion chose the spot in front of my trail camera as his marking and toilet spot. Here he was on the first morning when he'd killed the elk within hours before. Note the blood on his chest.

He ended up choosing this as his touchstone spot that he passed as he approached and departed the elk carcass.

In the video, you'll see that he often dug up a spot with his hind paws. Sometimes he did that to make a depression for his scat. Then, he'd spend at least a minute covering up his scat using his front paws to move pine needles and snow over it. It seems so odd that the biggest predator in our forest covers his scat so meticulously, as if he's hiding it.

I felt so lucky to get such amazing views of this secretive carnivore. Here he was returning to his feast one afternoon. Lions eat their prey at night, and then they sleep all day. Usually, they sleep some distance from the carcass. This guy seemed to be sleeping during the day about 3/4 mile away (I had a cam there too - this lion was really cooperating with me!). The footage was in last week's video although I didn't yet know why a lion kept walking past the cam!

He spent a total of 4 days decimating the carcass. I found the carcass just after he'd departed for the last time. I didn't know that he'd given up on it so I set up cams pointed at the carcass. Alas, the lion had sated his appetite and moved on. Red foxes finished the meal.

Here's a video of the lion's activities at this touchstone spot where he marked vigorously.

Happy Lion Tuesday!

Fill the Frame

I've tried to make Mondays my wildlife footage day of the week but I just couldn't get a video done this week (I am a very slow video editor). So, I'm taking a holiday for President's Day.

I did work on my Dogwood 52 week photography challenge, focusing on two faces that make me smile. The challenge was to "fill the frame" so I filled two frames with our canine family.

Sweet Shyla. No dog has changed me as much as Shyla has. She has her weaknesses, which I focus on too often. I've grown closer to her than I ever thought would happen with any dog after K. She puts up with my "drive" that has an intensity that used to scare her. And, I help her through her fears and try to make her smile every day. I'm so glad that we insisted on keeping her almost 6 years ago.

Then, there's our black dog. He always manages to look serious in portraits but he's one of the goofiest and happiest dogs I've ever known. I love when I can find the right light to highlight his brown eyes. They show the sweetness of his soul.

Today, I celebrate these two canines who bring us so much happiness!

Poetry in Motion

I knew that life was looking up when the morning light was gorgeous. We headed out into gale force winds, but that's become normal recently. 

As we headed up toward my favorite place for sunrise light, I noticed that the angle of the rising sun had changed enough that a new place was illuminated, albeit briefly. 

Shyla was happy about it too because it's her favorite leaping site.

She awes me with her grace and power.

Look at her in flight! She's perfectly horizontal like she's truly flying.

And, she appeared to float as she landed from her leap.

Her first leap of the morning is always her best. Often, I am not fast enough with my camera and all its settings to capture her poetry in motion. I lucked out his morning, and it set my mood meter to "happy" for the rest of the day. The knee isn't better but my attitude is.

Labraduo Happiness

I've got to admit it. I've been staring at a blank screen with no post written for a while. The reason is that this knee pain has pushed me over the edge. My spine always hurts... but the knee is like the straw that broke the camel's back. I'll be getting an MRI early next week. At least that will tell me why my knee hurts so much and is disfigured with swelling. Fixing it will be another task altogether.

I had the Labraduo today, both halves! Normally, that's cause for happiness. And I was happy while we were out together on the trails. I just can't muster happiness right now with the backdrop of pain that I'm feeling.

Here's the Duo! R looks as carefree and joyful as ever! Shyla tried to be funny by sticking out her tongue.

Happy Saturday! I'm going to muster some happiness, have no doubt.

Meeting Evil - Again

We recently ran into the evil woman who hit Shyla last year on the trails. I've feared that she would hit Shyla again given her proclivity for hitting dogs, despite the negative consequences the first time.

Alas, there was no need for me to worry. Shyla crawled away and hid behind a tree before most people would even notice that I had a dog with me. She remembered the woman far better than I did. It took me a few moments to recollect who she was. I think that I have subconsciously wiped her face out of my memory bank.

Hiding behind trees or boulders is a classic Shyla move. She used to do it at least once on every outing when she was scared. Now, it's far less frequent because so many of my neighbors have made big efforts to help with Shyla's fears.

She never looks this upbeat when she's behind a tree due to fear. In this case, she's behind a tree as part of a game with me.

When we saw the evil person the other day, I could barely speak because the rage bubbled up in me so fast. I was not surprised by how angry I felt inside. The place where the "hit" occurred is one of my favorite places on earth, Hug Hill. Since being hit there, Shyla never fully relaxes when we visit that spot. That hurts my heart.

After that unpleasant encounter, I wanted to cheer up Shyla so we played some treat games. Those games make us both smile! This one was a successful snarf.

This one was not, as I'm sure that you can tell by Shyla's eyes.

So, we ended our bike ride with smiles. Sometimes, that's all that I can ask for.

Thankful for Positive Training!

One of the things that I love most is learning about how to communicate with our dogs and thereby teach them new things.

I have doing some "shaping" training recently, and it is tons of fun. I've been doing this type of training for a while but I'm revisiting the science behind it in an online course that I'm taking now. I taught Shyla to wave using this technique.

Here's the idea behind "shaping". I think of something that I want to teach my dog to do that he has never done before. I get my clicker and a lot of treats. Then, I click every time that my dog makes a movement that is even remotely starting him toward what I want to teach. The click communicates that he's doing something good. I give him a treat after every click.

Later in this post, I'm going to show you a very short example video. I taught R to touch a target with his nose. I chose to use R for this because he has little experience with "shaping". The target is the red bulb-shaped object on top of a short pole in the photo below. R is heading toward it in the photo.

I gave him no verbal cues at the start. I simply stood there and waited to see what he chose to do. You'll see that he initially wanted to walk backwards because that's his favorite thing that I've ever taught him.

My first click is because he got somewhat close to the vicinity of the target. I then wrote "missed it" in the video when he made a quick glance toward the target, and I missed clicking it. After that, I did a bunch of clicks for him glancing at the target.When he went back to solely walking backwards, I didn't click. I waited for him to orient toward the target again.

Very soon, he understood! He repeatedly walked to the target and hit it with his nose!!!! He figured that out simply from the feedback that I gave him with the clicker.

I find it so astounding that I can communicate how to do a completely novel behavior using "shaping" - basically by clicking and treating every increment toward doing the behavior.

Here's the short video. I hope that you enjoy seeing R in action.

I am so thankful that this type of positive training, and other methods of positive training, have been developed and are being adopted by so many dog owners. It's fun for both the person and the dog! There's no punishment for mistakes. Rather, the training is done totally by giving positive feedback to encourage the behaviors that you want more of. I love it!

Wordless Wednesday - Winter Finally!

Happiness in Motion