Ode to a Good Dog

Yesterday, I was out by myself for a short fat bike ride, and I came upon a canine friend lying in the snow on a trail.

I knew that he'd been suffering from numerous ailments and that his hind end had become very weak. Indeed, he tried to come to me when I got close but he couldn't pick up his hind end. I sat with him, stroking his fur and telling him what a good dog he was. Then, I tried to get cell service to call his human. Of course, there wasn't any service in that spot - there never is when I really need it.

So, I told him that I'd be back very soon, and I started riding toward his house. I could hear him howling and caterwauling behind me. He didn't want to be left alone.

I met his human who was heading out toward him with a big sled to try to bring him home. She said that he'd attempted to follow her on a trail outing without her knowing it. He'd become unable to walk, and the sled seemed like the only way to get him home.

It was tough to get him into the sled. He resisted and seemed like he might try to bite. We fashioned a make-shift muzzle, and his human slid him into the sled. Then, we worked as a two person team with me pulling the sled and his human pushing it while stabilizing her dog. I think that the sled scared him so he wanted to get off it.

When we got close to her house, the snow-packed trail was canted in a way that scared him, and he managed to get his make-shift muzzle off as he struggled to get off the sled. His human ran home to find a better muzzle, leaving me to sit with him.

I stroked his cheek and told him what a good boy he was. The sun was shining and his fur was warm and silky to my touch. It was a special few minutes.

I have always had a special spot in my heart for this gentle dog. He's one of the only dogs on our trail network who Shyla trusted from the start. He'd correct other dogs who were trying to bully Shyla.

After his human arrived back at the sled, she put a new muzzle in place, and we managed to pull him the last quarter mile to his house.

I had to rush away after getting him home so that I could meet a worker at our house. Now, I wish that I'd said goodbye to my wonderful dog friend. I guess my goodbye was earlier while I stroked him in the sunny spot in the trail.

He died in his sleep yesterday afternoon just hours after we'd hauled him home. He slipped away while lying in the sunshine in his favorite spot next to his barn.

Rest in peace, my friend. Your gentle spirit always warmed my heart. I'll miss you.

Shyla's Progress in coping with fear and in nosework

I mentioned Shyla's setback in my "wordless" Wednesday post. Many of you know that she was an unbelievably fearful dog when she joined our family at age 9 months. It took years and a ton of work but she now seems like an almost normal dog most of the time.

At our home, she has reached the point of accepting almost all visitors as friends. She greets almost everyone with enthusiasm and happiness.

Recently, we've needed to have some work done on our house, which has necessitated workers being inside the house for entire days. They've required access to the whole house so there was no place to put the dogs where they could relax undisturbed.

Shyla initially greeted the workers with her usual friendliness. We always explain "Shyla's Rules" before anyone meets her. They include not looking at her and not approaching her. Rather, we ask that people ignore her until she decides to approach them.

The problem started when the workers (and us) assumed that Shyla was comfortable with them after Shyla had chosen to approach them for the first time. They are dog lovers so they want to pet her during the day. To do that, they'd walk directly toward her while looking at her. Shyla twice responded by backing away, cowering, and growling at them. I suspect that their direct approach wasn't the only stressor but that the loud construction noises also had gradually raised Shyla's tension over the day.

Yesterday, after the growling incidents, I asked a worker "to pretend that there was no chocolate Lab in the house" for the entire day unless Shyla approached him to say hi. That strategy worked (and the worker complied beautifully)... and Shyla decided to approach him to say a friendly goodbye at the end of the day!

We have a few more days of workers in the house... and we'll be managing Shyla's fear as best we can. The cowering and growling incidents taught us that Shyla still has a fear of strangers ingrained in her, and we need stay vigilant in protecting her in potentially scary situations.

To help Shyla gain confidence, you all know that I've done lots of basic training with her plus some more advanced stuff like nosework. She's been doing nosework for about a year, and she can now sniff out scent sources (i.e. q-tips with oils on them) from inside closed cabinets and drawers. I am overjoyed with her progress in nosework, and how confident she is while she works.

To end on a happy note, I wanted to share a video of her doing nosework. Don't let the complicated title deter you - it's just specifying the part of nosework that we were focusing on in that day's training for a course that we were taking. I hope that you enjoy watching her work!

Since this is a Thursday, I'd like to say how thankful I am to our local trainer who has taught me everything that I know about helping a fearful dog like Shyla and also to our Fenzi instructors who have helped tailor Shyla's training to her sensitive personality.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Our formerly fearful dog had a fear setback recently. More about that in the future.

The main thing that I noticed in these photos was how her eyes are glued to me. It's up to me to help her navigate this human-dominated world without being pushed past her threshold for fear.

No matter what, I love her.

Fluffy Snow in Paradise

More snow fell out of the sky yesterday. It was fluffy and fun.

I haven't been feeling well with headaches, spine pain, and fatigue (probably from the pain). Going out into the completely quiet forest and playing with Shyla rejuvenates my spirit almost every day.

In between bouts of playing, I pedaled my beloved Meriwether fat bike. I had to live without it for a few days, riding my old fat bike while my Meriwether was in the shop. I got it back with new brakes that actually work (unlike the set that I'd managed to destroy in three years of riding)! And, I could pedal through loose snow again, making tracks to take me where ever I wanted to go. This bike is the best snow bike I've ever ridden. It amazes me!

Another gift today was getting to see moose. They were next to a trail that I use to go to and fro our house so I had to pass them multiple times. The first time, Shyla sensed them a long time before I did, and she sat in the middle of the trail refusing to go forward. That's become her signal to me that there are dangerous animals ahead. I peered through the aspen grove, and I saw a mama moose and her calf. They were far enough off the trail that we could pass, as long as Shyla stayed in a tight heel.

The calf watched us pass while mama moose watched peacefully. Don't worry - I had a long lens with me to get this photo!

Seeing that moose pair on top of having such fun riding and playing with Shyla made my day. I literally forget everything else while I'm out in a beautiful snowstorm among the wildlife.

The Joy of a Dog

Do you ever wish that you could be as happy as your dog? I do.

It is very rare that Shyla isn't absolutely elated to chase her purple toy. She doesn't care whether the sky is gray, the snow is crusty, or the wind is howling. Chasing her wubba makes her happy.

I thank my lucky stars almost every day that we discovered how wonderful it is to share our lives with dogs.

They show me that joy is found in throwing your whole spirit into whatever you are doing!

Black Dog Sunday

We are so happy to have our black dog back in action again! He's now a healthy 9 years old but is still acting like a puppy. He is so exuberant that people still ask if he's a puppy when they meet him for the first time.

He and Shyla can run around happily together working on their synchronized tongue flick routine.

It's a happy Sunday for us! I hope that it is for you too.

Winter in the Colorado Mountains

Winter has finally taken hold, steadily and strongly. Each day, we awaken to at least a little new snow, over top of a solid base of snow that probably won't melt until spring. Most mornings, Shyla and I head out to make tracks. I won't lie - she usually leads the way, which helps my effort just a little bit.

You see, it's very hard breaking new trail in snow, especially when you're riding a bike. The slightest upward incline can force me off my bike to push instead of pedal.

I have goal of keeping at least a small trail loop open throughout the winter. It isn't easy. The wind loves to blow here, sending snow granules flying into the air. The wind-driven snow collects in the lowest spots, like the trails that I just made the day before.

This photo was from just before sunrise one day. I'd packed this trail to a nice solid consistency the day before. Mother Nature won - she blew 8" of snow into the trail overnight, making it impossible to ride. However, you can see from the pawprints that it was easy for a dog to run on it!

The snow next to the trails looks like cake frosting after the wind whips it into peaks and valleys.

The swirled snow amuses me endlessly, especially on days when pedaling my bike feels almost impossible.

The most amazing thing is how Shyla is not slowed by any of this. She seems mystified by why I ride so slowly when there's loose snow on the trail. Look at Shyla fly!

Winter is a harshly beautiful season. Getting out to explore the forest is much harder than in the summer partly because of all the layers and special gear that I need. Moreover, the forest no longer has the beautiful music of birds singing but instead emanates creaks and groans as trees sway in the wild winter winds. However, the stark beauty of white snow, green pine trees, and deep blue skies awes me. And, the amazing wintertime sunrise light helps me make photos that I adore.

As long as I can focus on those good things about winter, I don't unconsciously starting counting down the days until spring...

It's a Moose!

Just before our latest rounds of snow, Shyla and I had an experience that was remincent of the time, just about a year ago, when three moose somehow snuck up behind me while I was taking photos of Shyla in the sunrise light.

This experience was also at sunrise. Shyla was perched on her favorite boulder when her eyes became more and more intensely focused somewhere behind me.

First her eyes widened.

Then her chin started to rise.

Her chin rose some more, and her eyes seemed to widen.

Then her gaze followed something to the left.

At that point, I stopped snapping photos, and I looked behind me. I saw nothing out of the ordinary. I visually checked every boulder, stump, and out-of-the-ordinary tree but I still saw no animals.

We finished our photography session with Shyla seeming a bit more relaxed. She galloped and played as I took photos.

After our photo session, we took off riding the trails nearby. Almost immediately, we saw this big guy. I wondered if Shyla had sensed him during our photo session -- that would explain her alarmed look.

I think that he's a young bull because he wasn't too hefty and his antlers weren't huge. On the previous day, he was with the mother moose and her calf (who I showed photos of recently). That made me wonder if he was a young adult offspring of the mother moose.

After standing a good distance away taking photos for a while, he did look directly at us. I took that as our cue to move along. He let us go peacefully. I love getting to observe wildlife like this!

My general experience with moose (so far) has been that bull moose seem less prone to get upset with humans than cow moose when it's not mating season. In contrast, cow moose with calves can go from relaxed to aggressive without much warning at any time of year.

It takes a long time to learn the ways of the wildlife around us. I love observing them but don't want to upset them or put me and Shyla in danger. I'm gradually learning how to do this with moose.

Positive Training - Teaching Shyla to Walk on Ladder Rungs!

Today's post is part of the Positive Pet Training Blog Hop.

I've been teaching Shyla how to target things with each of her paws. The idea is that this teaches her how to consciously use each paw on cue. It helps her with body awareness. and it helps her to learn to follow my cues.

Shyla has known how to do some simple targeting for a long time. It's a great technique for photography. I ask her to put her paws on something and to stay. Then I can take her photo. Alternatively, I often ask her to add another trick with the paw targeting. In this case, she targeted the boulder and then waved.

In the next photo, she took a bow while targeting a boulder with her front paws.

Recently, we took a course in which she learned much more specificity in her targeting. After going through a series of targeting training exercises, she can now target small discs with each front paw and each hind paw. If you look through my Youtube Channel for videos about targeting, you can see the progression that we followed.

I taught her this targeting using shaping. Initially, I put a target on the floor, and I clicked and rewarded her whenever she paid attention to it (as little as looking at it). Then, I waited for her to touch it with a paw to click and treat. After she touched that target with the correct paw 80% of the time that I asked her to, I introduced another target which was for a different paw. We went through the shaping process for each paw until she hit that target with the correct paw 80% of the time. We did that for all four paws.

All of this targeting with her paws had her in the right state of mind to start learning to walk on a ladder. Walking on a ladder is simply a process of targeting each rung with her paws. Shyla is within the first week of learning to walk on a ladder but she's doing great! Check out the short video.

I plan to teach her a more continuous walking style and then eventually tilt the ladder upward a bit. The ladder is currently only 4" off the ground for safety while she's learning.

I love positive training. You'll notice that there's never punishment for messing up. With her history of positive training with me, she knows what the goal of a given exercise is based on what gets her a click and treat. It's so much fun working with a dog who is so attuned with me!

Wordless Wednesday - The Happiness Brought by a Single Stick

Someone found a stick today - and her happiness about it was infectious!

A Serene Snowy Sunrise

Last week, winter had moments of feeling magical with a big storm of light fluffy snow and then a bluebird day. Shyla and I were out for sunrise on the bluebird day. I'm so glad to have Shyla with whom to share the daily adventures of living in the Colorado mountains.

She snuggled down into pillows of snow and gave me a look that's hard to interpret.

It was still very cold - around 7°F on our sunrise morning. Shyla's limit for needing boots is usually around zero but she still held up a paw every now and then.

And snowface was inevitable after a dive into the snow for a treat.

I sure am glad that we were out reveling in that beautiful day because the weather got bad again soon thereafter.

Today, we were treated to a wonderful "wintry mix" of snow and rain. I don't ever remember it raining in January at our elevation prior to today. Yuck.

Now, I am recovering from steroid injections to try to soothe my carpal tunnel syndrome which has left me with almost constantly tingling/numb/painful hands over the past couple of months. I'm not going to type too much now, in the hope that resting my hands will let the steroids do their job.

Happy Tuesday!

A Curious Mountain Lion

I know a clearing in the woods that mountain lions visit frequently. It's on a saddle of a ridge so it's a natural spot for them to cross the ridge. A huge old Ponderosa Pine tree spreads its limbs on that saddle, and mountain lions like to mark their territory by scraping (with their hind paws) in the pine needles under it.

I know all of this because I have had trail cameras in that spot for years. Last year, I started getting worried because my rate of mountain lion sightings had gone way down. I'd gotten no mountain lion photos at that site in about a year. I worried that the lion population had plummeted for some reason.

This was a photo of a mountain lion in that clearing.

Then, one day as I rode my mountain bike through the woods, a cylindrical object on the forest floor caught my eye. I stopped, thinking that it was trash that I should pick up. After I examined it, I saw that it was an electronic device made by a wildlife company. I also saw tooth marks in the neoprene sleeve covering it.

I brought it home and Googled it. To my surprise, it was a light-sensitive device that made animal calling noises when it was dark outside. My reading told me that it was frequently used by photographers to entice wildlife to visit their cameras.

I thought, "What the heck? I've scarcely gotten any mountain lion photos in the past year. It's worth trying it to see what happens.". I put it on that ridge saddle, under the Ponderosa Pine. At first, not much happened except that the darn thing burned through batteries at a surprising rate.

Then, I found a series of videos on one of the trail cams on that saddle. It was a mountain lion who was intrigued by the device.

I thought that it was cool to get to see so much behavior by the mountain lion as he checked out the device and eventually took it away! The funny part, to me, is that theft by a mountain lion is probably why the device was lying on the forest floor to start with (remember that I said it had teeth marks on it?). Now, the device is floating around in the forest again...

Enjoy the video!

Silhouettes on Sunday

Windy days frequently produce incredible sunset skies. That happened recently, and I took a series of photos of Shyla against the sky.

Graceful Curve

It was the day of R's minor surgery - this one looked almost prayerful to me.

Shyla smelled something - maybe a coyote. I call this "Coyote Rock" because I've seen coyotes surveying the meadow from it.

Wide View. What a beautiful world!

A Crystalline Arctic Day

Shyla and I were up and ready early enough to snowshoe to a viewpoint in time for sunrise. The problem was that the thermometer read -10°F, and our nearby neighbors' thermometers were reading -17°F. I decided to do some rehab work with R before heading out, hoping that the world would warm.

It had warmed by a few degrees by the time we headed out. Only the tips of our pine trees were in the sunlight yet.

Almost immediately, we saw our "friends", the mama moose and her calf, who were breakfasting on a leafless bush. It's astounding that they can survive the winters here.

I took a few photos and turned around to take a different route, further from the moose pair. At that instant, mama moose made a beeline to a point ahead of us. Her calf followed, and the pair disappeared into an area of endless aspen groves. Shyla and I could go on our way.

Because it was so cold, Shyla needed her red boots again, and she had "snow face" within minutes of our start.

It stayed very cold for most of our hike. Shyla's snowface persisted but, as long as she is wearing boots and they don't build up ice inside them, she doesn't mind the cold.

I am endlessly astounded by her strength, speed, and exuberance!

As much as I'm enjoying the beauty of this extreme winter snap, I'm ready for some warmer air. I'm hoping that it's warm enough for Shyla and I to be out for sunrise in the morning. I want to see that amazing sunrise light!