Shyla Saturday

If it weren't for Shyla, I never would have discovered how much I love photographing dog silhouettes. Shyla has mastered the art of striking a dramatic pose better than any dog who I know.

This is from our most recent trip to the desert. I learn so much on each trip. I am anxiously awaiting our next visit to the world of mesas and buttes!

Nature Friday - A Bluebird and a Wildlife Bonanza

The meadows are alive with birds while the forests are barely waking up.

In the meadows, the mountain bluebirds are industriously working on nests inside of tree cavities. The couples hang out in close proximity to each other.

The nest building duties seem to fall to the female. She busily flies back and forth, collecting nest materials as her mate looks on. She is a gorgeous bird!

In contrast to the meadows where spring is in full swing, the forests are barely waking up. In the midst of towering pines, the snow melted only about a week ago. Snow drifts linger in the midst of the matted down ground that has just been uncovered. In one such place, I had a trail camera all winter long. I recently visited it to see what animals had passed it over the winter. I was quite amazed by the variety of animals from huge mammals to small birds. It was an active place!

Check out the short video if you have time. And don't be startled - there is a surprise moment in it!

Thankful Thursday - For Pre-dawn Adventures

I love full moons, as many of you know. When a full moon sets over our mountains, it is simply gorgeous. May actually featured another super moon, so I was excited about seeing an extra large full moon.

I always get up super early to try to see the full moon set. With the early sunrise of May, I set my alarm for 4:30 AM this month. Because the moon sets further to the south near the June solstice, I rode to a different viewpoint that allowed longer views to the south.

It's a big climb up to the viewpoint. I pedaled hard through the murky darkness, not wanting to arrive after the moon had already set. As I got close, I could see the clouds drifting near the moon. I really didn't want to be late after awakening so ridiculously early.

When I arrived, the moon was indeed behind the clouds but the clouds were moving. So, I thought that there was a chance that it would peek through before it set. I set up my tripod, got my exposures dialed in, and waited. While I waited, a Hermit Thrush landed near me and started singing. His song is my favorite on Earth so the morning was totally worth it as I listened to him in the pre-sunrise world.

As he kept serenading, the moon did peek through.

To say that I was happy about my experience that morning would be an understatement. I always wonder about my sanity when I set my alarm super early for these outings. However, I rarely regret them.

Thank you, Mother Nature, for helping me to keep smiling.

Wordless Wednesday - Signs of Spring

Tree swallow couples working out their differences

Pasqueflowers reaching for the sky

And, most years, pups playing on Shyla's Mesa in the desert

Bear Dancing Begins!

The bears are waking up slowly this year. Only two males have been marking trees so far. This is our young bear who seems to have settled on our area as his home.

This is one of the most popular marking trees in our neck of the woods. Whenever you see a leaning tree like this in areas where bear lives, check the lower side of the trunk for fur. Bears adore marking them!

You have seen our biggest bear ("Tiny") mark this tree in the past. He can reach even the highest part when he's sitting. That gives you perspective on how small this bear is by comparison.

He is sniffing to find out who the competition is for upcoming mating season. He probably won't like the news.

He gradually sniffed higher on the trunk.

Then he was standing at full height sniffing the marks left by the big bears. Don't worry little guy - you'll grow up to be as big as them someday - although Tiny may always tower over you.

As a side note, Tiny has not appeared yet this year. I am preparing myself for him not to show up. In my mind, the odds of him surviving this past winter were about 50-50 due to his very serious paw injury. If he died in his sleep in his den, that would not have been a bad way to go. That's the ending that I'd wish for our grand ursine patriarch. We will see.

On a lighter note, it is fun to watch these bears mark and sniff the trees. Check out the video if you have time!

The Hachi Chronicle

Just about a year ago, we had a really big snow storm. It seemed to be a tradition to get several feet of snow in mid-May. So far this May, I don't see a big storm in the forecast. As much as I am ready to move away from winter at this point, a lot of wet snow is perfect nourishment for our world at this time of year.

Also a year ago, Hachi was still a puppy. He was no longer a helpless tiny puppy but he was still very goofy.

It was around this time last year that we realized that Hachi's fears were not going to disappear spontaneously. We got him an appointment with a behavioral vet, and we separated him from R. It was an extremely stressful time because we knew that major decisions were looming on the horizon.

Part of why I started the "Hachi Chronicle" back then was so that others could follow along on our journey. We faced the same extraordinarily upsetting decisions as others with dogs like him. We chose to rehab him because we wanted to give him a chance at a life and because we already loved him, warts and all. It's been a year of anxiety and worry because his outbursts upset us and his extreme fear breaks our hearts.

Over this year, I have come to respect people who commit to an extremely fearful and reactive dog. Some of them do it over and over again - and they are selfless and admirable people in my eyes. Prior to Hachi, I was one of those dog owners who might have scowled at the owner of a reactive dog who scared my dogs and me. Now, I get it. Those owners are doing the best that they can. They don't want their dog to behave that way. They are probably mortified when their dog has an outburst. And, they have doubtless had to change their lives substantially to give that dog a chance at a life.

I am mortified when Hachi scares people or dogs. He still does it sometimes (barks in a scary way) - because he is afraid of the unknown, including strangers. But the alternative is no life for him - so we will keep working with him.

It's been one heck of a year but I'd make the same decisions all over again. There's a big warm heart inside Hachi. Anyone who gets to see it learns to care about him and even love him.

We sure do love him.

Black Dog Sunday

This week, it was time to follow up with our vet about how our Black Dog is recovering from having his tumor-riddled spleen removed.

You might remember that, a few weeks after surgery, he was having trouble gaining weight, and his hematocrit (red blood cell count) was low from internal bleeding. During the pandemic, our vet has been open but all dogs are dropped off to go into the hospital alone. The vet calls the owners to talk while the owners are in their car. It seems like a safe way to take care of our pets.

Afterwards, our vet told us that R got a hero's welcome in the hospital. Due to his many health issues over his lifetime, he's spent a lot of time in that hospital. All the front office staff, techs, and vets know him. Our vet said that everyone in the hospital figured out a way to take a brief break to greet our Black Dog during his visit. I feel sure that he reveled in the greetings and reciprocated with enthusiastic greetings of his own. Each of the people in the hospital has played a role in his happy "extra time". I am so glad that R got to say thanks.

The great news is that R has reached his ideal weight, and his hematocrit is now in the normal range. At home, his energy is still improving, and he's getting more courageous about moving around the house despite his blindness.

After his hospital visit, our vet said that R's paw might be tired from signing "pawdographs" for all his loving fans in the hospital. I am so happy that he can touch so many people.

Our Black Dog truly is an inspiration. He's found how to live so happily despite his "disabilities" (or "special abilities" as our vet likes to say).

He touches my heart every day. Yet, I feel happily surprised each time I hear that he touches the hearts of others in a similar way

Happy Black Dog Sunday!

Shyla Saturday

Shyla and I have been loving our morning rides. They've been sunny and spring-like but there's still a chill in the air. Shyla loves the cool air.

In our quest to stay away from coyotes, ridges are great. They give expansive views of the mountains.

I have to admit that the coyote incident left me anxious about Shyla's safety. I am hypervigilant on our rides, always scanning for trouble. However, I've seen no coyotes since we changed our routes so perhaps I can chill out soon.

I feel so lucky that we have great places to be outdoors within minutes of our house. Our general area has become a magnet for restless people who are looking for places to go hiking or do other outdoor activities (even with a "stay at home" order). To be honest, it's driving me nuts - I'm staying in my neighborhood but I can't stay away from people if they all flock here. It's worst on weekends when our road seems to be a hundred times more traffic than I've ever seen it. And, every trailhead is jam-packed with visitors.

That means that we "hide" on weekends, going to places that your average visitor will never find. Aside from the virus risk associated with crowds, Shyla falls apart on trails with lots of people. She can be courageous at first but then she starts hiding off-trail. I want to join her in this corona virus age.

As an aside, we have tried some behavioral meds to help Shyla with her anxiety. None have made a meaningful difference yet.

This is one place that we both love where Shyla doesn't get at all anxious. We saw no one on the bike ride to get there. We relaxed in the sun, took some photos, and smiled at the view.

I know how lucky we are to have this as part of our backyard. Shyla knows it too!

Nature Friday - Wildlife cope with deep snow all winter long

There are places in our forest where the snow gets very deep in the winter because so little sun reaches them. I had a cam in one of those places for the winter. I didn't expect much wildlife to choose to go there when the snow was so deep. I was wrong. There was a steady stream.

A mountain lion in deep snow at mid-day.

I don't know why this coyote chose this route!

A mountain lion almost swimming through the deep snow.

And a moose during a brief reprieve from the snow.

I made a short video of the coyote, mountain lions, bobcats, deer, moose, and a skunk who trudged through the deep snow past my cam.

Thankful Thursday

Tomorrow will be the full moon. I first had the idea to try to photograph it setting over the mountains more than four years go. By chance, I was out when it was setting and had a long lens with me. It was November 2016.

Over the past year, I've tried to photograph it every month. Sometimes, circumstances like clouds get in the way.

We'll see what happens on this full moon. I sure do have a better idea of how to get a good photo after all my practice. But will Mother Nature cooperate?

I am so thankful for fun pursuits like this one. They keep life light and fun even if they do make me wake up and ride my bike to a viewpoint in the dark!

Wordless Wednesday - Labraduo Memories in the Desert

I cherish the memories of evenings playing with the Duo on Shyla's Mesa. I know that we'll be back there but I also know that our Black Dog won't run like that again.

We'll make new memories when we can go back.

Mama bear and cub happy to be out of their den

It's bear observation season again. That makes me so happy.

I have been hoping to see our bear family from last summer, Mohawk and her two cubs. They have not appeared yet but another little bear family did.

It was a new-to-me sow with a white "V" on her chest. She has one cub with her, and he's a rambunctious little rascal. Vee spent a lot of time checking a bear marking tree, probably in preparation for mating season.

After mom finished checking out the tree, her cub climbed it to sniff as high as his mom did.

It's that tough-love time of year when Vee will need to send her cub off on his own prior to mating season. The cub is old enough to fend for himself although it will be a tough transition for him. Vee should start "social distancing" him in the next few weeks.

When he is gone, she'll be visiting these marking trees trying to find male bears. These trees are pickup joints for bears.

Indeed, just a few days after Vee and her cub were at a tree, a male bear arrived to mark the tree. He was quite vigorous about it so I am betting that he smelled Vee.

Check out the video if you have time. If you watch closely, you'll be able to see the "V" on the mother bear's chest. I love watching bears!

The Hachi Chronicle

It's been a good week for Hachi. He is doing all sorts of things well, including seeing friendly people on the trails or even on the road near our house. His and Shyla's friendship continues. I hope it stays strong forever.

He had no bad episodes with R. And, his counterconditioning for handling his paws is continuing to work. It feels as if it's been going on forever (the paw counterconditioning) but his sudden bad session that included growling about 4 weeks ago made me realize that we need to make all "handling" of Hachi a very slow and ongoing process. So, we keep doing it every day.

Also, through happenstance, Hachi is no longer very afraid of my bike. Sometimes I see him and the Runner out on the trails when our routes cross. Hachi is happy to see me, and he runs over to say hi or even to run along side my bike. It's happened close to ten times now, and I see very little sign of worry about my bike in him now. Sometimes, things can improve without a lot of hard work!

A year ago, we were in that wonderful warm place called the desert. Hachi is not a cold-weather dog. He has a thin coat, and he absolutely loves basking in the warm sun. I'd been looking forward to taking the improved Hachi there this spring. By "improved", I mean that he is usually happy to meet new people as long as they act friendly, which would have made traveling far more relaxed for him. Ah well - maybe he'll get that chance in the fall.

This is one of my favorite photos of him, taken last April.

Hachi is happy right now, and that's good enough for me.

Black Dog Sunday - Teaching a Blind Dog a New Trick

I've taught our Black Dog a lot of tricks over the years, many of them using a clicker and treats. This is one that he loves.

Balance the treat on your nose until I say the word.

As soon as I say it's okay, launch the treat.

Then, the part that is hard for a blind dog - catching the treat.

Even though he almost never catches the treat anymore, he loves this game.

I decided to use our training skills to teach him to scratch the board that will file his nails. The board is a piece of plywood. It has grip tape stuck to it. This tape is usually used to give people traction on stairs.

Because he can't see, I needed to let him know that a new object was in front of him. I tapped it so he'd hear it. Then, because he has lots of experience with "shaping" (where I click/treat any behavior that is getting closer to what I want) - he immediately started sniffing the board, knowing that he'd need to interact with it. I rewarded that a few times, and then I waited for him to put a paw on it. You'll see that he did that pretty fast.

Then, we stalled because the board wasn't stable enough for him. I cut out some video until I put the board flat on the ground. When I switched it to being flat on the ground, R tried standing on it with his front paws. I decided to wait to see if he'd try a digging motion. Because we've done a lot of shaping in his life, he didn't give up when standing on the board didn't earn a click/treat. He got a little agitated but, voila, he tried to dig on the board pretty fast!

Here's the video.