We had a lunar eclipse last week that we woke up very early to see. Much of our world was under the cover of clouds but the moon found a clear spot of sky to shine. It didn't quite reach totality before it dropped below the horizon.
Soon after the moon set, the sky began to get light. A mountain bluebird appeared and began calling from a treetop.
It was worth getting up so early to see the mountains with alpenglow.
This post was not so wordless today but I needed to explain the photos!
On the same bear marking trail as I featured last week, Tiny the Black Bear marked soon after the others. First, a sow came through, sniffing the tree to see what bears had marked it. It is possible that the sow was a long-time beau of Tiny's but I am not certain yet. Then, Tiny followed about six days later. He was in fine form, obviously ready for mating season to get underway.
Enjoy the video!
It was spring this week. The pups got lots of romping time in the meadows of Labrador Valley. Hachi seemed overjoyed.
There were some stressors this week. Two people worked on preparing a greenhouse site for us. That was outdoor work, and Hachi was fine with their presence when he was in the house. He wasn't so sure about them when he was outdoors. I hope to take him out to watch them from a distance this coming week. It would be great for counterconditioning him to strangers being near our house.
As soon as they departed each day, we took the pups out to romp. It was fun!
I've been doing his relaxation protocol with him each day. It really makes a difference. I've also been using shaping to teach him to take a deep breath to relax. I have reached the point where he takes a breath but it's not a deep breath yet. On another front, I'm also working on a new approach to helping him handle people who suddenly appear on trails. It's called a "pattern game". I play a game with him indoors where I say "1, 2, 3". Simultaneous to "3", I drop a treat on the ground. He now knows this game very well so that he looks at the ground before I say "3". The hope is that he'll get such an innate memory of this game that he'll be able to play it as people pass on a trail.
A couple of years later, he could run like the wind again. This was during a late May trip to New Mexico. We camped in a glorious spot, and these two loved running across the soft grass.
Our Black Dog was truly irrepressible. Nothing could get him down. I'll try to use his joyful attitude when the predicted snow arrives tonight. Happy Black Dog Sunday!
Shyla has been on a streak of finding antlers that deer and elk have shed. It astounds me how well her nose leads her to them even from a long distance.
She's continued treatment for leptospirosis. She's on the 2nd week of 4 weeks of antibiotics. While her water intake plummeted in the first week of antibiotics, it has stabilized at about 2000 ml, which is the absolute top end of normal (and some literature says that it is too high for a 20kg dog). I have to admit to a bit of worry about it. I'll see what our vet has to say.
Despite that, Shyla seems happy and energetic. She loves playing with her brother. This photo makes me think that she's still wild even at nine years old.
Shyla is the perfect big sister for Hachi. She never gets angry when he is grumpy or when he plays too hard. She seems to truly enjoy playing with him - often acting as the instigator to get him to play.
Happy playful Shyla Saturday!
For me, the emergence of bears from their dens marks the true start of springtime. In the past couple of weeks, the bear marking trees have been busy. Tiny the bear was the first to mark a tree this spring way back in early April. Since then, a couple of smaller bears have been very active rubbing trees.
The first bear to arrive on a "stomp trail" on May 10 was a sow. She first marked the tree and then she walked back and forth. Notice her funny gait. She was placing each paw in a depression in the soil where bears have placed their paws for decades. She did this to leave scent from her paw pads on the ground. Then, when a male bear comes along, he can follow her by smelling the scent on the stomp trail. It's called a "stomp" trail because some bears hit those spots hard with their paws to maximize the scent they leave.
This sow was very enthusiastic about marking, so much so that she climbed the tree and then descended it like a pole in a fire station! Many hours after she departed, a male bear came along a sniffed (and licked) the tree with great interest. He also walked with his paws in the depressions in the soil.
I will continue this story soon with visits from other bears, including my favorite, Tiny!
Happy Springtime. The bears are out animating the forests again! Enjoy the video.
I was hoping that I'd be thankful for an operational internet connection (I wanted to include some more springtime photos but I cannot upload them). Our technician didn't show up for his appointment at our house. Maybe tomorrow.
In the meantime, I'll go outside and enjoy springtime.
I found a spot on the edge of a meadow where coyotes visit regularly. Sometimes it's one of them and sometimes it's as many as four. Based on the direction that they come from each time, I think that they have a den nearby. Of course, it's the puppy time of year so I'm hoping that we get to glimpse them at some point.
They leave pee-mail almost every time that they pass. I am guessing that it's a pack scent post, a spot where they advertise that it's their territory to all passing animals. The other regular visitors have been bobcats and moose.
The coyotes visited so many times that I had to speed up their visits to avoid it being too long. Thanks to that trick, I condensed it into a short video. Check it out if you have time!
Hachi had a better week. He seemed more relaxed than last week although he still isn't at his baseline yet. He did have to deal with some visitors/workers. We tried having him in the house for a glass installer who was making a lot of loud noise. Hachi was quietly enduring it in a corner of the house far away from the work. Then, the Runner noticed that Hachi's pupils were as big as saucers. That is a sure sign of fear so the Runner moved him to a vehicle for the rest of that worker's visit. Poor little guy.
We met with Hachi's "behavioral therapist" this week. She's a highly trained behaviorist who knows the best ways to try to help a dog like Hachi. She whole-heartedly agrees with us that relaxation exercises are key right now. We added another one to work on - teaching Hachi to take a deep breath on cue! I didn't know that a dog could be taught such an almost unconscious thing. Believe it or not, he is already picking up on it. We are using clicker training to do it.
Life is so full of unknowns. There will be ongoing work at Lab Valley but much of the schedule is not yet solidified. We do know that a very skilled stone mason will be fixing a retaining wall and putting in a foundation for my small greenhouse starting this week (happy dance time!). He'll be working outdoors so that should be less stressful for Hachi than interior work.
All in all, I feel upbeat about Hachi's trajectory. He definitely was less stressed out than last week. That's a step forward!
Our Black Dog made the most of every day, whether it involved running wildly through a meadow or snoozing in the sunshine. I wish that I could be as utterly content as he was.
Happy Black Dog Sunday.
Oddly, the test came back as negative for leptospirosis. However, there are strains of lepto that do not trigger a positive test (and are not covered by the vaccine). So, our vet says that we should do the entire course of treatment for leptospirosis. That involves four weeks of antibiotics.
I am so glad that we caught this. My reading says that some dogs can have their kidneys fail due to this disease if it remains untreated. I think (hope) that we caught it in time.
Shyla seems to feel good and be very happy. She and I have been having a glorious time exploring Lab Valley. We are finding caches of pasqueflowers (wild crocuses) in the most unexpected places. That makes me so happy!
These are the toughest of the tough. In the depths of winter, they continued to use a deep gulch filled with very cold air. Moose ate foliage from the sides of a trail, bobcats hunted rabbits, rabbits ate plants from under the snow, and coyotes passed through on secret missions.
Check out the video of these animals and others deep in the gulch. Remember that the temperature readings from the trail camera are terribly inaccurate. They are usually substantially higher than reality because the camera heats up as it records.
Enjoy!
I am thankful for signs of spring. I've been planting my veggie garden, which is a joy, but the amazing setting makes it even better. As I work the soil and then plant the seeds, I can hear the creek nearby and the birds singing. I am so grateful that the Runner moved my vole-proof raised beds and my rich soil here last fall!
As I work, I keep my camera nearby because I see wonderful wildlife while I'm out there. Shyla lies in the warm sunshine nearby, keeping an eye on me.
One project that we did this winter was putting out bluebird houses, hoping to entice some of them to nest in Lab Valley. You can imagine how delighted I was when I saw a Mountain Bluebird checking out one of the houses while I worked on the garden.
As I took photos of him, he flew to a nearby bush, looking for his mate. Maybe he wanted to show her the bird house? I hope so. We put up lots of them so we are hoping that the birds will like them!
Lab Valley makes us so happy. Not only are the birds and other wildlife amazing but our pups have such fun too.
Look at the happy and relaxed face on Hachi when he's been playing with his sister.
There is so much to be thankful for!
