The Dogs' Day

Most of my posts are about my morning bike rides with Shyla. Not only do we do a mountain bike ride together, but we also play training games during our morning outing. The photo below is from another of the silly games that I made up!

When Shyla and I get home from our morning ride, R is usually sacked out, pleasantly tired after running with the Runner.

Our evening outings, usually around sunset, are much less extensive than my morning ones because we're all tired by then. I occasionally get some photos of the Labraduo during that hike.

But, R isn't as "into" the camera as Shyla is. I get lots of photos like this one.

So, when we were out for a smoky red sunset the other night, I started by taking photos of Shyla alone, figuring that R wouldn't cooperate. Moreover, a red sunset makes Shyla's fur glow in a way that black fur can't.

So, imagine my surprise when I tried to photograph R just after that sunset, and he cooperated! What a handsome Labradude. I love when I can capture the softness of his eyes in a photo. He's a wildly enthusiastic Labrador - a trainer once called him "a 10,000 volt dog". However, he also has a sensitivity that is sometimes apparent in his eyes.

I love these days when we can linger at sunset in the season's warmth.

Happy Summertime.

Wildlife on Sunday

Our wildlife are now into their mid-summer patterns, which means that I can see them almost anywhere. Shyla usually gives me the first hint that an animal has been someplace unexpected. She was definitely focused on something besides me for a while on our morning mountain bike ride. I kept an eagle eye on her for a while to make sure that she stayed nearby, and I never knew what caught her attention.

So, I visited some trail cameras after my ride with Shyla, and I discovered that a yearling cub is feeling his/her oats. I don't think that we've seen this bear in photos before.

The yearling arrived at a mangled bear marking tree and sniffed it.

Then, the little bear decided to try his back-rubbing moves. The white mark on the bear's chest plus the almost uniformly black fur differ from the other yearling we've seen on multiple occasions.

Just like the big bears, this yearling used a paw to grab the tree up behind his head, pulling it into his head for better marking.

Next, he started his shimmy moves, as he moved his back up and down in the tree trunk.

Finally, the yearling departed. Because the trail camera was pretty far from the tree, I am not certain whether this yearling was a male or female. Females stay near where they were born for their whole lives while males disperse and tend to move long distances each summer.

Just to give you perspective, here are photos of a big male (Milton Jr.) marking that same tree earlier this summer.

Milton Jr. was taller than the tree.

One piece of great news for the bears is that the Buffalo Berries are finally emerging. They usually appear in early July so they're about 3 weeks late. We have lots of Buffalo Berry bushes nearby. We know where these berry bushes are the densest, and we stay away for a few weeks each summer to let the bears forage in peace.

Last, but not least, the same trail camera has shown a bobcat carrying prey past it on multiple occasions over the past few weeks. In this photo, I believe she's carrying part of a rabbit. Repeatedly carrying prey in one direction usually means that a bobcat has kitten(s) stashed in a den. Like past years, we might get to see the kittens' maiden journeys with their mom!

Enjoy the remainder of the weekend!

Long Days!

We've been out for sunset many evenings lately. Some evenings, there's even some sun that we can see! R was gazing toward it last evening.

Then, we try to get up early for a bike ride the next morning. I'm afraid that "burning the candle at both ends" has caught up with Shyla, and maybe me too.

I love the long days, with late sunsets and early sunrises, but seizing each one can leave me yawning, just like Shyla!

Today, we continued learning our new game, where sometimes Shyla retrieves her toy and sometimes she runs past it to come straight to me. She is definitely still in the learning phase.

On our first try of a "recall" where she was supposed to run past the toy to me, she stopped next to it and did a tongue flick, a classic sign that she was uncertain and a little anxious about what to do.

Of course, I helped her out by reminding her to "leave" the toy and come to me.

On the next one, I asked her to bring the toy. I loved how she sneaked a peek at me as she picked it up.

She loves retrieving much more than ignoring the toy and coming to me. She is a Labrador Retriever, so that makes sense.

She did a whole series of repeats perfectly, either leaving the toy or not, depending on what I asked.

Then there was one that made me laugh. I had asked her to "come" - which means leave the toy and come directly to me. She tried to sneak up behind the toy.

I reminded her to "leave it", and here was her reaction.

 She quickly righted her course.

What a good dog!

With Shyla, the most important thing is that I keep everything fun and upbeat so she doesn't get worried about making a mistake. So, I cheered her on as she retrieved the toy on the next repeat!

We had a super fun time playing our game.

After I left Shyla at home at the end of our short ride, I headed out for an easy ride. I'm hoping that some easier-than-usual rides will alleviate my fatigue. I stopped a lot to look at beautiful flowers. A wintergreen in bloom...

I love this time of year... I had a nice easy ride, and I'm hoping to feel some zip in my legs during my bike ride tomorrow!

Sunshine!!!

A Friday of sunshine. Yay!

As Shyla and I headed out on our mountain bike ride, butterflies fluttered all around us, flitting from one flower to the next in the meadows we traversed.

Then, we arrived at Hug Hill, and we worked on a new game. I placed a toy that Shyla likes to retrieve atop Hug Hill. Then, I either called her to me or I sent her to the toy. She needed to distinguish between the two cues by either sprinting directly to me or by retrieving the toy.

She is such a smart dog. She figured out the game super fast. The first time that I sent her to retrieve the toy, she hesitated to pick it up, waiting to hear encouraging words from me as she contemplated it.

Then she went for it, picking up the toy and bringing it to me.

Then we did a few recalls, where she had to run past the toy, without retrieving it, to come to me.

The next time that I sent her to retrieve the toy, she didn't hesitate.

And, she zoomed back to me with it.

We had so much fun! What a glorious summer day!

Happy Friday!

A Wet Summer

Thanks for all of the suggestions and encouragement during my time of computer chaos. I think that I have a blogging system that will work until I have my own computer in my hands!

This is one of the wettest summers in out area that I can remember. We often have clouds and moisture even first thing in the morning.

One plus side is that we mountain folks are not on edge about wildfires. The past few years have been incredibly stressful in that regard. Last summer at this time, everyone in our neighborhood listened to scanners so they'd know early if a fire broke out. Indeed, I found lightning-triggered wildfires that were just starting twice in the past two summers.

Shyla and I have been out every morning together recently. It had rained on and off since yesterday afternoon so we both got soaked from the wet tall grass and bushes during our mountain bike ride this morning. The only advantage to getting so soaked is the lack of fire danger!

The next photo was at the very end of our ride this morning. I was freezing cold from being soaked but Shyla loves this type of weather. It makes her fly!

Another plus to all this rain is that most of the plant-eating animals are doing really well. My trail cameras have seen lots of activity. I recently captured a photo of a worried looking fawn with her mom.

The fawn had good reason to be worried. A sow with a cub had been in this spot the previous day and then again the day after this. Black bears do prey on fawns but I suspect that this one is too big and agile for a bear to take it down.

I'll share more of the footage of this mother bear and her cub in an upcoming post!

Wordless Wednesday: Reflection

P.S. I am struggling with a short-term solution to my computer woes while I await a new computer. I have no access to all sorts of things... like photo-editing software and my feedly account so I may be absent more than I wish to be!

Perspective

The diagnosis is that my computer is probably kaput forever. So, I'll be struggling along with my iPad for a bit longer.

That seems like a relatively small hurdle when I contemplate the fact that today is the two year anniversary of K's death. Believe it or not, K died on the same day of the year as our previous Chocolate Labrador, Acadia. So, life has taught me that there are far bigger worries in life than a non-functional computer.

Thank goodness for our current Duo. Mr. Goofy...

And sweet Shyla...

Computer Chaos

After being "fixed", my computer worked for abut 36 hours. It's now kaput again so I am back on the iPad. In the big scheme of things, I know it's not a big deal. But, it is frustrating.

Because everything is harder on an iPad, I'll keep this post short. 

Just before my computer crashed, I checked a memory card from a trail camera that showed me that a new black bear sow, who has at least one cub, has made a foray into our neck of the woods. I have video (on my crashed computer) of the mother and one cub at the spring where we saw cubs play last summer. I can't wait to share it with you!

This morning, Shyla and I had a wonderful mountain bike ride together, enjoying glorious weather and soaking up the sweet smells and sights of our wildflower bounty.

Now, I will hope that the computer experts will make good on their promise to make my computer the number one priority tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I am looking forward to watching a Tour de France stage this evening and to a sunset hike with Duo!

I sure hope that all this computer chaos ends soon!

Sunday Fun

A beautiful Sunday in Colorado. R sprinted across a peak, full of fun and happiness.

 Shyla got in on the running too, sprinting through wildflowers toward the peak.

In the midst of the wildflowers that the dogs ran through, I kept seeing beautiful little Lady Bugs. This one was drinking nectar from a clover that had been doused by heavy rain last evening.

Happy Sunday!