Life is good.

Sunrise is getting later, and the angle of the sun is changing. This spot in our forest just started getting that warm reddish light of sunrise this week.

Shyla and I love to play in this aspen grove, especially during the fleeting time when the sun shines on it so early in the morning. My recollection is that this sunrise light on Shyla's leaping log lasts only about a week. Since it's supposed to snow for the second half of the week, we'd better get out and enjoy it again tomorrow!

We heard a woodpecker drumming on a tall dead tree while we played this morning - another sign that spring is coming! I love the rebirth of the world as it heads toward springtime.

When we arrived home, we were greeted by the boys who were lying in a sun puddle. Hachi took advantage of having both of his siblings at home by crossing his paws and snoozing in between them.

I think that Hachi is utterly content.

Life is good.

Hachi Plays and Trains

Hachi is changing so fast that I can barely keep up. Physically, he's almost doubled in weight since we met him. He seems to be about twice as tall too! But, he still plays like a crazy puppy!

Some of the biggest changes are mental. I've played with him, and injected a bit of training, almost every day since we met him. He's learned an incredible number of words and behaviors. "Sit" and "down" are no longer difficult by themselves. I've begun teaching him to "stay" in those positions.

You'll see him work on a "down-stay" in this video. You'll also see me asking him to "out" the toy, which means that he needs to release it from his mouth.

I like to work on these types of behaviors in the midst of raucous play because it's much harder for him to stay in a down or release a toy or when he's revved up by playing.

Check out the short video! (Excuse my silly outfit in it. I'd just returned from a snow bike ride with Shyla.)

Black Dog Sunday - An Extraordnary Big Brother

Our Black Dog makes us smile so much.

He may be 11 years old but he doesn't act like it. He runs on our trails every single day. He almost never limps on his front limb that had such serious surgery a few years ago. I am so happy about him!

He still does a "flying nun" imitation every now and then. This has been a specialty of his for many years!

R runs hard on the trails and then snoozes peacefully when he gets home. Today, R and Hachi snuggled together during an afternoon nap.

Hachi was so content with his big brother. For his part, R really loves his little brother.

Hachi looks up to R with reverence.

Big brother and little brother - a bond that is growing and growing.

Portraits of Hachi

The other day, we had some fun outdoors with the pack. As we headed indoors, Hachi started exploring the front porch. I watched him from down below... and he peered down toward me.

Then, he watched me out of the corner of his eye with a funny expression on his face.

It was fairly chilly outside. As soon as we got inside, he headed for a big fluffy bed. I loved seeing him so snug and warm, especially knowing the tough "street" life he knew as a small puppy. So, I went to get my camera. He peeked at me so cutely!

Our little puppy is growing up but he is still incredibly cute!

Nature Friday - Sunrise and then the Storm

Wednesday morning dawned with a brilliant sunrise.

A snowstorm was heading our way. That was obvious in the heavy high cloud cover and the low clouds completely covering the flatlands to our east. A small gap between the high and low clouds let the sun shine on us as it rose. You can see the low clouds oozing up toward us from the flatlands just to the right of the sun.

A view along the road that we usually take to go to lower elevations showed it more obviously. Normally, you can see a town in that direction but it was completely covered by clouds.

The only sun of the day was at sunrise. Soon thereafter, Shyla and I were out for a snow bike ride when the snowstorm hit.

As the snow hit, the air temperature plummeted, and I was instantly painfully cold. That night, the temperature fell to -12°F here as the snow tapered off.

Thursday's bike ride was so cold that we fled home within a short time. Shyla patiently let me take photos before we sprinted for home.

It was cold and windy but also incredibly beautiful with the freshly fallen snow.

Winter is in full control here in the Rockies. I hope that it is a bit warmer where you are!

Thanks to the LLB Gang for hosting the Nature Friday blog hop.

Thankful Thursday - Gratitude Overflowing

My gratitude is overflowing that we realized that it was a good time to adopt a puppy and summoned the courage to do it without delay. The "Bigs", as we've been calling the Labraduo since Hachi arrived, are both secure, confident, and loving. They are playing such a big role in teaching Hachi about life.

I regularly find them all together on the biggest dog bed. My photos are not staged. Rather, they involve me tiptoeing to get my camera to try to capture the heart melting scene without disturbing them. The Duo seems to genuinely like and enjoy Hachi. They seem to seek him out for fun and snuggles.

The Duo have become a Trio!

As we expected, Shyla does us to boost her confidence, especially when she observes me paying a lot of attention to Hachi. For me, that means that I make sure that we continue with our morning outings and training just like before Hachi arrived. And when I come home from someplace, I make sure to tell Shyla how amazing she is before I greet Hachi. Shyla thrives on personal attention.

I took this photo at sunrise the other morning - Shyla's and my special time of the day. The cold seeped inside my clothes, making me shiver as I lay in the snow to take photos. In contrast, Shyla was happy snoozing with her whole body against the snow.

We had friends over the other night, and Shyla was cuddling up to them. She is continuing to soar, gaining confidence seemingly daily. My heart sings as I observe her continuing to get comfortable in her own fur.

I think that her newfound confidence (it has grown exponentially over the past year) is a big part of why she is enjoying Hachi and his many kisses. She lets him sleep curled against her chest. It warms my heart to see it.

It is rare that the stars align to allow us to time a huge change perfectly. This time they did. Adopting Hachi this winter was perfect in terms of our pack. I am so thankful for how wonderfully this sweet puppy fits into our pack. And, I am thankful that our Duo is healthy and confident enough to help mold Hachi.

Wordless Wednesday

Another snowstorm is hitting today

A good day to curl up together in the warmth

Dreaming of Springtime!

Snow can be so pretty! (and so is Shyla!)

But the snow has really piled up here in recent weeks. I have got to admit that it's starting to feel almost bottomless, especially to little Hachi.

I wonder if he thinks that it's snowy here all year long? I'm guessing that he can't visualize a world without snow.

Before springtime arrives up here in the mountains, I am hoping that we can find some warmth somewhere in the desert. The last time that we were in the desert, we had two canines...

Life has changed since then, in a wonderful way!

Pack Bonding

Shortly after our Hachi looked so surprised as he played...

The trio struck a pose on their own, and I was there with my camera!

The way that Shyla rested her snout on R and Hachi rested his paw on R really shows how comfortable they are becoming with each other.

We are all bonding with Hachi.

Super Puppy Bowl

Hachi sometimes looks like an incredibly cute puppy without a hint of mischief or seriousness.

And, then, seconds later after he starts to play, he can look like an crazed puppy.

And then he transforms again. He gets his ears back under control, and he changes to a more serious puppy.

He seems to oscillate among these states throughout a day... because he's a play-loving puppy!

In honor of Super Bowl Sunday, I am sharing footage from our local puppy bowl today (a.k.a., puppy socialization class). Enjoy the video!

It is tons of fun to watch the puppies play but it also serves a more serious purpose. It teaches puppies how to understand dog communication and get along with all sorts of other puppies and people. I can attest that Hachi has improved almost an unbelievable amount in these classes over the past 6 weeks. He used to get into small tiffs with other puppies several times during a class and now he plays peaceably with them. If these classes work like they did for R, Hachi will grow into an adult who can get along with almost any other dog... and that's a wonderful quality!

Black Dog Saturday

Our vets have been working to figure out R's recurring UTI. Answers haven't been easy to find. In some ways, that's a good thing - they found no signs of new cancers in an abdominal ultrasound. You can see his shaved belly from the ultrasound in the photo below. He wasn't happy about the shaving because it's been cold here!

R seems to be feeling great. He loves his little brother. Often, R is the one starting wild play sessions (which is the opposite of what we ever expected!). One of his tricks for inviting Hachi to play is to lie on his back and let Hachi "attack" him. R loves showing his teeth while playing.

The vets also did a culture of the bacteria that caused R's UTI relapse. It turned out that the remaining bacteria is one from the first infection, and it's not antibiotic-resistant. That's odd because it doesn't explain why it survived the treatment.

At this point, we have no explanation for what has happened. It seems most likely that he'll stay on antibiotics for another couple of months. Hopefully, that will wipe out the bacteria.

In any case, our master plan for timing the arrival of Hachi seems to have worked beautifully. Both R and Shyla seem to love him. And, R is still healthy and crazy enough to help raise Hachi.

R has one of the sweetest and most fun-loving personalities that we've ever run across in a dog. So, we are thrilled that he is eager to help teach Hachi all the stuff that he needs to learn.

Rocky Mountain Vehicle Cleaning Service

Up here in our mountains, we have two different at-home vehicle cleaning services. They travel to you, and they clean your vehicle in your driveway. You might be raising your eye brows... but we need them because we live on a dirt road.

One of them ("Moose Mobile Vehicle Cleaners") cleaned our 4Runners the other night. Unfortunately, they didn't do a great job. They left the windows and body streaked. It almost looked like finger painting on the dirt of the vehicles. And the side-view mirrors were impossible to use due to terrible streaking.

Fortunately, I had a trail cam near the vehicles so we could see who the workers were. This one was a youngish looking female.

In this photo, you can see her male accomplice in the back of the vehicle.

They definitely work fast. It appeared that they'd gone over two entire vehicles in about 3 minutes. Three minutes! No wonder they did such a lousy job!

If you'd like to see a video of them at work, here it is!

Thanks to the LLB Gang for hosting the Nature Friday Blog Hop.

Thankful for Puppy Hachi

Hachi is making all of us have more fun. He's a puppy, and he loves to play. He's brought so much laughter to our home! We are thankful.

He also loves to cuddle. I have taken more naps since he arrived than in the past few years combined. He settles into my lap and falls asleep. He's so sweet and loving that I fall asleep too.

He loves contact with us or with dogs. He also loves giving kisses. Shyla was the recipient of this one.

The other night he wedged himself next to Shyla, and he fell asleep in a crazy position.


I thought that you might enjoy another play/training video. In this one, I show more playing and I'm not strictly "shaping" his behavior with a clicker. Rather, I'm having him follow my hand in a "moving hand touch" to lead him through spins and weaves around my legs.

Thanks to Brian for hosting the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.

Wordless Wednesday - All Three

The Boys

The Supermodel