Pics are all from my iPhone and can be found here: Flickr: kitthewit03's Photostream
Flickr is being stupid right now and won't let me get codes to post, so yeah, anyway, on with the show.
Went up to Boulder today on the Flagstaff trail (near the Flatirons) with Cheza's BIL Ted and Sawyer. It was a freaking gorgeous day, nice and sunny and warm. This set of trails allow dogs to be off-leash if they are under "voice and sight" control, so Sawyer went totally nekkid, as in not even a collar.
He got a super-awesome bath yesterday (LOOK MA, NO MORE SHEDDING!), his collar is all stinky and needs to be thrown away and so thusly we went. He had his spot either directly in front of me or two feet behind me and that's as far as he went. He even learned what "off the trail" meant when we encountered other hikers.
The pace was quick, the path was steep and Sawyer is...kinda fat. I'm just out of shape. So we weren't going quite as fast as Ted is used to, but he'll live and consequently, so will we. The Flagstaff trail ascends up over 1000ft and there are lots of giant boulders that just begged to be climbed on, so I did. And Sawyer freaked out, as he does, and then he finds his way up to join me. He's part mountain-goat. Unfortunately, he does not have the hooves of a mountain goat and his winter-soft paws got rather sore by the end of the hike. Once we reached the summit we were aiming for, Ted and I were sunning ourselves on a boulder and Sawyer scraped out a little cooler spot under a pine tree, but made sure he could still keep an eye on me. You never know, I might jump. It's never happened before, but there's always a first time. He freaks out when I get too close to a riverbank too.
Anyway, the end of the hike was topped by me having to carry Sawyer on my shoulders for a bit, while he grinned like a lunatic at not having to walk for a while. Did I mention this dog weighs about half of what I do and I'm not in the best shape? We made it about 100 yards-ish and then he had to get down and walk at least to the parking lot, where Ted proceeded to SPRINT down the mountain to where the car was parked and come back up and get us. Sawyer milked it like a champ too, flopped on the ground, sides heaving, tongue flopped into the frisbee/makeshift waterbowl full of water, earning concerned glances and croons from passersby. Even the park rangers didn't question if he was on a leash or not, because he obviously wasn't going anywhere.
I figured the daft dog would be done for the evening, but apparently the Teddy Grahms he got at Sonic while I was ordering a chocolate shake contained rejuvenating magic, because he's been alternating between "dead dog" and "ZOMG PLAY!" since we've been home.
Flickr is being stupid right now and won't let me get codes to post, so yeah, anyway, on with the show.
Went up to Boulder today on the Flagstaff trail (near the Flatirons) with Cheza's BIL Ted and Sawyer. It was a freaking gorgeous day, nice and sunny and warm. This set of trails allow dogs to be off-leash if they are under "voice and sight" control, so Sawyer went totally nekkid, as in not even a collar.
He got a super-awesome bath yesterday (LOOK MA, NO MORE SHEDDING!), his collar is all stinky and needs to be thrown away and so thusly we went. He had his spot either directly in front of me or two feet behind me and that's as far as he went. He even learned what "off the trail" meant when we encountered other hikers. The pace was quick, the path was steep and Sawyer is...kinda fat.
I'm just out of shape. So we weren't going quite as fast as Ted is used to, but he'll live and consequently, so will we. The Flagstaff trail ascends up over 1000ft and there are lots of giant boulders that just begged to be climbed on, so I did. And Sawyer freaked out, as he does, and then he finds his way up to join me. He's part mountain-goat. Unfortunately, he does not have the hooves of a mountain goat and his winter-soft paws got rather sore by the end of the hike. Once we reached the summit we were aiming for, Ted and I were sunning ourselves on a boulder and Sawyer scraped out a little cooler spot under a pine tree, but made sure he could still keep an eye on me. You never know, I might jump. It's never happened before, but there's always a first time. He freaks out when I get too close to a riverbank too. Anyway, the end of the hike was topped by me having to carry Sawyer on my shoulders for a bit, while he grinned like a lunatic at not having to walk for a while. Did I mention this dog weighs about half of what I do and I'm not in the best shape?
We made it about 100 yards-ish and then he had to get down and walk at least to the parking lot, where Ted proceeded to SPRINT down the mountain to where the car was parked and come back up and get us. Sawyer milked it like a champ too, flopped on the ground, sides heaving, tongue flopped into the frisbee/makeshift waterbowl full of water, earning concerned glances and croons from passersby. Even the park rangers didn't question if he was on a leash or not, because he obviously wasn't going anywhere. I figured the daft dog would be done for the evening, but apparently the Teddy Grahms he got at Sonic while I was ordering a chocolate shake contained rejuvenating magic, because he's been alternating between "dead dog" and "ZOMG PLAY!" since we've been home.
