English Shepherd Hike, July Edition

Scheduling the July hike was a bit tricky.  We were scheduled to step out on the trail at 10 a.m., but summer weather had arrived with a vengeance.  After an anxious week of watching weather forecasts predicting the high 90's, I moved the start time back to 8 am.  Unfortunately, this meant Karen and Patches could not come, but it didn't dissuade the two families that were traveling two hours to get here from the Boston area.  We had a fair number of new dogs, because the Boston contingent each brought two, and Mary brought all of her five dogs since she was traveling to New Hampshire directly after the hike.  The introductions made for an interesting melee.

Heads and tails everyplace!

Mary is going Echo a lift because he isn't very sociable.

Despite the initial chaos, the dogs quickly settled down and started having fun.

Chase games! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Helo came in his summer haircut; he says it is much more comfortable.

This is Toast. She is Mary's terrier/cattle dog mix.

Here is Shiver, Mary's Pomeranian. She had a hair cut too!

This is Echo, standing with Mary. He prefers to be left alone.

As usual, the streams and reservoir were greatly appreciated by many of the dogs.  Most of them ended up soaking wet and happy.  Hank and Katydid really weren't that familiar with water.  There was a short comic interval where they both jumped out onto rocks in the middle of the stream rather than wade into the stream as instructed.

This is Hank and Katydid.

They aren't really sure what's with this water stuff in this photo.

After being led into the stream, Hank finally got the idea and began to wade.  Katydid was reluctant, and had to be coerced, despite lots of encouragement.

Well, she's wading, but she certainly doesn't look happy about it.

Toast and Bug say water is fun, Katydid!

Elvira thinks being wet is a good excuse to get the zoomies.

 

Dandy says water is fun too! His fur is soaked.

This is Dandy's sister Bridget.

Their family got up early to drive all the way from Boston!

Bridget needs to work on her swimming technique.

We had two Bridgets this time: shaded sable Bridget and black and tan Bridget

Black and tan Bridget was so good; she kept on coming to shaded sable Bridget's mom when she called for her own Bridget.

Good move Bridget! I make a policy of coming when somebody in the hiking group calls.

(They might have COOKIES!)

Chandler had an interesting time during this walk.  With Patches absent, Elvira decided to focus her attention on him.  Oddly, she didn't really seem to care about any of the other male dogs.  Poor Chan seemed a bit befuddled by all the flirting, but wasn't adverse to a few games.

You want me to play chase?

Mom says she likes me.

By the end of the walk, everyone was wet and tired.  It was getting a bit hotter, but we stopped for the traditional group photo. 

Hank, Elvira, Katydid, Kateri, Chandler, Bridget, Dandy, Bug (honorary ES), Pace, Bridget, Shiver (honorary ES), Toast(honorary ES), Echo (honorary ES)
  (left to right)

Everyone agreed that it had been a really great hike, and the families from Boston declared that it had been worth the drive.  I took Chan home for some rest and relaxation, given that the day was becoming mildly oppressive and rain was in the forecast.  He was worn out enough to curl up for most of the afternoon.

So tired...