Hiking with Laurie

As usual, I'm running behind on my posting.  On April 7th, I invited my friend Laurie and her dogs to join Chandler and me on our weekend reservoir hike.  She has two English Shepherds, Helo and Elvira.  This was their second visit to Buckingham Reservoir, as they had participated in Chandler's birthday celebration hike in October.  Elvira was a young puppy at that time, and she has done a lot of maturing since the last time we'd seen her.  She's bigger, but the most obvious difference is the appearance of her adult rough coat.  Of course she won't really be an adult until she is two, so at this point she's probably the equivalent of a teenager.

...not to mention playing with her is more fun now.

 

Helo was his usual amiable self.  It was good to see him doing well, because he has been having some issues with chronic Lyme disease and was undergoing more treatments at the time we took the hike.  Despite this, he seemed happy to see Chandler and me and even did a little bit of running during our hike.

Sable dogs...so much easier to get a photo of even when the light is wrong.

I'd be a black blob from this angle.

The final member of our canine hiking party was Ellie, a little black mix that Laurie was dogsitting.  I'm told she was rescued off the streets of Shanghai China while her owner was working there for a few years, and presently lives in New York City.  She certainly seemed happy enough to have a holiday in Connecticut, and got so fascinated by the sights and sounds of the reservoir that Laurie had to leash her for part of the hike because she kept falling behind to investigate interesting things.

Who wouldn't be happy running through pine woods and on grassy trails?

This was the first time I'd ever circled the entire reservoir, and the dogs all had a great time playing chase and wading into the shallows.  Chandler was the only swimming fanatic in the group, so we spent more time hiking.

They don't know what they're missing.

However, I think Elvira decided that starting a chase game soon after Chandler emerged from the water was a good idea.  As usual, Chan got to be the chasee much of the time.  During one of their games I managed to get a great photo of an English Shepherd "pileup" as Elvira chased Chandler into an ambush from Helo who cut him off.  Ellie was playing too, but I think she's hidden behind Chan in the photo:

Hey, you all are supposed to be BEHIND ME!  Watch where you are going!

The only fubar occurred when Chandler mistook Elvira's alert barks directed at another hiker as evidence of a real threat.  I had to grab him and give him a stern lecture.  Hopefully Laurie will be able to visit again soon so I can do some active training to address the problem.  I'm sure the alert barking is the issue as he hasn't had any issues while we were hiking with other people.  Otherwise it was a great day, both for us and the dogs.

Mudhole Negotiations

I'm very overdue for an update. I've been working on a post about the hike we took with friends the weekend before Chandler's birthday. Unfortunately, I just worked over 60 hours this week, and am exhausted. Writing will have to wait until I feel more coherent.

Instead I offer a slideshow of some photos I took during the hike. The mud puddle incident was hilarious, but it wasn't until I looked at the photos that I realized how much communication was passing between the dogs.

The players:

Chandler- adult male ghost tri that looks like a black and white
Sadie- one year old female tricolor
Elvira- black and white female puppy

Last weekend.

In July I discovered a wonderful new place to hike with Chandler. It is a local reservoir that is very popular with the local dog walkers. It has wide shaded trails, a meandering stream, both deciduous and coniferous trees, a mowed meadow (cuts down on the ticks), and the reservoir itself. It is practically the perfect spot to take Chandler during the hot summer months, as both the shade and available water help keep him cool. Frankly it was too good not to share, so last weekend I invited my friend Laurie to come hiking with us. I will admit to some ulterior motives; if Laurie liked the reservoir as much as I did, I could probably convince her to make the drive up to central Connecticut more often! Laurie brought along her male English Shepherd, Helo and her new puppy, Elvira. The purpose of the hike was to let me meet Elvira, and give her a good socialization experience.

Here is a photo of all three of us on the trail, this is a great hiking area!

The shade and available water were also good for Helo, who doesn't like the heat. Helo is somewhat my (and Chandler's) fault. Laurie probably would never have known about English Shepherds if she hadn't run into Chandler and I at the Connecticut Pet Expo two years ago. She expressed surprise that Chandler was not a Border Collie, survived my "the good, the bad, and the downright ugly facts about English Shepherds" lecture, and adopted Helo from a breeder within a few months. Helo is a retired stud dog, but I think he likes his new life.

...and he's sporting such a trendy summer haircut!

Helo actually has a LOT of grandpuppies and great grandpuppies out there in the English Shepherd gene pool. Sometimes I feel like I accidentally gave Laurie an entire second family that day she met Chandler and I. Elvira is one of Helo's grandpuppies, and is from a farm in New York state. She's also related to Chandler through his grandfather, who is one of Elvira's great-grandfathers. Chandler and I both approve. :)

I think it is entirely unfair that puppies are adorable without even working at it.

Elvira is a happy little girl who is probably going to grow up into a little spitfire. Even at only 10 weeks of age very little about the hike frightened her. She's curious and has good self confidence.

She's got some ZOOM in her too.

Chandler is one of those dogs that is safe around puppies, which makes him perfect for socialization outings. However, he is less interested in younger pups so Elvira spent some time trailing after him. I think she was a bit confused by some of Chandler's usual antics.

Really, I was just going easy on her for the Hide and Seek game...

We finally got to the reservoir, and Chandler was overjoyed to see all the water. I swear the dog must think he is part Labrador Retriever. He also looks so much smaller when he is wet. I never realize how much fur he really has until it is all flattened down with water.

Oh come on Auntie Laurie, please throw another biscuit out into the water.
Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeee?

Helo isn't quite the water fanatic that Chandler is. He prefers to wade genteelly through the shallows.

Helo doesn't know what he's missing.

Elvira isn't so sure about water yet either, but she's still a tiny pup. Laurie says she's fallen in a few times and had to swim to shore.

Really kid...water is soooooooooo much fun!

Both Helo and Elvira spent some time watching Chandler fetch his training dummy from the water, but didn't decide to join in. Chan is a very strong and focused swimmer when it comes to water fetch. He manages to kick up a minor wake as he beelines toward his goal.

I even accelerate well in water!

However, he's a bit more leisurely about bringing it back. Hopefully Elivira will give him some competition someday, as Helo seems to be happy in the shallows.

I love to play water fetch!

It was a really fun outing. I loved being able to meet Laurie's new pup, and the dogs had a great time. Hopefully they'll be able to come back soon.

This is the highly artistic granddaughter/ grandfather photo.

Snapshot Sunday: Scenery