Sunday, August 26, 2012

Overlook Rock Trail




Brea did pretty well on this hike.  She acted afraid only a couple of times; as usual, I couldn't figure out what it was that was spooking her, and she needed a little encouragement to get past those places.

More than once I was reminded why it's important to try to keep both hands free (except for the leash).  The trail was dry but leaves and loose dirt made for poor traction in some places, and there was one really bad moment where I slipped and had a lot of trouble recovering my balance.  My flailing scared Brea and she bolted and fell over a short drop, but neither of us was hurt.

I think we'll stick to easier trails from now on, until we have more experience hiking together.  Alone, I think I would have been okay, but in this forest dogs have to be leashed, and Brea isn't ready to be off leash.  Going uphill with the dog was easier than coming downhill, and that's when I nearly wiped out.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Run, Play



I've been trying to discourage Brea from taking the leash in her mouth.

In the past week, she's chewed through two leashes.

Today, finally, she seemed to figure out that the rope was an acceptable chew toy.  Maybe the fact that I spritzed the leash with Bitter Apple dog repellant helped.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Fast!


Brea can really move when she wants to.  She doesn't seem to know what to do with the ball that I throw - she'll run after the ball and circle the area where it stops, and then take off in another direction. She seems to be running just for the sheer joy of running.


It's a big change from the Brea that came home with me at the beginning of June.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Play

Brea is starting to come out of her shell, and we're learning how to play together.  A few days ago, at the bottom of the hill on one of our walks, she looked at me with a rare doggie smile, panting, looking like she was laughing. She started acting silly, grabbing the leash in her mouth, and we started running together.  Now that's become a part of the routine.  She takes the leash, play bows, and starts running - up the hill - until I have to stop to catch my breath.  Then she leans against me while I rub her.  If I'm using a 20 foot lead she gets really silly, jumping and running around me, sometimes getting both of us tangled up.  She's also very fast and very graceful.  I wish I could run and hold the leash and take pictures at the same time.


We've also been on the ball field twice.  There, she'll run with me and chase the ball that I throw, but she doesn't seem to know what to do with it when she gets to it.  Sometimes neighbor cat joins us, but she has even less of clue about what to do with the ball.


This change in her is truly amazing.  She seems more relaxed, and is coming out of her safe place next to or under my bed more often.

Out of pure laziness and selfishness on my part, I'd like to be able to phase out the running up the hill part of our routine, and increase the amount of playing ball on the little league field.  She's wearing me out.