RCHS Update

Meet Bola.

Cute, eh?

Bola is currently available for adoption at the Rutland County Humane Society. You can go read about him over on their website, but I think I have cuter pictures. And I won't accuse him of being unmannered. Unmanned, yes, but not unmannered. He has manners, they're just not entirely appropriate for most human households.

First let's have some stats on good 'ol Bola, and then we'll get on to the cute pictures.

Shar Pei Look-a-like Wrinkly Forehead and Ears?


check!

Happy Bully Grin?

check!

Serious Dog Expression?

check!

Big Muddy Feet?

check!

White Spot on Right Hind Foot?

check!

Airplane Ears?


definite check!

Bola and I went hiking in Pittsford today. This is what the trail looked like from Bola's point of view.

This is what Bola looked like from my point of view as he tried to climb back up the vertical riverbank.


It's a good thing he was wearing my dog harness instead of the one from the humane society, or I wouldn't have had a handle to pull him back up the bank.


Bola was up for adventure today when we went out. I no sooner got him back on the trail, and he decided to dig to China.


Once the Great Dig had been averted, Bola made another attempt at the river. Until he realized just how chilly the water was and he executed an emergency screeching halt.


All the mud necessitated a good scrub down when we returned to the car.


And all the digging, climbing, and screeching halting necessitated a nap.

First Times

And the purge continues.

Back before Boss Lady and I got sick, she finally managed to make contact with an important person regarding the trails at Shrewsbury. This important person finally put in her hands a nifty little map of the trails, allowing us to, at long last, hike a loop instead of just hiking out and back. These are some very nice trails, and allow for various lengths of hikes. With both of us finally feeling better, we made our first Shrewsbury loop attempt. It just happened to be only 2 days after a massive storm. At our house, we got about 8" of snow. Up in Shrewsbury, they got anywhere from 1-3 feet of snow.

In case you're curious, this is what the upper end of 1-3 feet of snow looks like. No, I am not laying down.


Erm. I think I'm stuck.


Ooomph. This doesn't seem to be working very well.


According to Boss Lady, First Tracks are much sought after and very awesome to win. Lucky us, First Tracks in 2 feet of snow.


Truth be told, though, I'm the one who got first tracks. Boss Lady spent most of the hike following along in my trail.


Tromping through 2-3 feet of snow is exhausting work. Considering how excited she was about the First Tracks, I finally thought it might be a good idea to let her actually have First Tracks. Which means that, for probably the First Time Ever, I walked behind Boss Lady while we were hiking. Not too far behind, mind you. I kept close enough to tromp on her snowshoe every 3rd step. I was surprised at how much easier it is to walk in someone else's trail. No wonder Boss Lady had been hanging back for so long.



Even with following behind Boss Lady, hiking through all that snow was hard work. Another First: I actually plopped down in the snow to take a break. Boss Lady can't remember that happening ever before. I don't think she's one to comment, though, because she flopped down in the snow before I did. She claims it was an accident, but I don't believe her. She certainly took her sweet time getting up, and then she couldn't do it without holding on to me for help.


Anyway, despite the hard slogging through 2 feet of snow, and all the plopping down and whatnot, we did manage to successfully complete the loop. Boss Lady was very proud of us for pushing through and not giving up. It took us 2 hours to cover 2 miles; somewhat slower than our summer hiking time.

When we finally got back to the car, Boss Lady discovered I was carrying a couple extra pounds in snow. My whiskers were all icicled.


And my chest and tummy were covered with snowballs. My feet were even worse.

Yes, I was a poopered puppy.

The Adventure Not Taken

Here is a fine example of an entry in need of purging. Whilst Boss Lady's Writer's Constipation was preventing the documentation of our splendid adventures, it was not preventing the adventures themselves. One afternoon, she decided we needed to attempt Patch Hollow, which is off the AT/LT in East Wallingford. Boss Lady's Father introduced her to Patch Hollow, and showed her the old wheel track to follow to reach the beaver pond. So, off we went in the hopes of reaching The Pond. Along the way, I had a lot of fun playing in the snow.

Here I am at the beginning of the trail, before we went bushwacking on the old wheel track.


There's a good reason I'm standing on this stick.


See what it did to me?


You shouldn't have messed with me, Stick!


It was a very treacherous adventure. I had to fight off so many sticks. This one thought it could insult me while protected by plentiful snow cover.


Fortunately, I'm an expert snow digger.


Now, what was that you were saying, Stick?


That's what I thought, not so vocal once you're out in the open.


Ha! Who's in charge now, eh?


We never did quite make it to The Pond, although we did find this nifty cabin hidden in the woods.

Anticipation Of The Kiss

Boss Lady had a very wise lit. professor who always did the same lecture at some point during a class. He firmly believed that the anticipation of the kiss is always better than the kiss. Which is to say, that our expectations of an event are always better than the actual event. It's just the way things are. I had never really contemplated this idea until Sunday.

On Sunday, after the vet visit for a few more pokes and prods, Boss Lady took me up to Shrew(woohoo!)sbury for some fun hiking. Yes, the vet gave his approval. Anyway, we both expected to enjoy a near perfect hike. There were several inches of fresh snow from an overnight storm. (Which made the roads a bit sloppy and delayed our arrival time by an interminable number of minutes.) The sky was crystal clear, the temperature was in the low 20's, and Boss Lady was feeling good.

The bubble of her good mood burst as soon as we arrived at the parking area. The parking area that is normally completely empty of any other vehicles, was completely packed with large pick-ups and SUV's each towing a double snow machine wide trailer. She sighed. So much for a calm and pleasant hike. What was worse, there was a dog running loose in the parking lot, while 2 cross country skiiers gathered gear, and the newest snow machine arrivals unloaded their 2 snowmachines in the middle of the road. At first glance, Boss Lady couldn't see a single place to park our tiny little mini-suv. She could see right up the nose of the loose dog as he jumped all over the car, though. Blasted jumping dogs. Fortunately, it turned out the dog belonged with the cross country skiiers, and they were actually packing up to head home. The guys unloading their snow machines figured they could park where the cross country skiier's car had been, and Boss Lady could park slightly ahead of that on the edge of the snow bank. Once all that was settled, Boss Lady suited up, unloaded me, and we headed out.

Things started out alright. We made it to the trailhead, where she deemed it safe for me to be off leash. We could see the tracks from the cross country skiiers, and that's when Boss Lady realized she should have inquired as to how far those skiiers had gone. Maybe she could have followed their tracks and made a loop. Oh well. Maybe she'll stumble upon a loop anyway. Out we headed, and this time we went left at the intersection, because that's the way the skiier's tracks went. We discovered countless other trails branching off, but continued to follow the skiier's tracks. Part way out, Boss Lady's right snow shoe seemed to be giving her difficulty. Her stride wasn't natural and the shoe kept twisting her foot oddly. She couldn't find any problem with the binding, though, and thought maybe it was the final failure of her winter boots. After an hour out, she was working up a good pair of blisters on her right foot and decided to give up. We turned back, and she dragged along with that bum foot.

About half way back, we encountered another pair of cross country skiiers. Of course, I wouldn't recall to her. I didn't charge the people, but the guy kept trying to talk to me and be friendly. Well, you just can't trust a guy who thinks he can befriend every German Shepherd who wanders down the trail. I started barking at him, and that made the woman with him kind of nervous. Boss Lady ordered me into a down, and I grudgingly complied. Hoping to avoid another run in with more skiiers, Boss Lady leashed me well before we reached the trail head. And it was a good thing she did so, because we encountered 2 more skiiers. And then another skiier, plus 2 loose dogs on the snowmobile trail. Fortunately, the dogs were very well behaved and didn't bother me.

Once back on the snowmobile trail, she discovered the problem with her snow shoe. Somehow, she'd managed to accumulate a huge chunk of icey, frozen snow in the crampon of the right snow shoe. The left snow shoe wasn't iced up at all. She tried to chip away the ice, but she couldn't even dent it. Tired, blistered, frustrated by my ill-behaved self, and generally disappointed with the whole adventure, Boss Lady loaded me back into the car and we headed home.

You Are Such A Girl

I enjoyed a bonus Wednesday hike today, despite the icky weather. After witnessing all the ice in Pittsford during yesterday's hike, Boss Lady decided to take me there. She really wanted to get me out on the slippery ice and throw snow balls. She wanted to make me slip and slide so she could take funny pictures. Luckily for me, the ice wasn't nearly as slick with the new snow cover. I did slide a little bit, but only to make her feel better. She was determined to get funny pictures of me playing on the ice, though, so she staged a couple. I didn't believe her, but it turns out I could fit underneath the ice.


I could also sit on top. And jump. And bounce. That's some strong ice.




We were experiencing a "wintry mix" according to the weather channel. In plain English, that translates to a mixed bag of shit. We had snow, sleet, and freezing rain. Miraculously, Boss Lady managed to drag out of bed early enough that the roads were still fairly clear and the trail was still in good shape. While we were hiking, the precipitation switched over to freezing rain, leaving us pretty well soaked, but who really cares. The rain didn't bother the mice running around under the snow, so why should it bother me?



About half way through our hike, Boss Lady looked down and discovered big gobs of blood in my foot prints.


She called me back to her and tried to figure out which foot was creating the bloody mess. It was my right front foot. It was really bloody, and she was initially worried that I had cut a pad. Turns out I just broke a nail, though. I snapped it pretty short and hit the quick, hence all the blood. Boss Lady cringed and shook her head. It didn't bother me, though. I didn't make a peep when it happened, which is probably why Boss Lady didn't notice at first. And it didn't slow me down one bit. It did continue bleeding for the rest of the hike, which was about a another mile. And for the 20 minute ride home. And it was still bleeding just a little when we went into the house. It still wasn't bothering me, but Boss Lady really didn't want blood spots all over the rugs. She dumped some corn meal onto a plate and proceeded to prepare my foot for frying. Mmmm. I'd never eaten corn meal before; it's kinda yummy.

RCHS Update

With the stressful holidays finally behind us, I was able to return to RCHS today and play with one of their pups. RCHS reports a fabulous holiday, in which they made many happy adoptions and are finally down to an acceptable number of cats. I couldn't believe it when I went in and there weren't any cat cages in the hallway. They also adopted quite a few dogs out. Last time I was there, every run was full (about 16 dogs) and today there were only 8 dogs. There were several dogs that looked like fun, but I was informed that Shadow was most in need of play time. And indeed she was.

I was very happy to discover that the road to the Pittsford Trails trailhead is once again passable. The river is still high, about 2-3 feet higher than normal, but it's better than the 5-6 feet it was a couple weeks ago. About 3/4 of the trail seems to be flooded. Fortunately, it is also frozen, and the ice is covered with about 1" of crusty snow for traction. Today was a perfect day for a hike, and Shadow and I enjoyed ourselves immensely. Unfortunately, the camera did not enjoy itself. The batteries died after my 3rd picture. I managed to get a few more, but I was kinda bummed.

I don't know what it is with labs and water, but Shadow just wouldn't stay away from the edge of the river bank. She kept trying to slide over. And once she did manage to slide over whilst I was busy arguing with the camera batteries. Fortunately, the edge of the river is rather frozen and I was able to convince her to climb back up before she got herself in real trouble. Stupid dog.


I informed her, once and for all, that I was not going to allow her near the river. The "bog" on the other side of the trail was nicely frozen, so I allowed her to skid around over there. In between skidding sessions, she sniffed out something under all the dead weeds and snow, and proceeded to dig it out.


She never brought anything out, but she certainly managed to dig herself in there pretty deep.



I think I'll take Colyn over there tomorrow to play on the ice. It really is all ice. And I'll make sure the camera batteries are fully charged.

You'll Be Getting A Dictionary For Christmas

On Wednesday, Boss Lady promised me an adventure. A real adventure, too, not another one of these half adventures down at the Rugby Field. She told me we were going to Pittsford. I distinctly recall hearing the word hike. Boss Lady must have an old dictionary or something, though, because I ended up doing 1 1/2 hours of riding before finally getting a 1 hour hike. She loaded me into the car with good intentions. We just had to take a short ride before we could hike. Except, once she got in the car she realized that she would have to get gas or we wouldn't make it to Pittsford. And, in order to get gas, she had to stop at the bank to get some cash. Then she figured that if we were driving all the way to Pittsford, we might as well make a quick stop at RCHS. She wanted to drop off a bag of nickel bottles and a holiday card. Plus, she really wanted to check at Gormley's Christmas Tree Farm to see if they still had the old fashioned crib from last year.

When Boss Lady saw the crib last year, she immediately knew it would be perfect as a dog bed. Unfortunately, she didn't have the space or the $100 to bring it home. This didn't prevent her from wishing she'd brought it home. All year long, she's been thinking about that dog bed. So, she decided that if Gormley's was still trying to get rid of the crib, then it was coming home with her. Nevermind the lack of money or space, she'd figure something out.

So, off we headed to the bank, the gas station, RCHS, and Gormley's. Oh, did I mention that we had a snow storm on Wednesday? We did, and the roads were awful. Which meant Boss Lady drove 35mph all the way to Pittsford, instead of 55. And the winding road out to Gormley's was particularly fun. The good news was that after that long trip, the crib is still available, and reduced to $75. Boss Lady told them she wanted it and would return on Saturday to take it home.

Yeah, great, I've got a wonderful dog bed, but I'm still sitting in the back of this car waiting for my hike.

Finally, Boss Lady headed the car towards the Pittsford Trailhead. Only to discover that we couldn't get to the trailhead because the road was flooded from all the rain we got a couple days before that. When she explained the situation to me, I just looked at her. You don't really mean to tell me that after being promised a hike, and riding around in this car for 1 1/2 hours, you plan to take me home without any hiking? I know you're not really going to do that.

So, she didn't. She drove back to boring Rutland and took me out at Pine Hill Park. At least I got first tracks on one of the trails.

I can tell you what Boss Lady will get from me for Christmas.

RCHS Update

Yesterday morning I hiked with Reno again. He really is very sweet. I was actually thinking about taking out Shadow, but then I forgot to bring Colyn's large harness. Once I got a look at him, I knew there was no way the smaller harness would fit Shadow. Reno was perfectly happy to go out again, though. He was sleeping on his little platform bed in his run when I arrived, but he popped up when I came in and said his name. He was very excited about coming out with me. He was also very opposed to the notion of wearing a harness. He dodged and darted and ducked his head for almost a minute before I finally managed to wrestle it over his head. Once he was all dressed and leashed, he dragged me outside and headed for my car. I insisted he piddle before getting into my car, so he managed to squeeze out a few drops, before racing over to the car again. He hopped right in and sat down politely.




Now, you'll remember that I've only hiked with Reno one other time, so it's not as if he would be familiar with the ride to the trail. But, the closer we got to the trailhead, the more excited he became. As we crossed the one lane covered bridge, he could barely contain himself. He was bouncing around and talking loudly. You'll note I said talking, not barking. Reno doesn't seem to bark, but he does talk some. As soon as I opened the door, he bounded out ready for an adventure.



The first thing he did was run to the edge of the bank and think about sliding down to the river. I told him in no uncertain terms that such an attempt would be very, very foolish and would result in his immediate return to RCHS for drying off. He seemed to take me seriously.


He didn't stop watching the river, though. Apparently, he found it quite intriguing.



I did allow him to get a drink when we reached a suitable place. Surprisingly, he was very careful about it and hardly even got his toes wet.



He also found ample opportunities for practicing his nifty invisibility trick. If not for that brightly coloured flower harness, you'd hardly be able to see him.



He bounced along through the hike, sniffing at this and peeing on that. He was very polite while I stopped to take pictures of the river (most of which are posted over on the adventure blog that you probably didn't know I had). And he didn't mind too much when I insisted on pulling out all the burdocks as soon as I noticed he'd collected them. He even sat down and calmly waited while I took more pictures of the river.



He was a little annoyed when he saw these fun tracks going across the icy river. He wanted to follow them, using the argument that if the ice was thick enough to support that critter, then it must be thick enough to support him. I disagreed and refused to let him test his theory.



He only sulked for a few minutes before I found another appropriate place to allow him to get a drink.


When we arrived back at the car, he was just as excited about going for a ride as he had been about going for a hike. I'm pretty sure he would have been perfectly happy hiking for another hour, but as soon as he saw the car he was perfectly happy to hop in and enjoy the ride. He's really just such a happy dog.