Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Winter Wonderland

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Last week Sampson, Delilah and I were lucky enough to take a walk during a snowfall.  I love walking with my dogs in the woods when it’s snowing.  There is something so peaceful and beautiful about falling snow.

Winter Walk 1 The trees are blanketed in winter white and the outside world is muffled to our ears.

Winter Walk 2

I love watching the dogs enjoy the snow.  Because all of the good smells aren’t right on the surface, they have a tendency to bury their noses, which makes for some really cute photos.

Like this one.

Winter Walk 3 Sampson with a ‘soul patch.’

Or this one.

Winter Walk 4 Delilah with a frosted nose.

The only thing about freshly fallen snow I don’t like, is that it fades too fast.  Within a day the snow is all marked up with foot prints and dirt.

Snow is best enjoyed fresh.  Have you ever had the wonderful experience of walking in freshly fallen snow?  Those of you who get snow, do your dogs like it or not?  For those of you who don’t what types of walks do your dogs prefer?

A Visit to Risley Park

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Hubby and I had lots of time off over the Christmas/New Year’s holidays.  (I hope you did as well.)  Because of all the time off I was able to coerce Hubby into exploring a number of hiking areas all within a five minute drive from our house.

One of these places was a local reservoir that I refer to as Risley Pond, apparently it has been renamed Risley Park but it’s still got some nice trails that meander around the reservoir and there is a trail that leads up the mountain to a tower.

Risley Pond 6

During this particular visit we decided to stay on the lower trails and not attempt the tower paths.

Risley pond 1

Delilah of course had to be on leash, but Sampson was able to be a trail blazer.  A role he has relished from his very first hike.  He absolutely adores being outside running through the woods.

Risley Pond 2

We encountered a small group of men and teenagers who were working on building some bridges over areas where little streams run down from the mountains and feed the reservoir.  Sampson had to greet them and practically dragged Hubby through the stream, but Delilah could have cared less.  Of course it was impossible to get a photo of both dogs looking at the camera.  The small bridges are a great improvement, the last time we hiked here there were only rocks that were used as stepping stones to cross the brooks.

The trails start off on one side of the reservoir and wind their way behind it, when you come out on the other side, you need to navigate a small stream with rocks.  Delilah proved she was up for the job.

Risley Pond 3

Once we crossed the stream and climbed a small hill the reservoir was in plain view.  It had small bits of ice on the surface of the water, but Delilah didn’t care.  She wanted in!

Risley Pond 4

She saw a stick out in the water and was determined to retrieve it, but sadly dogs are not allowed in the water. 🙁  I’m not sure I would have let her in anyway because it was really cold!

Risley Pond 5

She had to be content with walking along the retaining wall which holds the reservoir back.

Many people use this park to walk, jog, snow shoe, cross country ski, fish, ice skate etc.  There are few benches scattered about the park for the fishermen, or the people who just want to sit and grab a bit of the wild beauty that exists there.

Risley Pond 7

And some dogs like it too.

Do you have a favorite park that offers all these recreational activities?  Do you have a Daring Delilah who likes to rock the boat?

This ‘N That Thursday – January 2, 2014

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Wow, I can’t believe it’s already the 2nd of January.  Where does the time go? 🙂

Today we are joining our friends 2 Brown Dawgs and their co-host Ruckus the Eskie, for This ‘N That Thursday, you know some days you’ve got a little of this or a little of that.  Grab the badge and join the party.

Courtesy of 2 Brown Dawgs Blog

Courtesy of 2 Brown Dawgs Blog

Advent Calendar for Dog Lover’s

Did you get an e-mail?  I know that the winners were all chosen yesterday and I was very pleased to see some of your names listed.  So if you won, congratulations and if you didn’t, I’m sorry.  But there is always next year!

Don’t turn your back

Yesterday after taking the dogs for a nice hour’s walk, Hubby and I came home and I set to making lunch.  I pulled a stick of butter out to make some grilled cheese sandwiches.  I turned my back for 10 seconds to add something to the sink and when I turned around, Delilah had the stick of butter in her mouth.

YO!  I was like two steps away from her, with my back turned.  That is how bold this dog is.

Butter Do you see her tooth mark?  There’s a matching one on the other side.  And in case you’re wondering, yes I did use the stick of butter.  Hey, times are tough baby.

Blog Hops 

I thought I’d take a minute to mention a couple of blog hops that are coming up this month.

Have you heard about the 4th Annual Pet Blogger Challenge coming on January 10th?  For those new to blogging it’s a once a year blog hop where fellow bloggers offer encouragement and support to others.  The list of questions is over at the Go Pet Friendly blog, along with a few more details.  Go check it out, I’ll be joining. 🙂

Blog the Change for Animals

Blog the Change

Blog the Change is coming up on the 15th of this month. If you’re unfamiliar with BTC here is a quick excerpt from their website, “Bloggers, write about a cause near and dear to your heart. Readers, share your comments and ideas in answer to these questions and more!”

There are also topic suggestions on their website if you aren’t sure what you want to write about.

Train the Dog Month Challenge

And January is train your dog month!  So our friends from Something Wagging This Way Comes, Rescued Insanity and Alfie’s Blog are setting up a blog hop for the end of the month.  Your training goals can be as simple or as complex as you’d like.

Last year, I trained my dog to heel using a chick pea. 🙂  It’s true, I have video to prove it.  And I just re-read that post and I think it’s pretty dam witty if I do say so myself.

That’s it for me, please join me tomorrow, when I highlight some comments, answer some questions and wrap up my week.

Many thanks to 2 Brown Dawgs and Ruckus the Eskie.

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