May 23, 2009
Red and Isabelle had a decently long walk today. It was about 5 miles. Both of them seemed starved for this walk. They hunkered down and pulled. Resisting their effort, I was not going to last long. After about half and hour and no easing from them, I made a loop in the long leads and maneuvered this loop to be around each dog's abdomen. The loop in place, when they pulled it would tighten around the dog's belly. Dogs don't like this belly squeeze, and they quite pulling hard. My effort was greatly reduced. Truly, these two dogs get precious few good walks.
These two did very little stopping to sniff or mark. They wanted to cover some distance. At the end of the road, they found the trail through the woods (I have never been there before today) and moved along it as if it mattered. When the trail came to follow the river, they took several breaks to wade in it. While following the river, we passed under a railroad bridge. Here the rive was more shallow. The kids enjoyed wading farther from shore while I hugged close to the pillions to avoid wading.
After some while more in the woods, we came out to another road. It was nice to leave the mosquitoes in the woods. Lucky for me, we entered this road near its dead end so I had no question which way to go. Eventually, this road lead to a city street. From there we wandered into some neighborhoods. This is what I was hoping for. More chance to see how Red and Isabelle interact with other animals. In the woods I had seen that if an animal just sat still, they didn't care about it. If it ran, Isabelle especially, wanted to chase.
In town now, I find that they are not overly interested in other dogs. Some interest in the squirrels. The squirrels were all very near or in trees so the kids knew they didn't have a chance. They did not see any cats. I did see one cat. I thought the woman whom the cat was stealthily laying beside would not appreciate it if I alerted the kids to this cat. Still, I was a bit surprised that they didn't sense the cat's presents at all. We were not far from it.
We came upon several families in their yards. Without fail, the small children wanted to pet the dogs. Both Red and Isabelle enjoyed this. At one house, there were two children playing in the driveway. One was 6 and her brother was 4. This girl thought it was so special that a beautiful dog was named Isabelle. That is her own name. Her little brother was pretty thrilled with Red. He wanted to lead Red around. Red didn't care. He just tried to figure out what the little person wanted.
A bit farther along, we turned down Red's and Isabelle's street. The walk seemed to do for them what I had hoped. I walked with slack leads until we were nearly in front of their house. In the backyard I freed them of my rope. They had some water and found a cool place to lay down. Indeed, they don't get many walks but want to.April, 2009
Isabelle is Red's sister. She is the better athlete. This girl is also just a tad bit standoffish when new people enter her yard. She observes and then moves in for sniffs and hugs. Like her brother she is all friend. She and her brother are 3 year old litter mates. Both kids need to find a home that can plan activities to include them. Just like human children, if constantly left to their own they will get bored and may find their own fun. They like doing things with human children as well as with other dogs. Long walks can be great fun. Where ever they live, they want to stay together. They both swear that they wont climb out and entertain themselves if you help them meet the big, amazing world. They have never gone looking for trouble, just fun. Isabelle loves kisses. If you are offering, she will take! Isabelle too is a cuddle bug. She loves to lay down with me at night, except on top of Red. (Kinda funny to see) She loves to be around you and enjoys your company. She will greet you at the door when you get home. She loves attention. She is considered Daddy's girl! She is the dominant one. Isabelle loves to play with her brother..they are so cute when they play together, love to chase each other in the yard and pull on each others tails to get the other one going! |
