Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Ahhh...this is what I've been waiting for. Glorious summer days. The temps have cooled to a comfortable 80ish and the humidity is much, much lower. I'm in heaven.

Lola & I went for a hike at Riverview. This was her first solo "big girl" hike...she went on one with me when she was about 4 1/2 months & has gone a couple of times with Penny & I. But when I take the dogs on a solo hike, I use a 16ft flexi to give them some room to move. Lola is a great hiking partner. I don't think she hit the end of the flexi once. She would get about 10 feet from me & then stop, turn & wait for me to catch up.

Once we hit the loop on the road, she did react to an Eskie across from us. I just kept backing up and using Penalty Yards and after 4 or 5 times, she gave up on the barkfest. We headed up a steep hill only to be met at the top by a guy & his beagle on the trail. The guy had no intention of stopping or moving aside...just kept on walking toward us. And although Lola saw them, she willingly walked off the trail w/ me, sat down & waited for them to pass. Nice!

We ran into 2 dogs off leash further down the trail. I yelled to the owners "Please call your dogs!" and they did. One listened and one kept coming toward us. The guy kept calling her but she was tuning him out. "Is she friendly?" I asked while I stepped in front of Lola and the guy said "Yes", although she didn't seem real thrilled w/ Lola wiggling around her. The guy leashed her up and they went on their merry way. I hate that. If I would have been w/ S&P & the dog would have charged up on them the same way, they would have flipped. I don't need to be worrying about other people's dogs. Just keep them on a leash...it is the law.

But the hike was lovely regardless. Lola had a great time & so did I.