Smart Dog

Old Dog, New Trick



Every evening after work I take my old dogs for a walk. Our routine goes something like this. They meet me at the door, tails wagging, overjoyed to see me, the source of all good things to eat. I give them each a dog treat while I put away things I'm carrying and glance at the mail. Then I go upstairs to my loft bedroom to change from work clothes to blue jeans. My malamute follows me upstairs talking to me constantly. The older dog, Kiska, stays downstairs in the kitchen, she doesn't do stairs anymore. After I change we return to the kitchen, I put on a hat and coat and out the kitchen door we excitedly explode to go for our walk.
Last night I was delayed in the kitchen by some mail that I took the time to read. The malamute, Shadow, was dancing around talking to me but I was ignoring him. Suddenly he stopped harrassing me and bolded for the stairs. He ran up the stairs and waited about 20 seconds. Then he ran back down the stairs, bounced into the kitchen talking excitedly and poking me with his nose. With his toenails clicking loudly on the laminate floor, he scrambled around and headed back up the stairs, waited a few seconds and then came looking for me again. The third time it finally sunk into my distracted brain what he was doing. So while praising him for being so smart and being a "good boy" the fourth time I let him lead me upstairs where I changed clothes as fast as humanly possible and raced him downstairs and out the kitchen door for thier walk.

Camouflauge

"Follow the white rabbit."

It was a balmy 29 degrees this morning when I took the dogs for a walk. Sticking out like a sore thumb about 30 feet from my driveway was a Snowshoe hare all huddled down secure in the belief that his natural camouflage would protect him from being seen by me and the dogs. The dogs couldn't see him over the driveway berm and the undergrowth. Since we have no snow yet, his white winter coat wasn't doing a very good job of concealing him.

Results of the Wind

"Where have all the...leaves gone?"

The wind blew pretty good last night, stripping the last of the yellow leaves from the trees. The termination dust had crept about half way down the Talkeetnas this last rainy week but the wind brought warmer temperatures and the snow retreated over night. It currently 51 degrees at Trippingovermoose Ranch.

Fall and the Case 450

First blog update from my I-Phone.

My friend Bob brought his loader over this week. He's preparing a
building site on the Eastern edge of the ranch for my daughter and her
family to build a house next spring. That leaves the western 1/3 of
the ranch available for my son to build on when he returns to "God's
Country," after college.