Category: Pets
The View From Home
One of the things I love about our house is the view of the mountains in the distance when you walk in. For months now though this is the view I often first see when I come home from work. Sometimes Bear greets me at the door and runs off to find a toy for us to play with, but if he’s sleepy he rolls over and asks for a belly rub. There may be wiggling involved lest such a subtle gesture go unnoticed.
A New If Old Leash
Another picture of Bear and The Elephant, taken towards the end of an afternoon hike a few months ago. It’s hot enough now that such walks are verboten, it’s early morning or nothing. Evening swims are now on the table though! I have switched back to this leash, which we bought on the day we adopted Ellie in 2009. We have fancier leashes but I’ve always come back to this one.
What, Too Close?
Boo has been my constant companion the past year when I’m in my office, we’ll see if that holds with hot weather fast approaching. Usually he curls up on my legs or tucks up tight beside me, but on this occasion he sat high in my lap with his legs stretched out before him. He was so close I couldn’t use my laptop so I put it aside and reveled in the moment.
Bear’s Classroom
If you’re wondering where Bear has been matriculating since Christmas, this map shows many (but not all) of the trails we’ve hiked in the massive preserve to our north, east, and south. I’ve tried to give him a variety of experiences on several dozen hikes as we’ve traversed probably 150-200 miles of trails, and he’s been an eager student. I didn’t think anyone could love hiking in the desert more than I do, but we may have a contender. I’ve never chased my tail when I find out I’m about to go on a hike!
Even if I let him outside before we go, he likes to poop pretty early on in the hike, partially to leave his scent for the animals of the desert but mostly to let them know who’s in charge based on who’s carrying whose poop. It’s kind of hard to argue the point!
The Comforts of Home
False Advertising
The box said dog bed. Perhaps it was mislabeled.
Bear Passes an Important Test
Yesterday as Bear and I took an afternoon walk around Cone Mountain, I took a few snapshots of the desert in bloom as mementos of our time together on the trails. Later on as we circled the mountain, as we passed a boulder closer to the trail than this one, the tall grasses began to shake and rattle. I instinctively told Bear to leave it (we’ve been practicing whenever my beloved lizards scamper across the trail) but he wasn’t showing any interest in any case. To be sure he understood what I wanted him to ignore, I backed up a few feet, still far outside striking range, to make sure he saw the rattlesnake. He looked at me the same as when I stop for a picture, ready to go when I am, so we continued on our way.
I’m delighted he didn’t try to position himself between me and the snake, or show any interest at all, but the snake was fairly hidden in the tall grass so perhaps it would have been a different story if the snake was slithering on the trail in front of us. Odds are highly in favor of it being a western diamondback but it was so obscured I couldn’t tell with a quick glance and didn’t take a picture since I didn’t want to risk disturbing it any further or to take my eyes off the pup.
Bear gets formal snake training in a few weeks but I’m glad to see he passed the test, this was his first rattlesnake. It’s a test he’ll have to pass repeatedly to be allowed to hike in the desert in the warmer months. Sadly our afternoon hikes will come to an end soon as hot weather is fast approaching, then it will be early morning hikes only for him. There are more dangerous things than rattlesnakes.
1 Year Anniversary
Today marks Bear’s 1 year anniversary with us! We’ll count it as his birthday since we don’t know when it really is or even how old he is (he’s probably 7 or 8 now). He wasn’t as easy an adoption as Ellie but easy is not the same as worthwhile. Glad you found your home sweet home, pup.
Back on His Feet
A few weeks back Bear showed signs of pain around his neck and the vet recommended some pain killers and no playing or walks until the medicine ran out. So far the long rest seems to have done the trick, I was able to leave work a little early on Tuesday and took him on a short hike in the desert and he practically dragged me down the trails. Friday afternoon we took his first hike to the Marcus Landslide where lots of wildflowers were blooming, yesterday we took my favorite loop up at Brown’s Ranch. His rattlesnake training got pushed out a month due to his injury but thankfully we haven’t encountered any of the bitey bits of the desert yet.
Boolie 