A muddy river hike in February!

The ice has melted on the river!

It is something of an unusual occurrence to have a muddy river hiking expedition in February when the ground is usually blanketed in snow but we have been having a winter thaw this past week! I took the opportunity of the warmer temperatures to take Lusi out for a good walk along the river where we have not walked for almost two  weeks prior to this. Some of the paths were still quite icy but the trails and the open conservation land were mostly free of snow and ice. I did see two cyclists out on the paths and wondered how they managed to keep upright on the ice as I clung to the sides to get some kind of a foothold.

We usually select either trails either on one side of the river or the other, but our hike yesterday encompassed both sides of the river to compensate for the fact that some of the time I had Lusi on a leash.

Rusty and Lusi

Towards the end of the walk we met Rusty, a rescued Bassett/Australian Cattle dog. We have met Rusty before on this walk but usually he is following close on the heals of his owner who runs with him so Lusi does not usually get a chance to play. Yesterday they stopped for a chat and Rusty had a good play with Lusi. Rusty likes to be

chased apparently and Lusi was quite happy to do that. I was surprised to see Lusi being quite subserviant to Rusty despite the play; she clearly knew who was pack leader between them. It was interesting to see how much energy Lusi appeared to have while playing with Rusty: Rusty's owner commented on her energy level and seemed quite shocked when I told her how long we had been out already!

On our return to the truck we collided with John with Remy and Loki. He had been worried that we'd been gone more than two hours and had decided to come looking for us! By this time we were all happy to climb into the truck and drive rather than walk home. Once home, I had to decide just how to get Lusi cleaned up. It turned out not to be too difficult; our paw massages have made a big difference in the way Lusi will stand and give you a paw...even when she is standing in the bath tub. After a  big supper, which she ate readily, no picky eating habits after a walk like that, and Lusi settled down quietly but not until she had found the most comfortable spot to relax!

Exercising, Warmer weather, and training routines.

The Christmas holiday break had interrupted our exercise and training routine and I could feel myself becoming a little exasperated at times with Lusi, hence the posts on "mannerliness" in the home and so forth.

We have had something of a winter
thaw for a few days; blue skies and
above freezing temperatures.

We have enjoyed a warm weather winter interlude for the past week with lots of good walking opportunities which included a trip to the forest which made a nice change and gave us a chance to do some recalls in a different location.

We have also got back into our short indoor training routines with the result that Lusi has been much better mannered and will actually nap for intervals too! I noticed that she is beginning to get back her previous conditioning which she started to lose in October at the start of the colder weather. We seemed to have difficulty keeping weight on her and she started to get quite picky with her food. It was not just that you could see her rib outline, as opposed to just not quite seeing it which is how it should appear for optimum weight, but her coat had become somewhat coarse too. I started adding some salmon to her diet once or twice a week.

Lusi happy in her crate

Lusi fast asleep in her crate

I have noticed that Lusi is choosing to go into her crate for naps, especially in the evening. I am delighted with this because we are beginning to see her adopt her crate as "home" and clearly views it in a much more positive light than 


before. The feeding crate game has certainly helped in this regard. I also want to get a crate for the truck. Lusi is a great traveller and has a car restraining harness which I thought was the ideal way of travelling with her. Then one day I went to a tracking meet and saw just how comfortable all the dogs were in their crates. I had to admit that they were all much more relaxed and calmer in their crates than Lusi was, who was not crated. The worry that she might engage in a bout of "truck chewing" has also prompted a more serious consideration of crate use. In fact, Lusi has missed out in coming to the barn twice this week because she has been going through a chewing phase and I cannot risk the new truck being destroyed! 


We missed our tracking lesson this Friday, despite the warmer weather interlude because Annika who has been riding Dande was abouts to leave Canada to return to Germany, and we wanted to get a video of her riding. 

I love this Martha Stewart Dog Curry Comb!
It's great for shorthaired dogs because
the rubber points are so soft and it gives a
nice massage as well as loosening hairs!

The "zoo routine" during which I handle Lusi's extremities, is becoming incorporated into our daily lives quite nicely. I think that Lusi is beginning to enjoy her foot massage each evening and I now have the chihuahuas queuing for their turn. I found that a little vaseline on her pads gave enough lubricant so that I could massage her paws and I am starting to take a hold of them quite firmly too, as though I were trimming her nails. In reading another blog, I was introduced to the idea of using a dremel to keep her nails in shape, so I have also started to desensitize her to the sounds and appearance of a dremel, so that we can work towards filing her nails rather than cutting them.