So while Mike took some time to do some things around the RV I decided to practice Rally with Boogie since I was feeling better. I was amazed at how fast he picked up heeling. We've never done it before at all but for a first time I was very impressed.
After a day of doing nothing the dogs were really ready to go. So we didn't doddle and we took off to go hiking. Since it was supposed to be another scorcher today we decided to go back up to Mt. Lemmon. Although we decided to do the same trail as last time, we drove to a different spot to try a different section of the Sunrise Trail.
We started out with the girls off leash and the boys on leash. But Boogie was absolutely wild and he kept getting everyone all tangled up which was not only dangerous but it scared Slugger as well. So Boogie got taken off leash very quickly. Ah, much better.
At the beginning of this trail are a number of cabins that are rented out by the forest service I think. But a few years ago a fire went through this area (I mentioned that to you a few days ago) and burnt all the cabins. Some were severely burnt and others just had minor damage (comparatively speaking of course). They have never fixed the cabins so they have just been sitting vacant for years.
The entire length of the trail you could see charred trees to remind you of the devastation this area experienced in 2003.
Throughout the hike we were so pleased with how well behaved Boogie was. He'd follow Sparkie a short ways but never out of our sight and rarely more than just a few feet off the trail. Boogie does have one interesting habit or skill maybe you'd call it. I don't care if we are hiking, walking around an agility trial, or walking through an RV park, he can ALWAYS find a discarded piece of chewed chewing gum. It's a rare day when he doesn't find some chewing gum. Most of the time we can get it out of his mouth but unfortunately sometimes he swallows it. It's really amazing how well dogs can hide things in their mouth - Boogie is a pro at it. He managed to do it again today. I can't figure out how as we've never seen a soul on this trail any time we've been up here (and that includes last year too).
The trail was really nice. In fact, after a while we were already to a portion of it that we had done the other day. It was nice to get down to the creek so the dogs could cool off and get a big drink. It must be really hot down in town today as even way up here in the mountains it is really hot.
In addition to exercise, hiking is a great activity for learning. Of course we do a lot of recalls. We can even get dogwalk practice in the forest too.
We can also practice our STOP!!! .... but as you can see we have to be on leash for that or it could be very dangerous as another three steps and it's straight down!!
Probably the thing we practice most on these hikes is "Leave It." That's by far the hardest for Boogie. Of course, he always looks up and says "I didn't do it." But the face always seems to tell a different story.
There are a number of very steep cliffs/drop-offs on portions of this trail. It was a little tricky for Mike to hold all three dogs back so they wouldn't go over the cliff while we took this picture. Wazzu of course had to be near me so we knew we didn't have to worry about her - although she is awfully close to the edge. Scary.
When we got to the beach I expect to find pretty rocks but I don't expect that up in a fairly barren forest with many rock cliffs. There were a few of these hidden around:
We saw one lone flower - maybe it was just a weed but whatever it was it was sure colorful next to all the burnt trees.
When you first glance at this picture it looks like it is on its side but it's not. Interesting.
Sparkie was having a great time, just like usual on our hikes. She is just like a little mountain goat running here and there - nothing fazes her. A couple times she scared me a bit and I told her to stop. She just looked at me like "why can't I jump mom - it's easy."
She's just way too cute.
Speaking of cute! Too bad there was a shadow....but I just had to share this anyway. He's getting so grown up - so fast!
I was doing just fine until we were about 3/4 the way back. Suddenly I felt really dehydrated (which would make sense after how sick I was yesterday). So we stopped and I had a little bit of water. About 15 minutes later I felt really sick. I was having major cramps and felt really weak. I had to stop and quite a number of times. Quite often I wasn't sure I could continue on....but I knew I had to. Our pace slowed considerably. How weird that I felt fine until I drank some water - just like last night. Mike says I must be the only person allergic to water! I was so thirsty but there was no way I was going to drink anymore water - which of course is all we had.
It seemed like forever but we finally were in sight of the car. That was the best sight I'd seen in a long time. But the next thing I heard was "oh no, where are the are keys!" We checked Mike's pockets over and over. We looked through his pack many times as well. I looked all around the car on the ground but the keys just weren't to be found. So Mike decided he would go back down the trail to try to find them. We figured Sparkie would enjoy hiking more and she's fast so she wouldn't slow Mike down at all. So Mike and Sparkie took off back down the trail.
That left me with the two boys and Wazzu. I was trying to look all around the car and in the area we were in before leaving on the hike. But the keys were nowhere to be found. Slugger and Wazzu were perfect. Wazzu was off leash but just stood at the trailhead staying near me but keeping an eye on the trail. Slugger stayed right beside me no matter where I walked looking for the keys. Boogie was a total menace! He wanted to go with Mike - we knew that wouldn't work as he doesn't like to be out of my sight. When he finally figured out there was no way he was going down the trail, he kept pulling in every direction he could. He got wound around trees and wound around signs. He was horrible!
About 20 or 30 minutes later, Mike and Sparkie came back - they had found the keys right in the middle of the trail. We figure they must have fallen out one time when Mike reached in his pocket to give the dogs a treat. I always give the dogs treats but Mike never has any with him. Today he decided to take treats for them as well. As you might guess, he now says he's never taking treats for them again.
When Mike noticed the keys were missing he was irritated but calm. I was actually surprised at how calm he was. He was irritated but not mad at all - there was no yelling or stomping or anything. But Sparkie seemed to know that he wasn't happy. So when Mike took Sparkie with him on the hike she was very worried. She didn't really want to go - but Mike kept calling her and made her go along. The entire time she would hang way back. When Mike would tell her to come along she would do her submissive body curl and smile. Mike said she looked so scared the entire time. He tried to tell her everything was fine and he gave her treats but nothing was helping. Dogs minds may not work like this but it was like Sparkie thought Mike was mad at her and he was going to lead her back down the trail and abandon her out there by herself forever.
When they got back, Sparkie looked so scared and she was very subdued. Mike was repacking his pack (we'd pulled everything out looking for the keys) and petting the dogs when he noticed Sparkie wasn't around. He very worriedly asked where Sparkie was. The second I had opened the car door she shot in there so fast you wouldn't believe it. I guess she wanted to make sure she didn't get left behind. Normally she stays out of the car until the last minute as she likes staying with Mike....but not this time. Even hours later this evening she is still acting scared. Poor Sparkie.
It was well past lunch time now - in fact it was 3:00pm. I thought I was thirsty and weak before! We rushed to the Cookie Cabin deciding this would just be our dinner. So we ordered a medium size pizza to split, a couple cookies and some drinks. I don't really like pop - in fact the only pop I like is root beer. But I've been trying not to drink any as there is just too much sugar in it and water is so much better for me....so they say. But I wasn't about to have any more water! So I ordered a root beer. This is some the smoothest root beer I think I've ever had. Normally I can't drink a whole bottle of pop but this bottle was well gone long before the pizza was ready.
I didn't feel like sweets at all but I ordered a cookie so I could show you all a picture of how big they are. The scarifices I make for you all. Ha ha. It's hard to tell in the picture but this is a dinner size plate.
Just as our pizza came out, our Valley Fever vet called to say we could stop in to have a blood draw done for Wazzu's titer and she would have it sent to the correct lab. It took us an hour and a half to get from the top of Mt. Lemmon to her office.
While they were drawing Wazzu's blood, we brought Boogie inside to weigh him. He's another Slugger....we keep telling him to stop growing but he just doesn't listen! Boogie is 15.8 pounds. In all our reading it said grown male border terriers are 14 - 16 pounds. Boogie can only gain another.2 pounds. Yea, right.
They brought Wazzu out just a couple minutes later. That's when highway robbery came. Hmm, I wonder how that became a saying? Anyway, the bill came to $150! We always pay $30 - $50 for this test. Guess we won't be eating for a while!
From there it took another hour and a half to get home. So that vet office trip took us an extra two hours of driving in addition to robbing our pocketbook. The good news though was when we got home the RV was still level. Hooray!
What a tiring day. And I was so thirsty when we got home that once again I decided to drink some water. Bad decision. Here we go again. This is not fun!
My lesson for the day.....water is bad for you!
Debbie
11/19/07
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