Busy nights and weekend fun

We had a pretty good week thanks to longer daylight hours and mild temperatures.  My plan to take multiple walks throughout the day every day wasn't as successful this week, but I'm going to continue to try to make that a focus of every day.  

After a busy Monday work day, we had a really nice sunset walk at the park down the road.  The girls got to spend some time sniffing around in the woods and that always makes them happy.  

Tuesday was Mina's 4th of 6 classes in her Doggie Do Good class.   She did better this week than she did last week, but she is more challenged by distractions than she has been in the past.  That's making our daily training work more challenging and even more important.   I'm trying to train her around more distractions more often so that she can learn to be really well-behaved no matter where we go.  She has the potential to be a really good dog if I keep working with her.  We've already signed up for her Canine Good Citizens class this Spring and she has to pass a real test at the end...so we have to really make sure we keep up the daily training work.

Wednesday night dog walking club was lots of fun this week.   We walked four really awesome dogs.  My walking buddy was Butterfinger.  She was a pretty happy, spunky girl!

Thursday rained all day so the girls and I were stuck inside a lot more during the day.  I became an expert at throwing the giant tennis ball for Mina which helped alleviate some of her energy for the day, and we used a variety of mind games throughout the day to keep both girls occupied while I worked. 

After a tiring day of work, I needed a walk as much as the girls did, so I threw on my rain boots and a rain proof coat and headed out into the weather.   I was too lazy to even put on real pants...so I wore my flannel pj bottoms and didn't even care if anyone saw me looking like this!  We got in a quick 1 1/4 mile walk, which is much shorter than normal for us, but I was glad we got out.  The girls were happy too.

I had a quiet and productive Friday morning, but by mid-afternoon Mina had had enough quiet time.  So out came some toys to keep her occupied while I finished my work day.   Thankfully we were able to get out for a couple of walks too, so we had a quiet Friday night. 

Saturday morning we met Vanessa and headed South to Hillsdale County to finish the final 5 mile road walk section of the NCT that we needed in that area.  I've been wanting to get this section done for a while and I don't know if we could have picked a better day for it.  The sun was shining, the temperatures were in the 40s, and the wind was at our backs.   

Most of the roads were dirt, and most of them weren't that muddy so our walking was easy.  There weren't a whole lot of exciting things to see along the way, but Mina was fascinated by the sound of the electric fence here and the cows behind it.

And while there wasn't a lot of mud, Peaches made a point of finding it and insisted on walking in it.  Her belly and legs were coated in it by the time we got back to the car.  She was a mess, but she had the best day!

We finished our day with 5.1 miles on the trail and even found a few geocaches along the way.   We're at 15.85 miles for the year and right on track for ensuring we all reach our 100 miles this year.

After we finished our hike, Vanessa headed home, while I headed out to find a couple more geocaches on my way to the Ohio border.  I was determined that I was going to take Mina to Ohio since we were less than 10 miles away and I couldn't resist having her visit a new State .  I found this really interesting walnut plantation along the way.  

We made it to the border and I pulled over to read this historical marker and pick up a geocache nearby.  

Then I got the girls out of the car and ran across the road to get this picture of Mina and Peaches.  It is her first State sign picture.  She did such a good job waiting for her picture!  She's officially traveled to three States now (Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois), and  I can't wait until we really start making some road trips together.  She's going to be an awesome travel buddy!

Of course I couldn't resist a Pure Michigan picture too!

We then settled in for a drive to visit Nicol, Tyler, and Fiona.  We had such a nice visit with them and enjoyed a special dinner together too.  It was the best way to end my Saturday.  The most exciting part of the visit was watching Fiona as she toddler around.  While she doesn't go far, she is officially able to walk all on her own!  

We had a slow start to our Sunday before getting out for a couple of late morning/early afternoon walks.  We made a trip to Preuss Pets, and I did something I rarely do...I let the girls come in with me.  While there i received one of the best compliments I could get when a fellow GSP owner stopped me to comment on how well behaved the girls were.  While I thought they were a little crazy, it's nice to know what others think of their behavior and I was pretty proud of them.  

We made a couple more stops on our way home, and then spent the rest of the day at home.  It was a productive day and the girls were able to get in some quality play time outside.  Overall it has been a really good Sunday and it's going to be a great week.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday from Fiona.