February's cold embrace.

Our first week of February has been pretty cold with most days in the teens and 20s.  Add in the wind, and boy has it been cold!  Luckily for us, the sun has been around most of the week, and feeling its warmth on my face or on my back as I walked the dogs made the cold days more tolerable.   

Mina's Doggie Do Good class is going well, although she was very distracted and whiny during class this week.   Hopefully her next class she'll have better focus.  She still did well showing off some of the skills she learned in puppy class as the other dogs in her class were learning them for the first time.  

Despite the cold, we held our weekly Wednesday night dog walk at the shelter.  Oklahoma is a handsome little guy and not much older than Mina.

I walked Saiga.  She and Oklahoma wanted to play so badly which made it challenging to keep them focused on our walk.  But it was also a great workout!

Vanessa chose Barts as her walking buddy.  This sweet old guy preferred a slow meandering walk, so he got just that.  He had some quality one on one time with Vanessa outside of the shelter and seemed very happy about it.  Sadly, Barts health deteriorated quickly this week, and the shelter had to let him go to prevent him from suffering.  

The sad reality of shelter life is that not all of the dogs who arrive there will find a forever home.  There are lots of reasons this happens, but health concerns and temperament are probably the most prevalent.  

While Barts was near the end of his life, the shelter took him in and gave him a chance at a better life.  And while he didn't find a home in his short time there, at least this old boy was warm, well-fed, and shown love in the end.  He was a staff and volunteer favorite and was well cared for in his final days. I like to focus on the good we do for all of the dogs who end up in our care at the shelter, and I'm really glad we were able to give him one last walk and the chance to just be a dog.  

The girls and I have continued our new routine of multiple shorter walks each day followed by training time, and in this colder weather, it makes it easier to convince myself to get outside with them.  They have also enjoyed some fun out in the yard with their neighbor friends multiple times every day while I am working.  

After a busy day of work, it is really nice not to have to get out for a long walk, but instead take a shorter stroll with the girls and then focus on a longer training session and some fun play time.  Then I can feed them dinner and sit down with my own dinner at a reasonable hour.  

Friday was the exception, and my work schedule prevented me from taking any walks during the day.  After work I had to run some errands and we ended up near Central Park in Okemos just before dusk.  It was only 10 degrees, but I knew we could get in a quick walk before the park closed.  Luckily the paths were mostly clear and we did a quick round trip of just under a mile. Boy was it cold!!

I then took the girls to the Okemos Pet Smart for a little more entertainment.   We never go to this store so there were so many new smells and so much to see.  They loved it!

They especially enjoyed seeing the birds and  Guinea Pigs, and thoroughly enjoyed some fish watching.  We took a quick walk around the parking lot to get in a short quarter mile before getting back in the car to head home.

Saturday morning we were off to Lowell with Vanessa to continue working on our North Country Trail miles for this year.  Our starting point was just outside of Cannonsburg, just North of Lowell, so before our hike we stopped for a short playdate with Sherman and Ruby.

Sherman was not happy to be out in the cold, but also had no desire to be in the house all by himself,  so he just sat by the door looking pathetic. 

Mina found all the fun toys and was zooming around the yard.  She and Ruby had some really good games of chase and tug while Peaches supervised.

After some good rounds of chase, Ruby was content to sit and just watch the world around her.

After our playdate, we headed to the trailhead in Cannonsburg to park the car and then Tom shuttled us back to our starting point.

It was 23 degrees and sunny, and the wind was at our backs, making for excellent hiking weather.  Not long after starting, my gloves were off and I had worked up a good sweat.

The first 2 1/2 miles were road walk, both gravel and asphalt sections of road, but nothing too busy.   It was wooded and kept the wind away from us and I was thankful to see that the roads were mostly dry and free from ice.

We then reached the trailhead for a nice paved section which was plowed.  While there was still snow on the trail, I was happy to see very little ice.  Most of the walk was easy going on a really pretty section of woods.

The last mile was a more icy because it was more open, but we completed our 7 and 1/4 miles in good time and no one fell!  We then headed back into Lowell to pick up a late lunch at Three Brothers Pizza.  Their Stromboli is delicious, and it was the perfect way to end our day.

We've had a slow start to our Sunday, but I'm working on paying bills, doing some planning for an upcoming vacation, and getting some other things done around the house.  

I've got a basketball game to watch and afterwards we'll  head out because I have some errands and of course we'll get in a walk or two, but mainly we're going to have a restful day to prepare for another busy week of work and life. 

Hopefully we'll have some fun things to share next week.  The weather is supposed to be a bit warmer and I may even have a fun surprise or two to share.  Now I'm off to enjoy my day!