FLD Scout's First Swim

Scout, safe on shore.

Andy launched Gypsy with a throw of a stick and Scout bounded unknowingly after her. Gypsy hit the water with a tsunami-splash.

Scout reversed on a dime, had there been one in the sand.

She was content, then, to sniff around the water's edge and wander into the shallows.

FLD Scout gets down and dirty.

Testing the water to get to a stick.

Later, when I waded into Grousehaven Lake, she bounded in to me without regard to the water's depth. Suddenly, she was swimming! And not the usual puppy's-first-time-in-water-slap-the-front-paws swim. She swam like a pro!

But headed back to shore anyway.

FLD Scout's muddy face.

Did she decide to wash it?

Yes, Scout, you are a pretty puppy!

Coyotes and Owls and...Bears? Oh my!

COYOTES

1:30 am. I dream of coyotes squalling under moonlight, but it's just Scout complaining from her mini-crate under the blind-covered window in our bedroom. I slip out from the warmth to find my jeans and flannel shirt that I strategically placed on the floor when we went to bed.

I lean against the dresser. Right leg in; now left. Wait. It's stuck. I teeter back onto the bed and match up the correct legs. Jeans on. If I put my shirt on backwards or inside out, no one will know.

It's dark, in spite of the moon. On my hands and knees I blindly feel for Scout's collar where I left it next to the crate. I've learned to leave it attached to her leash.

FLD Scout curled up in her mini-crate in the truck, on assignment with me.

I whisper, sit, hoping I will feel the fur ball as I open the door. No worry, it is all wiggles and licks and I curse the skinny collar buckle as I fumble to snap it on her. I'm awake enough now to trust myself to pick her up and find the back door.

Scout. Park, I say after putting her down on the arid ground. No rain tonight, even though the Milky Way is a cloud across the heavens. There is some advantage to these middle-of-the-night excursions.

In mid-park Scout alerts. A coyote chorus fills the southern darkness like a waterfall. Scout bolts for the back door. I reel her in and we pause together, until the song fades.

  

Blaine Bailer calls for coyote.

FLD Scout raises her head, briefly, when she hears the predator hunter make a coyote call at a Hunting 101 class in the Rifle River Rec Area. Does she know it's not for real?

OWLS

4:00 am. A repeat, sans coyotes. Although I manage to get my jeans on right at first try.

Scout finishes her "park" and sniffs while I crane my neck. It is still clear. The moon has dipped behind the trees. I don't know why I can never get enough of the night sky.

WHOOOOOOO, WHOOOOOO, WHOOOOOOOT!!!  A branch cracks beyond the black tree-wall ringing our yard. Scout hustles back to me and leaps up in desperation. I half expect to hear her yelp, "Pick me up! Pick me up! Hurry up, PICK ME UP!!!"

So. I do.

We listen a while longer until the pounding behind her ribs (that I feel against my chest) settles.

and BEARS?

An Ogemaw Voice assignment to the Besser Museum in Alpena. With permission, I tie Scout's Future Leader Dog bandana two times around her tiny neck, work her up the short flight of cement stairs, and enter the building. A room to our left holds stuffed wild animals in a central display, including a 600-pound black bear.

No big deal!

FLD Scout bounces around the exhibit at my side, sometimes needing a pat on my leg to get her attention away from whatever it is she smells on the floor. She takes no mind to the dead critters. Perhaps she knows.

I set her atop a bear-rug bench and she licks the back of the grimacing head.

FLD Scout licks the bear-rug bench.

Funny puppy, or maybe just a bit smart. She's afraid of howls in the night, but stuffed bears? Not.

Gypsy is comfy in our woods. FLD Scout looks over her shoulder. Just in case.

Puppy Update 2: FLD Gus

STATUS:  

FLD Gus passed all his physicals with flying colors!  All is good.  He's just about his ideal weight of 64 lbs--weighed in at 63.8.  He's been neutered, and now is playing with his puppy pack at Leader Dogs for the Blind.

NEXT STEP:

FLD Gus and his group will be evaluated by the trainers at Leader Dog, and assigned to a team.

LET THE TRAINING BEGIN!

YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY, GUS!

(now go show 'em how it's done)

This picture of FLD Gus was taken just about one year ago!

The Ghost of FLD Gus

I'm trying to pretend that these things are just coincidence.

You know, that a puppy would naturally run immediately over to Gus's old "mat" and sit on it the very first time she entered the room.

FLD Scout, sitting on Gus's "mat," just like she knew what to do!

Yes, of course she would.

Gypsy showing off her stick.

Or, with a stick-crazed dog like Gypsy to set an example, a puppy would immediately try to drag around her own big stick.  (Well, big for her.)

Right?

FLD Scout, making off with a stick of her own.

AHA!  Here's a bigger stick!

At the beach, FLD Scout begs a stick to play.

Ok, so grabbing the stick out of the water just HAS to be a learned behavior from watching Gypsy.  FLD Gus never really cared about that--he preferred to chase Gypsy chasing the stick.

And, wouldn't you expect that it was normal for a puppy, if given the chance, to yank out weeds, flowers, and small saplings?

FLD Scout weeds around our square foot garden.

FLD Scout gazes up in feigned innocence, flower-bud between her lips.

FLD Scout tugs with all her might at a tree root.  (And eventually gets it!)

Most certainly.

FLD Scout thinks, "But, but, I don't know what got into me!"

"Something just made me do it."

BUT.  You have to admit.  It's pretty freaky.

It was this look in FLD Scout's eyes that really made me wonder.