Taking a Break

Once we're stuffed we will need a break!

We're thankful to all of you.  Your friendship, wisdom, and enjoyment of all things labradors.

We'll be back next week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Murphy's Day.

Waiting for Carol

Sage's good friend Carol is coming out for Thanksgiving...doesn't get any better for her...

Murphy's Day.

Holidays

Holidays are always special.  Even though it's been 4 years since we lost my mother, I can feel her spirit, rallying around Thanksgiving (she died on November 22, just before Thanksgiving that year).  She loved holidays, and especially time with family.

Annie Oakley is the same.  She's been waiting for the smell of turkey for quite awhile.

Murphy's Day.

When You Know Your Dogs Are Smart

Is when they don't see the romance in standing in a river, when it's freezing cold, casting for the elusive steelhead.

They are sleeping in a warm house.

Smart labs.

Murphy's Day.

Don't Fall!

Willa finds reasons to play with Annie at every opportunity.

Murphy's Day.

How Much Farther?

Ok, well, maybe we had a few rest stops along the way!

Sage just loves those moments of rolling in native grasses.

Murphy's Day.

The Backyard

This is from the USFS land behind Nahahum Canyon.

AKA, the girl's backyard.

Murphy's Day.

Long Hikes

Winter is coming and it's time to get some hikes in before the snow settles on Burch Mountain.

We took a nice, long hike up.  Sage loved it, lots of smells.  Deer, coyote, perhaps an elk or cougar (no, not one that wears crimson and silver...).

Annie did well, enjoying the time with family, although the guys who were shooting at some target down the canyon bothered her.

Love this time of year.  These seams between seasons.

Murphy's Day.

Hints of Winter

Yes, Willa, it really is coming (snow, that is).

Murphy's Day.

Birding

I love birding (after all, I once worked for National Audubon).

Fortunately, I am owned by "bird dogs."

More expensive than binoculars, I have to say, but binoculars don't make me laugh and giggle every day, either!

Murphy's Day.

Ambling

Sage loves to amble.

She has reached a point in her life where there is pure pleasure in a nice walk, sniffing the world around her.

Murphy's Day.

Does It Get Any Better?

As we head into the stormy, rainy, yucky months of the Pacific Northwest, I reach deeper into my "bag of tricks" on how to give the girls the exercise they need.

Recently I have returned to walking them, at dusk, through a park that I walked Sage as a pup (as she trundled behind Murphy) and where Annie followed Sage...I remember those evenings, after I'd made dinner for my father, and visited my mother in the hospital.  Rainy, dark, sad evenings.  Those long walks gave me time to think, talk with the doctors, go over everything with my brother.  Annie, I am sure, felt all the stress.  Sage, who knows this park like the "inside of her paw," led the way, willing to take over mothering Annie.

This is a place near where I grew up.  It's been part of my whole life.  Once a military fort, now a park.

So we're back walking there.  Sage prances down the paths, enjoying the familiarity.  Willa and Annie find the wide open grassy fields perfect to play "catch me if you can" with each other.  I watch for owls, listen to the wind, and allow all those memories to come forward.

Murphy's Day.

Avalanche Dogs

Such a great thing these dogs and all the other ones, do.

As I look at this picture and think about my girls, Willa would be fantastic doing this.  She is intense, loving, and willing to try anything.

Thank you dogs and trainers who provide such a valuable service.

And look for Willa and maybe even her sister, Murphy, doing this!

Murphy's Day.

As I Was Saying

Following the arc of the sun...

Murphy's Day.

Standard Time

While I love having had an extra hour to lolly-gag in bed (which, by the way, Willa did not understand), changing the "clocks" always messes me up.

Somehow the girls are much more connected with the arc of the sun.  The now know when it's time to walk, ball throw, and most importantly, time to eat.

Internal clocks are always better than even expensive Rolex's!

Murphy's Day.

Emmylou Harris and Rodney Dowell

Sigh.

Sometimes listening to really good music, live, is even better than rolling in fresh spring grass.

Murphy's Day.

Election Day

Indeed, here in Seattle, voting is often like going down a creek...but without a paddle or two great labs to help...it's an experience in parsing the fine line between really incompetent or merely incompetent...

That said, it's election day.  There are still millions if not billions of people who do not have the right or opportunity to vote.

Vote.

Murphy's Day.

In the Storm

Saturday in Seattle was quite stormy.  Lights flickering.  Wind pounding the south wall of the house.  A traffic sign in front of the house ripped out and fell down.  Leaves swirling every where...

And the girls?

Well, Willa and I decided to embrace the storm and run in the woods.  Sage and Annie slept in, hoping it would all pass.

And it did.

Murphy's Day.

Pouting

We're staying in Seattle this weekend.

The girls are pouting.

So am I.

Murphy's Day.