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Cheoah has discovered that one of the great things about being a part of The Herd is having a big brother, Kodiak. But, as always, the other brother is always trying to squeeze in. Here is Rusty walking on the far side and Kodiak in the middle while Cheoah mugs for the camera:
And now you can see how close Kodiak and Cheoah are (and notice right at the back of the picture Rusty’s nose as he is trying to work his way into the middle):
Brothers!
The pictures of Kiska always show her laughing and smiling (except in the rain) like this:
But there is another face of Kiska I have never shown. You see, when I am serving a meal to the dogs, I place the bowl on the ground and they must wait until I say ok to be released to eat. Notice that Kodiak has been released and is eating, but Kiska is still waiting for her command.
Cute, huh? So I kept taking pictures. Am I noting a slight hint of impatience in her eyes here?
Let’s just say I was pretty sure I was pushing the boundary when she started licking her chops:
So I released her and let her eat. To be clear, her bowl was clean and licked to a shine before Kodiak was finished behind her.
In a nod to our pal, Khyra, we present Walking Wednesday, except its Saturday, if that makes any sense. It was a rainy, foggy, cool, dreary Saturday here. In other words, absolutely perfect Siberian weather. So, we, of course, went hiking.
This is headed back down the trail and the black and white team (left to right, Natasha, Qannik and Kiska showing off her fluffy tail) is trying to catch the red team. And why is the b&w team so far behind? Might have something to do with the videographer trying not to get killed while stepping on wet rocks and balancing a video camera while being harnessed to three Sibes who have no problem scrambling over rocks.
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And, now, I need to stop editing the blog because The Herd is singing – loudly – that we are wasting a good day on the computer, so off to another trail this Sunday morning. And we are supposed to have sunshine today when the fog burns off!
Today is dedicated to resident goofballs Kodiak and Qannik.
First, they both tried to be lapdogs at the same time. Mind you, that is 115 pounds (52 kg) of dog between the two of them.
And then Kodiak tried to taste the camera:
And Qannik was testing my ability to focus close up (I failed):
So after much wrestling was done, Kodiak was ready to go hiking. Qannik is begging his brother for one more match. A couple of things to notice in this short video. First, yes, Qannik is the biggest talker in the house and virtually never shuts up. And, in the background, notice that Natasha is quite miffed that she is not inside the den and is doing her world famous standing door scratch.:
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The goofballs.
Stepped out onto the porch this morning and felt the cool breeze, saw the fog hugging the mountain tops, and smelled fall in the air. Then I noticed that the leaves had just started to change. The first hint of color:
No wonder the Herd has been insane all week – Fall is here!
The weather started changing about two weeks ago. The highs are barely getting to 70 F (21 C) and the lows are approaching 40 F (5 C). Not quite frost yet, though we should see our first frost in the next couple of weeks. The leaves are starting to change with the maples just hinting their brilliant reds. And the breezes are beginning to pick up. I absolutely love the change of season and the change to fall is spectacular.
And, boy, does The Herd sense the change. Here, our first snow is still a couple of months away, but it is almost like they can smell it in the wind.
Bouncier. Singing at the tops of their lungs for any reason. Constant cases of zoomies and furniture olympics. Digging craters in the yard that are ever deeper.
When the leashes come out, the dogs are absolutely ballistic. Our hikes get longer and much, much faster as their energy levels soar.
And, of course, the hair. None has hit full molting yet, but the shedding is beginning to build.
So, we can feel the excitement building for winter. And, I must admit, I am always as equally excited. Bring it on!
I got several emails after sharing the panoramic view from Craggy Pinnacle last week, so here is another one from Mt Pisgah which is just south of Asheville. In fairness, this is not quite a 360 degree view because there is a TV tower on the peak and I edited that section out. So call this a 270 degree view. Hope you enjoy (and ignore the clanging of dog tags – The Herd is doing their best to trip me while I am filming):
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You don’t want to believe it. Who does? But then you hear the rumors. Your well behaved dogs are suddenly accused of bad behavior. Did they really get into trouble? Did it really happen? But you can still deny it. And, then, the proof. The undeniable proof. The . . . picture. Sigh. It must be true:
That’s right. The Desert Pups have proof that The Herd attended Toby’s Birthday Bash
Thank you to The Desert Pups who have nominated us for this really cool award:
The rules of the award are:
1. The winner can put the logo on his or her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of those you have nominated.
So here are my nominees:
Earlier this week, I posted a video showing The Herd walking down an abandoned road. Many of the comments and emails I received commented on how well behaved they were and how well they walked. The Herd was insulted. Behaved? Pleeeeeease! So, by popular request, some outtakes from walks:
First up, Natasha would like to demonstrate the swerving technique with her brother Qannik. Notice how she starts the zig zag, gets Qannik to start swerving with her, and then ends with a nice right hook across the trail and lays her head on Kiska while trying to spot prey in the brush. My answer, as always, is to just keep moving though I had to stop filiming:
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And then we have the class clown, Rusty, who prides himself on being a little different about downright everything. He doesn’t like to be cold, but loves snow. Doesn’t like to get his feet wet, but loves playing in the rain. And, when he gets bored on his walks, does this to management:
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And when management gets tired of Rusty the Rooster’s games, he will even do it to Big Brother Kodiak.
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Mr. Mild Mannered Kodiak will not turn around and nip his nose. Rusty has decided long ago that doing the same thing to Natasha is not worth it.