Sightseeing on the Trail

We went walking on the Blue Ridge Parkway, where our section is typically closed throughout the winter.  Normally, we have it all to ourselves, but fresh powder brings out lots of others.  Here is who we shared the trail with.

Wooo - Who is that coming down the road?

One of the half dozen cross country skiers we met.

And this guy was loving running with his skier

And kept a good pace the whole time.

Kiska got a high vantage point to watch everyone pass

And all of these people were sledding down a hill

Qannik was wondering who was making all of the racket behind him

Some Pup was doing her "I wanna" song and would not be quiet

For those of you who do not know the “I wanna” song, Cheoah can be quite vocal when she wants something, which is pretty much all of the time.  The trick is figuring out what she wants at that given moment so you can get a few minutes of quiet.  I wanna drink of water.  I wanna eat something.  I wanna go to the bathroom.  I wanna go for a walk.  I wanna have my belly scratched. I wanna out of my crate.  I wanna in my crate.  And so on.  Experience tells us that she gets louder and louder until you give in.  And then you have a little quiet until she thinks of something else she wants.

In this case, she was bored watching the sledders and wanted to keep walking.  After a few minutes of crescendo, we caved and kept walking.  She has the humans well trained with embarrassment as her motivating tool.  Sigh.

*******

Pups – need your help.  Another of us is sick and needs pawsitive thoughts.  Please cross your paws and send the best of vibes to Sitka who is being treated at the University of Georgia for a pneumothorax – which basically means a hole in her lungs.  As of this posting, she was responding to treatments, but next steps are still being determined.  Join The Herd in praying for a full and quick recovery.  Power of the Paw!

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28 Responses to Sightseeing on the Trail
  1. MAXDOG
    February 15, 2010 | 8:12 am

    Hey guys
    Im sorry to hear of our friend, Sitka…we have our paws crossed and are sending good vibes your way.
    We loved seeing your snowy slopes and also that incredible disadvantaged doggie.
    THinking of you
    MAXDOG IN SOUTH AFRICA

  2. Kira The BeaWoootiful
    February 15, 2010 | 8:47 am

    Wooos! What a great place for a walkie, although Mum is still chuckling about Cheoah. For some reason she thinks that sounds just like me. After all I do whine (and eventually start singing) for water, food, out, in….

  3. KB
    February 15, 2010 | 9:26 am

    One of our dogs (can you guess which one?) has trained us through embarrassment in exactly the same way. His high pitched “I wanna” barks out in public will make us do almost anything to get him to stop.

    Has he ever spent time with your herd? He seems to have learned tricks from a number of them!

  4. Stella
    February 15, 2010 | 10:02 am

    There is a song about Cheoah . It goes: Whatever Cheoah wants, Cheoah gets, and it doesn’t matter what it is!

    Good for you Cheoah, you obviously have a good system going!

    We are going to visit Sitka right now. Why do the dog troubles always come in bunches?

    Kisses,

    Stella

  5. Mimi & Cabana
    February 15, 2010 | 10:09 am

    Funny, their different personalities! Cheoah must be task-oriented, while the other herd members are more people-oriented? I’m like Cheoah myself. I like to finish what I started and not lollygag for too long!

  6. Kari
    February 15, 2010 | 11:11 am

    Did any of the pups you encountered Skijor? In Alaska its huge. Its a dog pulling a cross country skier. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skijoring (incase you don’t know what it is :) )

  7. Huskys Rule
    February 15, 2010 | 11:28 am

    All of our paws are crossed for Sitka…we’re thinking of ya. Kody & Nia

    Cheoah you sound like me my hu-mans also love my singing (whining) especially when I want to go for a walk or even better when we are walking & they & my brother want to stop & socialize with people I give them exactly 1 minute before I let them know it is time to start moving…this is my walking time.
    Licks & Nibbles–Nia

  8. Amber
    February 15, 2010 | 11:36 am

    Wow, everyone was out having fun! I am quite the expert at getting what I want too but I whine and sound pitiful to get my way. ;) hehehe!

    Kisses,
    Nala

  9. Houndstooth
    February 15, 2010 | 12:02 pm

    That looks like a very fun walk! Let’s just not let Lilac and Cheoah get together! We already have enough trouble with her bossing us around!

  10. The Army of Four
    February 15, 2010 | 3:12 pm

    Gorgeous pix – oh, how we would love to hike with you. Dave would go ballistic over seeing a loose pup, though. Funny… if a dog’s on a leash, he’s cool. Otherwise… not so much.
    We’re praying like crazy for Sitka!
    Play bows,
    Zim

  11. Teddy Bear
    February 15, 2010 | 5:13 pm

    You all must’ve had so much fun hiking in all that snow. I bet the sledders were fun to watch too. Oh, Cheoah, you are so smart to let your Mom and Dad know when you wanna something!

    Love,
    Teddy Bear

  12. Martha and Bailey
    February 15, 2010 | 5:13 pm

    Cheoah sounds like our kind of dog! We are quite vocal ourselves well sometime you just gotta holler!
    We heard about Sitka over at the Army of Four’s blog and we are thinking of her and keeping our basset paws crossed.
    We enjoyed seeing all your cool snow pics.
    Martha wants to know how come you guys are not scared of trippy trap bridges?
    xxxxx

  13. gus, louie and callie
    February 15, 2010 | 6:12 pm

    what a great walk you all had.. Wish we still had a little of that show..

  14. Huffle Mawson
    February 15, 2010 | 6:24 pm

    The black and white dog reminded me a little bit of Tehya! I am purring my hardest for Sitka too.

  15. Ricky
    February 15, 2010 | 7:05 pm

    Thanks for stopping by my blog to wish me a happy birthday! What a beautiful place to go hiking – mom says she has been to the Blue Ridge Parkway – maybe she’ll take me there some day!

    Hey, I’ve been seeing lots of cross country skiers in my favorite park here – guess all this snow really brings them out!

  16. Sam
    February 15, 2010 | 8:54 pm

    It’s nice to see so many people out and about!

    Sam

  17. Khyra
    February 15, 2010 | 9:34 pm

    I bet some pup wants to be part of the Baywatch khounterpart Ski Patrol!

    I also expekht Rusty to take a try at skiing too!

    Hugz&Khysses,
    Khyra

  18. Mochi
    February 15, 2010 | 11:07 pm

    What a cute pup you met on your hike! :) I would love staring at all those skiers!

    I’m crossing my paws and sending tons of Sibe Vibes to Sitka!

    Mochi

  19. the houston pittie pack
    February 15, 2010 | 11:40 pm

    boy you guys sure know how to have fun
    thanks for sharing all your fun in the shnow
    pibble please enjoy it vewy much for ush woggies who dont get any white fluff
    pibble sugars
    the houston pittie pack

  20. Dennis the Vizsla
    February 16, 2010 | 12:10 am

    A hole in the lung? That doesn’t sound good. We will be tail-wagging for her. Looks like you added an honorary Herd member!

  21. Wild Dingo
    February 16, 2010 | 4:48 am

    One word for Cheeto: “skillet” … in fact, you should just carry one on your walks and show it to her. but knowing Cheesewiz, she may think you’re about to cook her an omelet! LOL!

  22. Wild Dingo
    February 16, 2010 | 4:49 am

    ps. going to sitka’s blog now. thanks for the info…

  23. The OP Pack
    February 16, 2010 | 2:51 pm

    A day late and many dollars short, but here we are. Looks like a fun walk. We love to meet peeps on our walks, not so much loose pups. But that 3 legged one looked very cool – kudos to him for his skill.

    Woos, Phantom and Thunder

  24. Samantha ~ Holly & Zac ~
    February 16, 2010 | 6:01 pm

    Watching those skiers looks quite fun.

    BOL at Cheoah though, Holly can be a bit moany when she is bored too…hehe

  25. Twinkietinydog
    February 16, 2010 | 11:53 pm

    I must say the skier and his companion look like they were completely in the groove. I actually got a bit jealous for a minute and you know I hate the snow. What fun you guys
    Twink!

  26. the houston pittie pack
    February 17, 2010 | 12:50 am

    ruby tuesday
    vewy clover we must say
    those tweats sure looked yummers
    pibble sugars
    the houston pittie pack

  27. Corgi Country Crew
    February 17, 2010 | 10:26 pm

    Looks like you guys are having a great walk in YOUR kind of weather! We love people and animal watching we found out this weekend… Normally, there isn’t anyone around to watch! We will keep Sitka, as well as Max, in our prayers.

  28. Steve & Kat
    February 20, 2010 | 2:48 pm

    Your humans need to get themselves some skis so you can pull them fast around on the snow!

    Kat

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