Shaver Lake Daytrip

So part of the fun of adding a new member to the household is introducing  them to all the mountain dog activities that they've probably never seen before. Astro, the 140lb chicken, is finally learning to like car rides (after numerous trips to in-n-out and to see his favorite uncle and anything else he likes to positively reinforce him.

So last week we ventured up to Shaver Lake to let the other two furkids swim and run around like wild beasts and to expose Astro to the idea that water isnt necessarily a terrifying thing...... Hakuna matata.


Last one in is a rotten egg!

 The nervous froth face as he watches the crazy dogs run straight in....

MINE.

'Baby' brother is confused. 

Ziggy goes for the long distance swim

You wouldn't think a 3-legged dog, 90lb dog would swim like a fish, but you'd be wrong.

What? Rosie may be part sealion. Hard to tell.

Who knows what's going on in that head. He did put his front feet in the water,
so we call it a win for his first lake day.

Till next time, mountain dog fans.

Snowshoe Dogs become Ski Dogs!

Alright, granted I'm still pretty bad at skiing (even 'snowplow' still seems difficult), but I have to say that it was quite satisfying being able to keep up with the pups for a change. We skied in from Swanson and took the logging road down (that snowplow maneuver came in reaaaally handy) to the lake. The descent seems way steeper when you are strapped on to a pair of x-country skis, and I only ate it twice on the way down (clinging to trees doesn't count, right?) When we hit the shoreline I changed out to my snowshoes, mostly because if I'd gone any farther, the odds of an impromptu swim increased dramatically. The skis attach nicely to the side of my pack and I tromped back up the hill with one very tired dog (Sadie) and one very ecstatic dog (the Zig). I hadn't previously considered the fact that, as my endurance increases, so does Ziggys. Thus, what used to wear him out quickly and efficiently is now a cakewalk and longer/more strenuous endeavors are now required. He's still worn out, but mostly because he ran up and down the 2 mile long hill about twenty times more than I did. I also blame him for one of my wipe outs on the way down...