The first day of spring may have been two weeks ago, but here in NH we’ve only seen glimpses of it for a day here and there. The snow is melting, but very slowly. The frigid winter had me unmotivated to walk, and other than the occasional venture out, the dogs got most of their exercise playing in the yard. Sheba got a lot of walks when she was recovering from her surgery and couldn’t play, but they were mostly short.
I’ve been waiting for that quintessential spring day to get me motivated to start walking regularly again. We really haven’t had it, but this last week I was determined to get out there again, thinking I may need it to save my sanity. As it turns out, the two days I planned to walk started out very cold but by the time we got out there the sun had come out and it really was quite nice.
I took Sheba down to the Christmas tree farm. The road was very muddy, so I either sloshed through the mud or tried to walk on the sides of the road where there was still snow. Sheba actually did the same, and mostly stuck to the snowbanks!
As you can see from the photos, we still have a lot of snow. I was able to take Luke down in our woods and it’s packed down enough that I didn’t need my snowshoes. I could barely see the snowshoe trails I had made just about three weeks ago, but we were able to follow some of those as well as some of the deer trails. There were places where the snow still looked two feet deep though!
We wandered around the woods and even though we didn’t cover much distance, due to Luke’s hound dog nose, he enjoyed sniffing everything and it was good to be out there moving around. I swear both he and Sheba have two walking styles…either stopping and sniffing everything, or bulling forward and pulling me. That’s one of the reasons I don’t walk them together, because I’m afraid they wouldn’t coordinate their varying styles. Even though Cricket is a beagle, she is full speed ahead at almost all times (and she’ll be getting her first spring walk this weekend).
Luke virtually ignored me, you can see in the photos that he mostly won’t look at me, and I had a squeaker in my pocket to get his attention which didn’t really help all that much. He suffers from a condition where when his nose engages, his ears shut off. I believe it’s common with hound dogs and hound mixes (he may be mostly Lab but whatever hound is in him often dominates). But I was pleasantly surprised when we walked a short ways down the road and the first time I said “heel” he immediately started looking to my hand for a treat, and fell into step beside me! I was afraid we’d be starting from square one on the “heel” training, but he has not forgotten! I’m anxious to get working on that again, and now that we’ve “broken the ice”, so to speak, with spring walks I think we’ll be doing a lot more.
Housekeeping note: Our blog is getting a makeover! The change over is happening tonight, so the site may be down overnight or early tomorrow morning. We’ll be back to tell you more of the details about it and why we decided to do it after it’s completed. Even though I’ve had help with it, it the planning has taken up a lot of my time lately….plus we had a special birthday party for my oldest sister last weekend and I had company as well. Between those things I haven’t had as much time to visit with all of my blog friends. So if I haven’t been by your blog as much, that is why, and I hope to start getting caught up again on things this weekend!
It is FitDog Friday’s 2nd anniversary! Be sure to stop by the host blogs for a huge giveaway celebration! Our hosts are SlimDoggy, To Dog With Love and MyGBGVLife. Please also visit other blogs through the links below to learn more about keeping your dogs fit and happy!
The weather is still crazy where you live huh? I hope it goes away soon….
I hope so too, Cathy. For every nice day we get, we get a week of cold and wind, and even snow flurries today. Winter will just not let go!
Wow, that’s still a lot of snow! Hard to believe since it’s been so warm here. You must get a lot of exercise taking the dogs on individual walks! Funny that Crickett charges ahead! Our beagle would just stand and sniff, move a bit, stand and sniff. It wasn’t excercise for me! So frustrating, cuz I’d take her for a 45 min walk, but still need to exercise myself!
That’s how it was walking Kobi, but Cricket is not your typical beagle, I don’t think. She does have the nose, but she also has a very high energy level, and a bit of OCD too I think! She takes walking very seriously!
The dogs get most of their exercise playing in the yard, we don’t walk daily, although I wish we did….I could use that amount of exercise really.
That is way too much Brrrrrr Humbug and we hope Spring finds you soon. Hey, I was born on a Christmas Tree Farm, seriously!
I love that you were born on a Tree Farm, Brian! This one doesn’t really have any buildings, other than an old camper where they stay during hunting season (we have to stay away then).
This looks soooo cold, but you all look so happy in the snow 🙂
Pawkisses for an eggstra Happy Easter and hope your Easter Bunny Day is filled with fun in every way 🙂 <3
Sending lots of warm thoughts and sunshine. Its great to get back in the swing of things!
Oh boy! Makeovers are fun (well….once you get past the “will it work out” stage anyway!!!!)……………also we think Spring walks are grand and just knowing that Spring is REALLY on its’ way is even MORE grand!
Happy Easter Weekend
Hugs, Sammy
I look forward to your makeover! I think I’d prefer walking in the snow too over mud.
Wow, you do have a lot of snow still. Ours is all gone now…hopefully never to return until next winter.
Glad you were able to get out. We have had some warmer weather finally and with it rain. 🙂 Can’t wait to see the new look.
wow you still have so much snow. great walk and good luck on the make over, can’t wait to see. Have a great weekend.
Glad you got to get out for some nice walks with Sheba and Luke! Barley would have had a conniption fit if I’d tried to make her walk on a muddy road, so I’m glad that our sidewalks have reappeared and we can avoid the mess the melting snow has created. I can’t believe how much snow you still have on the ground! We’re down to just a few piles that plows had made in parking lots (thank goodness!).
We are finally getting there with the snow loss! It’s going very slow though, but our yard is at least mostly clear at this point. The weather has still been quite chilly though, but maybe we’ll finally get a break by the weekend (though I think we might see more snow first….ugh).
I wish our dogs would avoid mud….they want to dig in it!
That’s a crazy amount of snow still! And how fun to visit the Christmas tree farm year round!
Good luck on the new look! That is always so exciting/nerve wrecking, but I’m sure it will be awesome! I can’t imagine having snow in April, but enjoy it before the summer heat. ☺
We still have lots of snow here too, although I fear it will be gone after this weekend. The sun is shining, and it’s super warm today!!!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
I have never seen snow. It is sunny here, hope you get many more sunny days. Stopping by from the hop to say hi. Come on over
KiKi
A Happy Havanese
I’m looking forward to seeing your blog’s makeover! I’ve been wanting to re-do mine, too; but with all 3 dogs having had digestive issues last summer into earlier this year, I just haven’t had the time to play with it. And free WordPress limits how much I can do anyway.
I like the idea to visit a christmas tree farm :o) I’m sure the snow will disappear soon and you can enjoy a sunny easter weekend :o)
easy rider
Can’t believe you still have that much snow – yikes. Hope it goes soon. Jack suffers from the same condition as Luke…and he doesn’t have any hound in him!
Then perhaps it’s a Lab thing…or more likely just a dog thing! 🙂
Just a few real warm days and that snow will be gone! Can’t wait to see your makeover. I’m sure the change will go fast and smooth just as ours did! Thanks for joining FitDog Friday!