Walking the Dog!

In addition to my horse activities, I also love to hike with my dog Heidi.  Heidi is a 9-year-old Australian Shepherd--with a tail!  I love her tail.  I wish the U.S. dog breeders would quit chopping off body parts.  Heidi is a product of a backyard breeder--I know, sometimes a bad thing, but she's been a great dog--and they didn't dock tails.

I can't do strenuous hikes because of my various ortho problems, but I do what I can within my ability.  We go until I start to get tired or sore and then we either turn around or take a side trail to go back to our starting point.  Today we were at a new trail that was once a railroad line in Dryden, NY--The Jim Schug Trail.  I don't know who Jim is, but Hey Jim--thank you for being you so we have this great trail named after you.  The trail is very well maintained--just gorgeous.  Very easy walking so I can look around and not worry about my foot catching on a tree root or rock and tripping me up.  I loved being in the woods, yet having such easy terrain.  The trail is about a 15 minute drive from my home and today I was saying to myself "Why haven't you checked out this trail before??  It's great!"

Part of the trail runs along side of a lake and there is an overlook where Heidi posed for her picture.



This trail is a little busier than I prefer, but it's still very nice and I will definitely go back.  Dogs are technically supposed to be on leash.  Nice thing about a rail trail is that it is so straight and flat that it's easy to see people coming from either direction quite a ways off.  I'm able to put Heidi on a leash in plenty of time for them to pass and not feel intimidated by a loose dog, although she is not a problem.

Something that impressed me about Heidi today is how quickly she picked up on needing to slow down and wait for me as we approached a road crossing.  She would see the road up ahead, look back at me, slow down, and then I would tell her to wait until I checked for cars ... then "OK" ... and she would cross and resume her normal pace.  Smart dog!!!

It was cool for a summer day but it was very humid.  I had sweat dripping off my forehead in no time at all.  I don't handle humidity well.  Yuck!  But all in all it was a great walk/hike and I will definitely go back again.

Back home to the horses--refreshed waters, made sure fans were working, applied fly repellent, and, of course, had to cuddle Rosie!

It's a good day!