Posts Tagged ‘dog’
Just Behave
It’s been a lot of days in a row with temperatures above freezing. I’ve lost count at this point, but there has been enough melting that the labyrinth is now half uncovered.
The melting also finally exposed the dead raccoon that Asher buried in the snow down by the road long ago. Cyndie has been wanting to get rid of it, but was mistaken about its location and couldn’t find it when she brought me down there with a shovel a few weeks back, as things first started to melt.
It’s all bagged up now. When Asher originally caught the raccoon, Cyndie wondered why the critter was out during the middle of the day. I’m wondering why no other roaming predators had taken interest in the carcass when it started to be exposed by the melt. Maybe it was sick, and that’s why nothing was messing with it.
When I walked Asher past that spot with the telltale striped hide peeking through the snow earlier in the day, he was very good about obeying my “LEAVE IT!” command.
He was also very good when we made our way down there again in the high heat of the afternoon and happened upon a neighbor walking her two dogs along the road. We have no confidence about whether Asher will react aggressively with unknown dogs or not, so we do our best to avoid coming into contact with them.
I was able to have a brief long-distance conversation on the subject with the neighbor, Heather. She politely checked to see if Asher would be okay with her dogs, and I was able to express that we just don’t know for sure. Happily, the dogs all behaved while coming within maybe 10-15 feet of each other, and followed commands to focus/refocus on each of their owners every time we asked.
It was comforting that the mere sight of the dogs didn’t send Asher into a tizzy. Heather understood that Asher might be protective of his property and possibly of me, as well. It was the second close encounter in two days with them without incident, so there’s hope it could become a non-issue in time.
Speaking of protection, we are happy that the Visa credit card company contacted Cyndie yesterday by both a phone message and a text with a fraud alert of $8759.00. Always wary of phishing scams, she responded by calling the phone number on the back of her card.
Sure enough, it was a fraudulent transaction. Cyndie had just used her card earlier in the day at a restaurant in Woodbury for lunch. She called the manager to alert them of the unauthorized transaction, in case there was any connection. She had been seated at the bar, so they didn’t even have a server other than the bartender.
The manager was very helpful and looked up her receipt, offered to review the surveillance video, and volunteered to cooperate with any police investigation. Adding intrigue, the $8759 was charged to a cookware supply company. Hmm.
Cyndie chose to contact the Woodbury police by email with all the details. More information will be provided as it becomes available.
It’s kind of sad when dogs behave better than people do.
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Above Freezing
As our planet spins its way away from the winter tilt, the minutes of daylight are getting noticeably longer. The horses show signs of appreciating the freedom from blankets. Despite my love for winter, my advancing age brings a new level of acceptance for above-freezing February days with sunshine and dry pavement.
I’ve been reading reports from friends who had to deal with “snowcrete” to our east after the big winter storm “Fern” two weeks ago. Has me counting our blessings for how easy we have had it in comparison.
This month will mark the two-year anniversary of my crash landing on a walk with Asher when the temperature climbed to record warmth and thawed the first inch of turf, making the ground too slippery for my boots to grip. My shoulder never fully healed from that fall. That was back when we kept him leashed. I couldn’t dig in my heels to slow him down.
Thank goodness we’ve moved on to an e-collar so he can run around untethered. Yesterday afternoon, he spent a large amount of time snuffling around the chunks of the willow tree that still lay where we cut them last summer.
An unidentified critter was under there somewhere, but it wouldn’t come out. The horses used to react with heightened anxiety when Asher was in pursuit of prey, but lately they seem less bothered by it. Maybe that’s because of his low success rate in his predatory endeavors.
Cyndie reported hearing some wildlife screaming during the night between Monday and Tuesday. I recently read that this time of year is mating season for skunks, and they can make quite a racket. The animal shrieking we usually hear sounds a lot like cats fighting, but I think it’s either raccoons fighting or negotiating their consummation.
As long as those nocturnal animals all avoid a run-in with Asher, we’ll all be better off. I’m not confident that he will pay attention to our pushing buttons to activate his collar during any close encounter with a creature he considers potential prey.
Please, please, no skunks during this February thaw.
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Feed Delivered
On the days we expect delivery of feed for the horses, there is usually a text alert providing an ETA for the truck. Yesterday, I kept one eye out the window and one eye on the phone messages. I even got up to check if Asher was barking because the delivery had arrived, but it was just another of his regular outbursts over some invisible trigger that we fail to see or hear.
I did get distracted for a short while by a movie on my laptop that caught my attention while I was having lunch. When Asher showed up on my hip with insistent signaling that he needed to go out, I prepared to be outside with him until the truck showed up or we needed to feed horses, maybe both at the same time.
In the woods, he decided to take on a snag that was four times his height because his senses told him there were critter snacks inside. He worked tenaciously for the longest time, despite it looking like a useless effort to me.
It doesn’t really bother me that he tries, because it entertains him with one of his great passions: destroying toys (or trees) to bits. It’s always a bonus to occupy his mind and burn some of his energy while he is out in the great outdoors.
To my surprise, after about twenty minutes of his manic pawing and gnawing, what I suspect were small flying squirrels began popping out of holes and racing to the highest point before making a flying leap for the next large trunk.
Asher would catch a glimpse and race to the other tree, but he almost always missed when they would scamper up that one to a dizzying height from which they made amazing leaps, floating down toward the next big tree a safe distance away.
When my feet started to get cold, and it was close enough to time to feed the horses, it took a concerted effort to convince Asher to give up and move on. Eventually, he got the message and joined me down the trail toward the barn.
As we rounded the corner to the front door, we found the delivery had happened without my noticing, having not received any messages in advance. I don’t know if it was while we were in the woods or still in the house. I fully expected to hear the truck if it happened while we were outside, so I’m guessing it was during my lunch break.
At least I didn’t need to make a decision about where to have them leave the pallet. He set it right in front of the doors that are frozen shut. That meant I ended up moving 2000 lbs of feed, one 50 lb bag at a time, through the small door and restacked them on two pallets inside.
Just another day of fun at Wintervale that negates the need for a gym membership!
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Wrong Side
When we emerge from the woods to the pathway around the back pasture fence line first thing in the morning each day, it is common that we are met with a striking view of the morning sky or the fresh tracks of wildlife in the snow. The horses haven’t been traveling to the far reaches of the back pasture, so the surface is rarely disturbed, making for some beautiful winter scenes.
Yesterday morning, there was a lot of new evidence of mouse-sized critter activity in the snow.
They create fascinating veins just under the surface of the snow cover. When the air is double-digits below zero (F), I marvel that the little rodents are out and about. I suppose it speaks volumes for the insulating quality of snow.
Oftentimes, Asher ignores the obvious travel patterns as if they aren’t even there, while taking great pains to bury his nose into every hoof or paw print for a whiff of an animal’s signature. However, if there is a sound of movement under the surface, he stops on a dime, does that classic dog head tilt, and pounces on a spot.
We don’t currently have the electric fence turned on, so I didn’t fret over his intense exploration of whatever was going on beneath the blanket of snow around that post. While he was seriously occupied, I took advantage of trudging toward the barn without him, at my own pace. I’m usually working to move at double time to keep him in my line of sight.
In the time it took for him to catch up with me at the barn, I cleared my mind of what he had been up to, so it was a surprise (shouldn’t have been) when I noticed he had something in his mouth he wanted to bury. He displays a very recognizable body language when in bury-mode.
I guess there was a rodent by that post. Making our way through the barn, I opened the far door for him to hunt for a burial site. Knowing how long it takes him to decide, I figured I could leave him on his own while I tended to the horses. As soon as I distributed their feed buckets, I went to check on Asher.
There was no sign of him anywhere. I hustled down the driveway with my eyes scanning every direction. Having given a few initial shouted commands and whistle alerts, I studied the 360° of terrain silently as the sun began to appear.
In case his feet were getting cold, I returned to the house to see if he was waiting for me there. I resumed calling and used the tone and vibration on his e-collar for added encouragement. When I caught sight of him, it appeared he was responding to the signals to the best of his ability, but he was on the wrong side of the fence we had installed to teach him our property border.
Too bad there is no gate in that fence.
I had to walk a long way along that fence line, verbally commanding him to stay with me the whole way until we came to an open seam he could cross.
At least the critter wasn’t still clenched in his jaws by that time.
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Icier Still
Hydrostatic pressure pushing water to flow in the dead of winter remains a mystery to me. It doesn’t seem like liquid water should be able to make its way to the surface of a frozen landscape.
When we delicately make our way to the paddocks with temperatures in the single digits (F) in the morning, it surprises me to see new evidence that overnight water moved downstream in the typical routes it flows all summer, but it is somehow doing it as a glacier of flowing ice.
Did I mention that it’s like we live in a science lab?
We didn’t receive enough new flakes of snow yesterday to offset the loss of ice occurring through sublimation along the edges. It definitely didn’t provide an improvement in traction on the slippery surfaces.
The next weather system offering chances of new precipitation arrived overhead while we were tending to the horses.
I hauled a few loads of dry firewood in preparation for snuggling in front of the fireplace in the next few days. That’s one of our preferred ways of enjoying the sight of falling snow from our cozy indoor perches. I’m hoping to find fresh snow on the ground when daylight arrives this morning.
Asher spent much of his outdoor time yesterday gnawing on the dessicated carcass of a rabbit he found. It didn’t take long for Cyndie to decide he needed to be done with that pursuit, which led to us scraping up the furry bits that remained stuck to the icy snow to be bagged and disposed of in the trash.
To his credit, Asher didn’t fret too much over the cancellation of that fun and quickly turned his attention to the Jolly Ball with a frozen rope through the middle, ever-present in the yard. He played long and hard with me until finally bailing on the ball and racing around in zoomies mode.
He knew Cyndie was in the barn and kept checking in that direction while we were playing. After his last pass of zooming, he sprinted as fast as I’ve ever seen down the driveway, getting out of my sight for just a moment. I immediately began walking after him, noticing he was no longer on the driveway. I scanned left and right, but figured there was no way he could have made the sharp left turn at the speed he was moving.
I kept walking along the driveway, wondering if he was around the hay shed. Then I noticed the door to the barn was not fully closed. It seemed unlikely that he would have been able to slow down enough on that ice to make his way around to the open side of the door before I would have been able to see him, but he was nowhere else to be found.
Checking with Cyndie, I heard her confirm he was in there with her. You’d think by now I’d realize how much faster he can move than my sense of time and space perceives as possible.
PS: It is not lost on me that we are having ice problems at Wintervale at the same time the Twin Cities metro area is inundated with ICE agents in their masked cosplay costumes of military tactical gear. ICE goons give our ice situation a worse reputation than it really deserves.
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Predatory Behavior
Last Sunday, we were blessed with a visit from our kids for one last day of mirth before the return to regularly scheduled programming of the work world in 2026. The weather was a bit of a risk as we were under a warning for sleet and freezing rain. They braved the drive anyway, with utmost caution, and the weather didn’t turn out to be as bad as it could have been.
As soon as they headed home and Cyndie and I went down to tend to the horses, the murky sky opened up a bit for a sweet show at sunset.
Two days later, we received what I feel is the worst weather for winter: rain. Once again, the snow is a saturated mess. I took Asher for an afternoon explore, and he fixated on a dead tree trunk that he seemed certain contained a rodent snack.
I stood waiting while he worked furiously to gain access. Seeing him so harmlessly entertained is a reward worth allowing to play out uninterrupted, so I busied myself with tamping down the wet snow where I stood.
He showed no sign of giving up and began to attack the little trees in the immediate vicinity that were getting in his way. They served to fulfill his urge to chomp on things better than any of the artificial chew toys in his extensive collection in the house.
He worked on that effort for so long, my project of tamping snow grew to create a raised median at the intersection of the two trails where he was busy at it.
As much as I wished to let him play to his heart’s content, his distraction had lasted so long that it became time to feed the horses, and I was forced to call him off. We trundled away through the snow slurry toward the barn after a minor struggle to redirect his attention away from the prize he never reached.
If there was a mouse in there, I wonder what its experience was like during the onslaught. Did it assume there was an earthquake, or did it sense the telltale signs of a predator at its door?
I think I can relate to what it must have been like inside that hollow section of the tree limb. That is what it feels like every day for citizens of the United States under the criminal control of the current administration. If only there were someone who could call off the brutal regime and send them on their way.
That terrorized critter suffered for less than an hour. Our suffering shows no signs of abating.
To the rest of the world: I’m sorry you have to witness this, or worse yet, be directly impacted by the actions of the disgusting few who are systematically dismantling our country for their personal gain.
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Wonder Dog
Before I get to today’s post, I want to proclaim that I unequivocally object to everything the current U.S. criminal masquerading as a leader is up to, as well as all of the rest of the people in positions of power, who are allowing things to happen. It is soul-crushing and heartbreaking.
Our New Year’s getaway to Mike and Barb’s cabin was not entirely for Asher’s benefit, but he did seem to receive the bulk of everyone’s attention while we’ve been here. On a walk through the woods along a portage from Bluewater Lake to Trout Lake, we paused to let Asher zoom on the snow-covered ice.
He is enthralled with the scent he picks up from the deer tracks in the snow and would gladly follow them endlessly if we allowed. A gnome home in the trunk of a tree didn’t even get a sniff from him, probably because it looks like they must have traveled south for the winter.
No one is shoveling their entrance.
The extreme cold has softened, and it is pleasant to be out enjoying winter at its best. We’ve received fresh fallen snow each day, which is keeping everything white and making it look like we are playing in a snow globe.
As darkness fell, we heard the pop of a fireworks shot down the lake, which Barb and Mike knew indicated their neighbors were going to do a show of multiple shots soon. With a full moon peaking through the light cloud cover, we decided to walk down to the lake to watch.
Since Asher had never shown any reaction to gunshots or thunderclaps, we decided to test his reaction to the fireworks.
Our mistake was in assuming he would be as oblivious to them as he is to the other loud booms. The poor guy flipped out. Our 90-pound puppy went into a full-on panic of yelping and trying to drag me as fast as he could, and as far away as he could get.
We have confirmed our wonder dog’s kryoptonite.
Lesson learned, the hard way. This morning, Asher woke up as happy as ever, and he and I had a wonderful walk at dawn, leaving last night’s terror a memory we hope he won’t need to relive. In a short time, we will pack him up along with our bags and leftover food and head for home.
It’s been a fabulous visit. I expect it will also be fabulous to get him back to our usual routine at home, where he can be the wonder dog who barks at delivery trucks and rabbits in his yard.
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Great Adventures
Our first day of the new year up in the north woods was pure joy for Asher and us. The big pup got a lot of love from Mike, here shown gently accepting a treat:
We have been eating the most delicious and festive of foods prepared by Barb and Cyndie, with Mike adding his artistry in a variety of ways, including these wonderful appetizers:
When we weren’t busy eating, we were outside giving Asher a chance to explore the woods around the cabin. He was a good sport about staying in contact with us when we let him wander a little bit to follow the obvious deer tracks in the snow.
Mike dug through a closet of dog toys accumulated over the years and came up with a chew toy for Asher. Our hound gnawed on it for a little while, but then began pacing the cabin, looking for a place to bury it. I let him take it outside with us, and he immediately hunted for somewhere he could bury it in the snow.
Before we made our way back indoors, I snuck over and retrieved the “bone” and brought it back in with us.
He soon lost interest in it and moved on to other distractions, including barking at things out the window that none of the rest of us could perceive.
When we weren’t outside enjoying walks in the perfect falling snow, Barb and I ripped through a 300-piece jigsaw puzzle, while Cyndie made short work of a cribbage match with Mike. We played a couple of other games, listened to an episode of the Telepathy Tapes podcast, and watched a movie that was wrongly identified as a “comedy.”
You know, ‘at-the-lake’ activities.
My daily routine has been knocked for a loop without our usual twice-a-day horse-feeding detail, demonstrated by my confused and entirely incorrect exclamation that it was “already seven o’clock!” after glancing up at an analog clock with Roman numerals.
It was 5:00. Oops. Flipped that around a bit. That drew a few well-deserved wisecracks and laughter.
It’s a good thing I don’t drink alcohol. I’m able to remain clear-headed during these kinds of foibles, allowing me to chronicle them accurately for posterity.
We have no responsibilities to do anything different today, but I’ve heard a trip to Grand Rapids to eat at a restaurant is possible. I doubt Asher will be too thrilled with that plan, since it will involve him staying here alone, but I suspect we can reward him with a big explore later around our hosts’ other wooded property, just a short drive from their cabin.
Sometimes great adventures involve a little sacrifice.
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Snowy Walk
By 4:00 yesterday afternoon, it was a winter wonderland outside. Cyndie and I set out to feed the horses by way of a walk through the woods with Asher.
We found a lot of branches drooping across the trails under the weight of the sticky, wet snow. It didn’t take Asher long to get out of sight as we trudged through the snow. We resorted to taking pictures of each other.
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When we popped out of the trees, Asher’s silhouette appeared in the distance.
He was having a blast in the snow. Earlier in the afternoon, Cyndie decided to open the door and let Asher outside by himself to romp while she stayed warm and dry inside. That has not been our normal practice, so it was pleasing to find he stayed close and came back in when called.
The snow was coming down with intimidating intensity as we made our way to the horses. We decided I should do a mid-storm plowing of the driveway after cleaning up manure.
I learned very quickly that the treatment I applied to the blade was entirely ineffective. The snow was wet against the ground and heavy to push with the plow blade. I had to get off and scrape the blade clean multiple times.
The extra work last night will have been worth it if the plowing is easier this morning. It certainly can’t be any worse.
One thing I have no complaints about, big snow events are wonderfully picturesque to view.
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A Thursday
There was an unexpected Asher adventure as we were about to feed the horses yesterday morning, involving a raccoon. While Cyndie and I were focused on the usual chores, Asher vanished without our noticing. His telltale, excited barking in the distance instantly grabbed our attention.
Cyndie stopped what she was doing and hustled in the direction of the hay shed. In the perennial garden just beyond the shed, she found Asher and the raccoon in conflict with each other. I stayed with the horses, trying to pretend that nothing out of the ordinary was going on, despite the angry noises coming from the raccoon.
She reported that Asher had the butt end of the still-complaining raccoon in his mouth and took off running when she showed up. When she caught up to him again, across the road at the end of our driveway, she said he was in the process of burying the no longer living critter.
I don’t remember seeing coon hound in the 18 breeds identified in his DNA.
Our neighbor just south of us was pleased to hear he has some help in controlling the population of nuisance wildlife. When Cyndie stopped by to deliver some Christmas cookies, he told her he had dispatched 19 possums and 25 raccoons this year.
It’s comforting to know that we may have gained some tolerance for occasions when Asher might wander onto their property, now that he’s seen as contributing to pest control in the area.
After a couple of days above freezing, we are facing another Winter Weather Advisory from the National Weather Service, which predicts light snow, wind as high as 40-50 mph, and icy flash freezing conditions. Needless to say, the horse blankets are back on.
Mia needs the added protection more than the others, but she was the most uncooperative about letting us cover her up. She doesn’t grow as thick a winter coat and ends up shivering more quickly than the others, so one would think she’d welcome the blanket.
Instead of chasing her around in an attempt to force compliance, we are inclined to patiently invite her to come to us as we stand holding the blanket. Since they were all eating from their feed buckets while we were putting the blankets on, that just meant standing close to her bucket, and eventually she stayed put while we covered her up and hooked up all the clasps.
I have every confidence that they understand why we are covering them up again. We also move hay nets from out on fence posts to up underneath the overhang. Since we only do these things during periods of stormy weather and always return things to normal afterwards, I believe they read the signals and accept the changes without unwarranted stress.
Lousy weather is stressful enough on its own, especially when high winds are involved. The Weather Service is tossing out phrases like “a conveyor belt of Aleutian low-pressure systems” and “atmospheric rivers.”
To us, it just seems like a Thursday.
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Relative Something 