An Old Familiar

Walk: City Creek Canyon off-leash dog trail
Length: 2 miles?
Duration: 1 hour?

Here is a picture I took at the top of the off-leash trail at Memory Grove. The dogs had to wait patiently in position while I got the camera set up, and then not move as I came rushing at them to take my place. It took several tries to get it right, and to make sure I didn't look too much like a mushroom.

Walking this trail is nostalgic, because I used to bring the dogs here all the time when we lived on Capitol Hill. The dogs knew where we were as soon as we got out of the car, and the race to the off-leash section was on. As we walked, I was very conscious of how obnoxious Ida is, but also of how she is improving slightly. We're going to have a dogsitter in July to take care of the dogs while we are up at Snowbird for the Folk and Bluegrass Festival. I thought about all the weird shit that I do to control my dogs, and wondered how I'm going to be able to convey that to Meghan, or whether, indeed, I need to. Am I just over-controlling? If I wasn't here, would they be placid, friendly little beasties? I don't think so. So, I will have to explain to Meghan Ida's psychology (wow...I'm really starting to sound like a harf!): she wants dominance, but she's also very very fearful. I'd say that's one of the worst combinations for a dog. The way this comes out on the trail is that she feels she needs to control every little movement that Shed makes. If I let her, she will keep him corralled and cowering at my ankles for the entire walk. The only way to break her of this is to make her heel, and tell Shed to go ahead. If he breaks out first, she'll ignore him. Making Shed go first, however, also takes some work because his psychology is to be submissive and avoid confrontation, and he doesn't often believe that I can really stop Ida from herding him. He eventually will run out a little ways, but when I release Ida from the heel and she comes running up to him, he always crouches down and braces himself for the blow he knows is coming. I actually think that move of his is very cute...sad, but cute.

One happy thing for Shed is that he is unafraid of other dogs (unlike Ida). So here he is going in for a nice butt smell on a huge saint bernard. Ida gave this dog as wide a berth as she could. If she's really scared (usually when a dog approaches her), she'll put her hackles up and start whining softly. Occasionally, if a dog gets too pushy, she'll turn and snark him. This never happens, however, if I tell her calmly that she is okay and to just keep moving.

Sometimes I feel like a real idiot when I'm walking my dogs. Why can't I just have normal dogs who run and frolic and play? No I have to have these weird creatures with their social hangups...I mean CUTE weird creatures!

Other highlights from this walk include wild rose bushes...

lots of water...

a snake!...

and the rock footprint.
After the walk, I went to the yarn store and bought some lace weight yarn in a blueish-gray called "Charcoal." I've been wanting to try knitting lace for quite a while now, so I've found this pattern: halcyon. I'm going to knit it without the god-awful ugly ribbon and bow at the ends. Really...why ugly up a pattern as nice and simple as that?