Through the woods

My sister's dog, Loki has become like our second dog. We take him on hikes with us and he stays at our house once or twice a week. Such a fun dog! He and Indi are around the same age and get along so well. They have similar energy and play styles. He doesn't have that "space bubble" like I've noticed in a lot of border collies, (at least not when it comes to playing with other dogs). He doesn't mind being moosed around by Indigo, who is much larger than him. My sister has problems with him growling when she moves in bed and disturbs him!
Today we took them for a run by the Boise river.

They run and chase and wrestle.

Indi jumped into the river. It didn't seem to phase her (it is VERY cold in January!).

Loki does his border collie thing...

stalking....

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      and then he pounces.

Such good friends!

A seminar!

I am taking an online course called "Building Relationship Through Play". It's being taught by Denise Fenzi who's blog I have been obsessed with reading lately. I really admire the way she works and plays with her dogs. She values each one of her dogs for the individuals that they are and you can see that they feel that.
The coarse will be about three different play types; toy, personal (just you and your dog) and food play (why did I not think of food play before?).  At first I thought it would be focused more on toy and personal play, now I see that she believes it is wise to have a balance in all three areas. Each one is useful in different situations. If you don't use a form of play very often, it can become something your dog just doesn't find reinforcing. I am noticing that with food. I have been playing so much with a tug toy with Indi that food is just not as exciting. I guess I need to find a way to make it fun. She gets very excited for her meals at home, kibble dog food, but out in the world she isn't RABID about treats.
Since I signed up as an observer that means I can't post videos or ask questions but I still thought it would be fun to make a few videos and post them here.

 Here is Indigo playing with a toy with me.

I know that I need to stand up straighter (better for your back of course).

I need to remember to let her win the toy more often to encourage her desire to play with me. If she were to get this toy to herself she still has the tendency to  run away with it. She will bring it back if I call her to come, and sometimes she will bring it back to play with me but she mostly wants to run in circles with it, shaking it to death.

She is very fun to play tug with! She will tug on just about anything.





And just for fun (and cuz I'm a nerd), here is my first installment of "Things Indi can hold".

                                                                      A is for Abalone!

play and not play in Pocatello

We took the dogs on a trip to visit my dad this weekend.
 These pictures were taken along the way there, next to the Snake River at a place called Massacre Rocks State Park
Indi isn't satisfied with simply hiking, she has to harass Rye while he tries to hike. He sometimes decides to play back and sometimes gets angry at her for her obnoxious behavior. I let it go on for a minute or so, long enough to see if he is going to play or if he is not in the mood.
This was play.

A beautiful place to hike.

Pelicans!

Sand!

These pictures are from a hike with my dad. Pocatello, Idaho is FULL of beautiful foothill trails. Amazingly, it seems like hardly anyone uses them so we had it mostly to ourselves.

And this was not play, at least not from Rye's point of view. Indi running at him full speed, knocking into him. He gets as tough as he can, barking at her and she still doesn't listen. I have to take her collar and tell her to keep walking, then she stops.

Knock it off, black dog! I'm trying to eat snow!