Hiking, of course. We even found some secret places where she can run off-leash, exploring and sniffing to her heart's content.
But I'm being careful about her off-leash time, because about twenty minutes after I took the above photo, we came across a mountain lion cache -- most of a deer that had been dragged to the base of a tree and partially buried. I don't know if the lion was nearby, but every hair on Maya's body stood up and she looked utterly terrified, so I guess there was at least quite a bit of scent around. We left in a hurry, trying to look large and confident, just in case. I am used to hiking in lion country, but finding a large dead animal right beside the trail is still kind of thought-provoking.
Once Maya relaxed, I relaxed too. This may be one reason people and dogs got together in the first place -- dogs are good at detecting scary things, and thus make us feel safer. In return, people have been known to share lunch sometimes.
This is the face of a dog who knows I always share my hiking lunches.
My summer project is to teach Maya how to swim. She does seem to have a grasp of the basics -- find water, fall in, get really excited -- but her experience is limited. Once the lakes in the mountains thaw out, we're going to see what can be done, but in the meantime, a little wading is a good way to get started.
After wading, she gets post-bath zoomies.
Our walks around town have been nice too, but I rarely take a camera. When we first moved here, I was a little concerned that the extra density of people and dogs would make walks more challenging for Maya, but it turns out there are plenty of open spaces that are big enough to share. In fact, I think I'm enjoying our walks more than ever -- they are full of things that are interesting to both human and canine, and have offered a terrific mix of relaxation and training opportunities.
Maya did have a tough time for the first couple of months after the move, with some behavioral regression (separation distress, noise sensitivity, generalized anxiety, hypervigilance...all things we've experienced in the past, but that hadn't manifested in quite a while). I wasn't surprised by it, but I was a little concerned by how long it took her to bounce back.
She's back to normal now, but it helped motivate me to find a nice vet and get a fluoxetine (prozac) prescription, just to see if we can give Maya a better buffer against life's rough patches. Behavioral meds are something I've wanted to try for a while, and I'm happy to finally find a cooperative vet, and one with a lot of compassion for fearful dogs. Maya was less excited about the visit, but conducted herself well -- she ate treats throughout, and the vet wrote up a little summary of our visit that starts, "Maya was a very brave girl today!"
The very brave girl surveys her backyard.
So I guess we're settling in, hanging out, and having a good time. And before long, it will be summer!
