leaps and bounds

I am always least-happy with my photos right after I take them, and then enjoy them more with time.  Except for this one.  Because I could never be critical of a photo that looks like Maya is trying to hold up her pants as she jumps.

I look like what?

We went for a hike today, with elk tracks, snow zoomies, interesting poopsicles, and training games along the way; Maya was in paradise.

 

I also asked her to pose on stumps for me, which she did with great enthusiasm even when it meant pressing her bottom firmly against a snow drift.  She is such a willing model.

But mostly, we just hiked and played and galloped around with shining eyes.  It was good.

the face I love

I love the face Maya makes when we are playing training games.  Or at least when we are playing them right!  An example from some months back, when we were playing '101 things to do with a box' (or in this case, 'a handful of things to do with two wire baskety things').

You can practically see her brain working away.  Her ears, sadly, didn't fit into the frame (there just isn't always room), but they are at their happiest setting.  As often as not, if I reach up and touch my face while we are doing this, I'll feel a similar sort of expression going on.

she's three!

I completely missed Maya's birthday this year.  I doubt she minds, since last year all I did was force her to wear an embarrassing hat while I waved cookies at her to produce a series of sorrowful expressions.  Like this:

It's a made-up date anyway, since we have no way of knowing Maya's true day of birth.  Even so, it's safe to say that Maya is approximately three years old now.  Happy birthday, big girl!

The other thing I did last week was to sign us up for Susan Garrett's online Recallers course.  We've been having a motivation/discipline problem with training lately (mine, not Maya's), so I am hoping the extra structure helps.  Besides, it sounds like fun!  Since it is going to involve a ton of cookies for Maya, I think that makes a pretty good birthday present.  Better than a stupid hat, at least. 

Only kidding, of course.  Nothing is better than a special birthday hat.

snowy Saturday

A terrible grinding noise woke me at five o'clock this morning. Eventually, I identified it as the sound of a snowplow.  Got up when the sun finally rose, put on lots of warm clothes, and went out to fill the bird feeder and capture some Maya snow zoomies.

No such luck.  Look at her erect ruff and serious face...there was something out behind our back fence, I guess, and my conscientious guard dog had no time for zoomies.  Just enough time to stick her head into the snow, and then give me a few sideways looks and long-suffering sighs that translate into, "If you're out here with me, I can't go bark at the back fence, so really, what's the point?"

Oh well, the birds appreciated my efforts.