Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Autumn sky

Winter is coming and part of me just wants to hibernate the next few months away but my dogs pull me outside and force me to breathe the chilly air, feel the brisk wind, and so finally my body wakes up and warms up as we walk. My dogs pull me outside and I am filled with life when otherwise I would just sleep.


The wind is strong this morning and cannot be ignored. Walking is a balancing act and Stella's ears flap around like little flags.


These swans are here every autumn and will stay until the very edge of winter when they are finally crowded out by sheets of ice.


Motor boats have been docked here most of the summer. They don't seem to ever be taken out. They just float around on the water until autumn when they are put away in storage. Rocky and Stella couldn't care less. They're tired of waiting for me to take their picture.


Stella reveals big monster teeth as she sneezes after sniffing the last few flowers of the season.


Rocky appreciates the leaves more than Stella. He happily crunches through them like a little kid at the park.

4 comments:

Lynda said...

Fred, I love the pics of Rocky and Stella!

Fred said...

Thanks. Rocky and Stella hate getting their photos taken. It's almost impossible to get Rocky to look into the camera and Stella usually just stares and frowns like a grumpy old woman.

Stacey K said...

What is it that Rocky is wearing? Looks like a pretty fancy harness.

Fred said...

Rocky's got Wobblers which is a constriction of the spinal column near the neck area so I can't use a collar on him because it might make the condition worse. Rocky's also got hip dysplasia (not too bad right now) so I also wanted something with which I could help support his hind end. I tried a couple of regular harnesses on him but he kept rubbing himself raw around the underarm area so I finally came upon the Ruffwear harness. It's well padded, very strong, and there is no pressure on Rocky's neck. There are three restraint points: at his shoulders, his chest and his belly so the load of him pulling is equally distibuted. Because of the strap around his belly, he also gets some support for his hind end.

The only drawback with the harness is that it's been a lot more difficult teaching Rocky to heel since when he pulls, it isn't uncomfortable and there's also less control over what direction he's going in.