Garden Canyon with Fritzi and Sahne

I finally joined the SV Hikers today for a walk up Garden Canyon.  It has been a while since I hiked with this group, since school kept me busy all year.

I took Fritzi and Sahne this morning.  Zeke insisted on coming as well (by pushing himself out the front door) so I let him join us.  At least he'd act as a stabilizer, as Steve's dog Trace is too hyper for good trail side manners.

I let the group know that I was starting early with Steve.  We took off at 7:05am.  Everyone else wasn't expected to start until 8am, which is too late for me as temperatures rise fast once the sun's up.

The puppies proved to be hyper this morning. Fritzi and Sahne jumped out of the Honda and immediately began barking at Trace.  They wouldn't stop barking, either, so I'm glad it was just us two at the start.  Were the dogs barking to protect me, or was it fear barking?  Trace took off running and the pups followed in hot pursuit.  And this lasted for most of the two miles to our turn-around spot!  Only Zeke stayed by my side. 

DavidB caught up to us within the first mile.  Holly had texted him saying she and Bonnie were not coming this morning and let him know at the last minute.  "If I had known that she wasn't coming, I would have started with you two!" he said.  Steve fell back and let David and I walk on ahead.  He and I then waited at our usual turn-around point for Steve and then walked back together.

Fritzi and Sahne were calmer on the way back, chasing Trace through the water and along the road.  The pups were clearly enjoying themselves.  They never showed any signs of exhaustion like Hansel and Gretel did the first time they did Garden Canyon at five months old.  I'm thinking they were in better shape because I took them out on neighborhood walks at an earlier age, disregarding their lack of full vaccine immunity.  They barked at other dogs but not other people.

We met Anthony and his sister Terry on the walk back, and then Steve with his dog Morgan.  They started at 8am because they don't like getting up early.

In the late afternoon I took Fritzi and Sheba to the dog park for an hour.  This was Fritzi's second visit and again he was a barker, along with Sheba.  It took them a good half-hour to calm down, not quieting until around 7pm when there were at least 15 dogs running around and most of them being GSDs.  I will continue to take at least two pups every night to this dog park to get them used to other dogs and people.