It was still foggy this morning at 5:15am when I started walking Gretchen and Wolfie. It was still warm for December--52F--and breezeless. The fog didn't lift completely until after 9am. It turned out to be a mostly sunny and warm day with a high of 71F.
I met my California neighbors, or at least the wife. She approached me while I was filling the bird seed bowl. Anne, from San Diego, came up to me to thank me simply for putting the bird seed on top of my Honda because she likes to watch the birds. I put the seed there because placing it on the ground would invite the mice, but I learned a few days ago the mice are back because of the dog food.
Still, it was a nice thing for Anne to say. She told me that they still have a house in San Diego that she is having a hard time letting go. She is the only one in the family that wants to keep the house. I'm not sure how that will work out with her living here now. She misses the mountains east of San Diego. It's a beautiful area, but southern California is way out of my affordability.
I spent some time with the dogs, cleaning up some more in the house and then sneaking Gretel out. She hadn't been on a walk in a while and it was her turn to get some time with me. She is such a cuddler, but Gretchen is very much against sharing me with her. Gretchen refused to ride in the truck with Gretel, so I kept her in the RV while I took Gretel, Wolfie and Sweetie to the Hereford Bridge north. I wanted to do the hike I couldn't quite do yesterday because of the rain.
I'm not sure I ever had the combination of just Gretel and Wolfie on a hike, so I had no prior behavior to compare these two dogs with. They both surprised me. Gretel stayed close and so did Wolfie. Sweetie always stays close so she was no surprise, but I was pleasantly happy that neither dog made me have to wait on them while they were out running through the high desert grasses. Gretel would run in the nearby grass and pounce on whatever it was she was spotting; most likely desert packrats.
Even when we neared a small herd of cattle on the trail, the dogs reacted well. While they did run toward the cattle, they didn't bark or chase them. Yay! So it seems it's just Gretchen now that is hopelessly hyper on the trail.
We walked 6.6 miles in 2:30 hours with a 20-minute break at the river to let the dogs swim or rest. The sun set behind the mountains as I neared the truck.
Gretel spent the night in the RV. For a while all three dogs were sleeping on the bed with me. She seemed so relaxed being with me.
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