Travel Dog

We did a little more geoacaching today. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time, so we were only able to do one. We decided to do the Albia Pond cache up past Lake Desolation.

On the way up, I got a little frustrated because I had forgotton about the change in elevation. The place is only about 7 miles as the crow flies from our house, but it is significantly higher. When we left the house, I decided not to bring a jacket or wear warm weather socks. As we went up and the watched the temp drop on the car thermometer and I saw more and more snow, I started to get more and more upset with myself for not thinking ahead. I was a little worried that we wouldn't be able to go because it would be too cold.

However, it all turned out alright. The temperature drop wasn't significant enough that I needed a coat and my Merril's didn't a good job of keeping my feet dry. I didn't fall through the snow that much anyway.

About two minutes after we went into the woods, Dave suddenly called Murdock in a panic. He came and I asked what happened. Apparantly his leash broke, but he was such a good boy that he came! Yay for training! We decided just to take Cody off leash and use his leash for Murdock. It didn't take us long to get into the right area, near the pond which was very pretty. The tree cover make the GPS bounce around a bit, but Dave and Murdock found it very quickly. Murdock was actually the one that found it - he had a good day today. Cody also enjoyed himself running around in the snow. They were both pretty zonked out for the rest of the day.

After that, we headed home. There is another geocache up there but we didn't have time to finish it. Will have to come back another time.

It was nice to go out but it's frustrating that we don't have time to do a full day. We had been thinking about taking a small trip together before the baby comes but decided not to (because of money). Now I am really wishing we had because I feel like I really need one. But, with all the cost of a new baby coming, I don't see how we'll be able to do it.

Although....there is one possibility. Dave recently stayed at a hotel down in Atlantic City for a trade show they went to. They had an absolutely horrible experience. He's planning on writing a letter of complaint, so, who knows, maybe they'll give us a complimentary stay. I also got a call from Marriott rewards that they want to let us book a 5 day/4 night trip to Orlando for $199. We have a whole year to book it, but the timing is a little off. It's too late for me to fly now (I'm pretty sure) and I don't know how much we'll want to fly with a baby that young. It seems like a big risk to take with something so unknown coming up. So I don't think we're going to do it, it's too bad though, it would have been nice.

Since my last entry, the weather has been awful. Very cold or snow or ice storms that made travel unsafe. The few nicer days happened to be when we were too busy to get out, or weren't feeling well. So, FINALLY today, we got to go geocaching again. I had a travel bug that I had been needing to drop off for a long time. We choose the very first geocache that I had ever done, on my birthday, a couple years ago. Since we'd done it before, we knew where it was, but we picked it because we were pretty sure we'd be able to find it so I could drop off my travel bug.

The dogs came with us. The parking lot was not plowed so we had to park across the street and walk them 100 feet or so down 29 before being able to turn off. Not ideal, but they dealt with it very well. The snow was still pretty deep, but packed down, so walking wasn't too bad. It was just over 30 which seemed warm enough that Murdock wasn't bothered. Especially when there are plenty of fresh smells to keep him distracted! We found the cache easily, after digging through a snow bank and I was able to set Santa Bear free. Yay!

Then we hung out on the bridge a bit before heading back. I was just happy to be out hiking in the woods again!

We finally went geocaching again - after almost a year and a half. Several friends joined us and we all went to breakfast first. It wasn't too cold out so we brought the dogs with us and they hung out in the car while we ate.

After breakfast we realized our GPS unit wasn't working so we decided to use part of Dave's bonus to get a new one. Yay! Happy to have an excuse to get something a little more user friendly. Then we rushed to the Nature Conservancy reserve in Wilton (Wilton Wildlife Preserve) for the first couple caches. We were a little short on time because a couple of our friends had to get to a friend's house by 1:00 pm.

It took a few mintues to figure out how to program the new GPS receiver and then we got started. There was a little extra wandering around because the compass on the unit didn't seem to be working correctly, but eventually we figured out how to adapt. The first cache we did was a multi-cache. That means there are several caches that provide clues to the final cache. There were four caches before the main one. It took us awhile to find the first one because we weren't sure exactly what to look for. Finally I spotted something on a tree behind ddmckenna and it turned out to me the first clue. From there it got a little easier. We eventually found the last one, the actual cache with the container and the details. The dogs were with us the whole time and had a lot of fun tromping around in the woods. We also ran into a couple groups of cachers on the way. One was a couple with three young kids and the other were two women, probably about our age, going letterboxing.

C and C left after the first cache to meet their friends. ddmckenna, A r t b o y and I stayed and did another cache there. Then we stopped for lunch and did one last quick cache before it got dark. I have been feeling so sick because of the pregnancy so this was the first time I've been out for a long time. It was SO nice, I had a great time.

Well, guess I fell off the wagon again. I'm going to give it another try.

A year or so ago Dave and I got into something called geocaching. People will hide caches in various natural areas and leave GPS coordinates so other people can find them. The containers are usually about the size of a shoebox and contain a variety of minor objects for people to take as a sort of souvenier. Usually, you will drop off your own token to replace the one you are taking. We did a few and it was really fun but then for some reason, we stopped. We have been sick for several days now, but I'm hoping maybe next weekend we can start again. They are all over the place! The locations of the caches and more information on the activity can be found at www.geocaching.com.

Thinking of geocaching again reminded me about the journal since it was meant for documenting our adventures with our dogs. So, if we start geocaching again, hopefully we'll have more to report on!

Wow, it's been a long time since I've written, but I really liked keeping this blog so I'll be trying to get back to it. I just simply forgot about it for awhile. I am also been teaching Murdock not to pull which means most of our walks have been limited to walking very near our home and rewarding Murdock everytime the leash is loose. Very worthwhile but not very fun to report on! He has gotten much better now, though, so I'm going to take him somewhere new and see how he does. Cody and I have mostly been working on training since he loves that much more than walking along the roadside near our house. He'll be happy to get back in the woods for walks again!

Today was a great day. For all four of us. And I am very, very tired. So, I don't know how coherant this entry will be. I think I've going to make some quick general notes and (hopefully) come back to edit them. So....if you're reading this and it makes no sense, it's because it's only supposed to be meaningful to me today. A lot happened and I don't want to forget it all.

So, it was Cody's 3rd Rally show. The first one was an AKC show and I only did it because it was coming up soon and close. That was last May or June. Then, he did his first APDT show, which I like much better, in October last year. When showing dogs in obedience they need three 'legs' to earn a title. The dog and handler team enter the ring with 200 points. As they proceed through the Rally course (a series of signs detailing obedience exercises) they can receive deductions for errors they make along the way. They need at least 170 points to qualify for a leg. Certain things, like not maintaining a stay or leaving the ring, can result in a non-qualifying score even if the dog does not lose 30 or more points. Non-qualifying scores are called NQ's and qualifying scores are called Q's. So, you might here someone say, "I Q'd and now I only need one more leg for his title" or something like that. Got it?

Alright, so where was I? Oh yes, Cody's 3rd show. He got his first two APDT legs last fall and today he got his third. That means he's earned his first title. Hurray for Cody! I'm getting kind of ahead of myself though. We got up this morning at 5:30 am and left at 6:00. After a couple stops we arrived in Kingston just after 8 am. As soon as we got out of the car, Cody got all bouncy and excited. I wouldn't say he's a sad dog most of the time, but he's also not usually this animated, so I was thrilled to see him so happy. Is it possible that he remembered the place after only one visit? I think it's possible, but we'll never know. Regardless, it was a good sign and made my nervousness go away (for the moment). Not really much to tell between then and our first run a few hours later.

I wasn't sure how Cody was going to do because although I work fairly often with him at home it had been quite awhile since I'd trained him anywhere else. For those of you who aren't familar with dog training, working with a dog in different places and around a variety of distractions is very important for working on their attention in the ring. We got all set to go in the ring and I reminded myself to relax and was working on take deep calming breaths. I wouldn't say my ring nerves are awful, but they are certainly there and I know the calmer I am when I go in, the better the experience (and probably the performance) will be for both Cody and me. Well, it turns out there was a woman in front of me that was going out of order so I didn't enter the ring when I though I was going to. This kind of threw me off and I forgot to focus on being relaxed when I was in the ring. By the third sign Cody had made a (very minor) error which was enough for me to get panicky. According to Dave, I CRUISED through the course and Cody was fairly distracted, but generally stayed with me. The experience was not exactly pleasant for me though, and my nerves probably rubbed off on Cody because he ended up losing more points (8) than he ever has before.

I forgot to mention earlier that APDT Rally also has something called a bonus exercise at the end of the course. This is an additional exercise at the end of the course that can give you up to 10 additional points. However, if you've already NQ'd by the time you reach the bonus exercise, it can't change that. Other than that, it really can't hurt you, it's basically free points. Cody and I did the bonus exercise, he had a slight error but the extra points still made up for the 8 points he lost. So we ended up getting an even 200 (out of a possible 210). Dave and I checked the other scores and saw that there were several teams who scored above 200 so no placement but he did get his title! Yay!

Well....Dave's going to bed because he's sick so I'll go into note making mode now so I can join him.

Talked with woman with a Corgi I'd seen at a few other shows, very nice, turns out she's invovled with obedience club just south of us. We talked about hosting APDT shows a little closer to home. New friend, yay! Then I got called for a run-off - what? Had to run to get Cody and put him in ring with very little warm-up, stopped to scratch after 3rd sign but still won. 4th place and a new title! Turns out several of the high scores were from the B class (those dogs already had their Level 1 titles) and were scored seperately. Of course, now Cody had his title too, so he'd be showing in B in the afternoon. Oh, and after I came out of the ring someone commented that it was wonderful to see him work. I was so flattered! We started talking to the two women (one of which gave the compliment, can't remember which) own a doggie daycare in RI. And they have very nice dogs. Had a good conversation with them.

Second run much better, although I dropped leash at end. Oops! Only 4 points off this time though. That got us 3rd place, high scoring rescue dog, 16 points toward are Rally combined Championship and one Q toward our Level One championship....I'll try to explain that later. After Cody's second run and before awards were handed out we took dogs down to beach - lot's of fun and Cody swam. Murdock waded and peed in the stream. He also put his front paws on a log which then move away from shore. His back feet were still on the beach and he just kept stretching out until he was almost lying down in the water. Finally, he decided he should bounce back to shore or the branch would keep moving. Luckily he managed to do so without collapsing into the water, which probably would have been very scary for him. But, he was fine and it was very cute.

That's about it - we had a very good time overall, although we got back and Dave very suddenly got quite sick. Food poisoning or fast acting stomach bug? I don't know, but poor guy. I hope he feels better soon.

Well, I'm off, hope this isn't too scrambled, I'll try to check it tomorrow to edit as needed. Hmmm...I wanted my mood to be 'delighted' or 'thrilled' but they weren't an option, so I picked the next best thing. I love the foxes, but they don't have much range in facial expression. The mood icons are such silly little things, but I get a real kick out of them. They are fun and I can always use more fun in my life! =)

We went to the Saratoga National Historic Park again today. I just took Cody because I am teaching Murdock not to pull and he's not ready for a 4 mile walk yet. He is making good progress though, very encouraging. Anyway, Cody and I met Lisa and Reese and Julie and Rex. We walked along the road this time because we figured recent rain had probably made the Wilkinson Trail very muddy. The road is open to traffic again, but it was still a nice walk. We almost always see deer when we go to the park, and sure enough, we saw a group of three yesterday. Cody was VERY excited and was jumping around and barking a bit in his excitement. He was very cute, I've never seen him get that excited about deer before. Other than that, not much to report. All the dogs got along well.

Another beautiful day. If was sunny and about 60 F. Dave and I decided to take the dogs over to the Bog Meadow Brook Trail in Saratoga for a walk. This is a two mile (4 mile round-trip) trail that runs along an old railroad or trolley line. It can be pretty wet but it's been so dry lately, we thought it wouldn't be so bad. Well, it was still pretty wet in a lot of places, but worth it none the less. As we walked we saw plenty of signs of beaver activity, which is great because the park is pretty close to Saratoga. After 1/2 a mile or so there is a bridge over a small stream that is an outflow for the wetlands. The beavers had built the largest (beaver) dam I have ever seen! The stream comes out of the middle of a good sized wetland so instead of building the damn across the stream itself they formed a half circle dam in the wetland itself, surrounding the entrance to the stream. It must have been about 50 ft long. And it completely changed the look of the area. Very cool.

Continuing on, we saw their lodge out quite a ways from shore and a couple other, much smaller, mounds of sticks right along the path (which runs along the shore). Odd. I know beavers tend to put their lodges away from shore so it's hard for predators to reach them - that's why they build the dams in the first place. I will have to do some research and see if I can figure out what those little huts were for. I have some vague recollection of beavers setting up separate food storage areas - perhaps they were little beaver pantries?

Anyway, we continued on and eventually came to another area of the wetland where frogs were calling raucously - it's that time of year I guess. They all shut up and disappeared underwater when we approached but Dave spotted large masses of frog eggs floating in the water. We finally reached the boardwalk over a more open area of the wetland where we stopped for a lengthy break. Just to enjoy the day and the scenery more than anything. Shortly after we arrived, a family with four kids in tow appeared. The parents and young teenage girl ate lunch while the three boys ran around looking for (and catching) salamanders. This started a lively discussion about whether it was really a salamander or a tadpole (it was a salamander), whether it was a female or male (they decided a female) and what to name it (Minny, after one of the boy's old dog). They reminded me of myself when I was their age, although I never kept the animals, being told by my parents that it was best to return them to their natural habitat.

Several other groups, many with kids, came by before we decided to head back. On the way back Murdock waded a bit and Cody decided to take a swim! I love it when Cody swims. He did it right after we adopted him and then stopped until late last summer when he swam up at Merck Forest. He would wade, but never swim. And now, he's swimming again! I think he mostly does it when he's hot. And, of course, after the swimming and wading both dogs got extremely excited and went tearing around the trail, ears back, butts tucked and barking at each other. All and all it was a great hike!

We went to Merck Forest in Rupert, Vermont today with our friends Lisa and Charles. They were having their maple sugaring celebration and were serving breakfast. Pancakes with their own syrup and pork sausage. Merck Forest is probably my favorite place in the area to go hiking. Their full name is actually Merck Forest and Farmland Center and they do organic farming and and raise free-range live stock. They also sell wool from their sheep and produce maple syrup from the trees on their 31,000 acres of land. Their land is open to the public for hiking and camping. They have several tent sites and cabins for camping and several miles of trails.

Today we didn't bring the dogs because they were serving breakfast and we didn't think we'd be able to bring the dogs inside. It turns out they had a few picnic tables on the large deck outside the sugaring building, so we could have eaten outside with them. It was a pretty nice day, so it wouldn't even have been that cold. Maybe next year. We didn't go hiking this time, so I'm not sure how enjoyable it would have been for the dogs anyway.

After breakfast, we went outside for a tree tapping demonstration. There were a lot of children there and they really impressed me with their knowledge (the demonstrator asked a lot of questions). After the demonstration and a few pictures, we walked back down to the visitor's center and got some syrup. This year they had perfect conditions and were able to make fancy grade syrup which is the hardest to attain. We tasted it when we got home and it is very good! She said they only got 24 gallons of fancy. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup! I don't know how many gallons one tree can produce, but they have over 8,000 trees tapped on their property.

On the way home I asked Dave if he would be willing to check out a trail I thought I had seen before on the way to and from Merck. It runs along Route 315, quite a ways back from the road. We turned on a side street and I was able to see a sign that said "D & H Rail Trail, No Motor Vehicles Allowed." We checked it a couple other places and it looks like it ends at the New York State border. The rail bed continues on, of course, but the trail is not maintained and is posted agaist trespassing.

When I got home I did some research and was finally able to find some (limited) information on the trail. I was hoping to find a map, or an organization that might be able to supply me with a map, but no luck so far. I did learn that the trail is about 19.8 miles long and runs from West Rupert (where we saw it) to Pawlet, or west Pawlet and then from Poultney to Castleton. One site made it sound like it was one continuous trail, two others mentioned that there were two sections, each about 10 miles long. At any rate - it's worth checking out. It might be a really good option for Dave since his ability to go up and down is limited due to his kneee. And it's long enough that we can still get in a real decent hike. Perhaps next weekend we'll head back out and give the trail a try.

My friend Lisa and I went to the Saratoga National Historic Park (aka Saratoga Battlefield) on Saturday. Dave couldn't come because he was working. We walked the Wilkinson Trail which is a four mile loop. It winds through fields and forest and is a nice wide trail in most places. It's spring, so there was some mud, but the trail was in good shape overall and it was a very pleasant walk. The dogs had a good time but I was very surprised when we got home and the dogs still had plenty of energy. Usually if we go for that long they sleep the rest of the day! We did go out that night though, so I'm sure they slept while we were gone.

I go to the Battlefied fairly often and I just love it. You can walk the Wilkinson Trail or along the tour road, which is closed to motor vehicles during the winter. The tour road is quite long, 12 miles I think, so you can pretty much go as far as you want. The fields remind me of Minnesota and make me a little homesick, but they are always beautiful. And we almost always see deer, although we didn't see any this time. We did see a couple bluebirds though! That's an important sign of spring. This winter has been so lame that I really am anxious for spring. I hate the cold and love the snow but we've had almost no snow this year, so it's been very disappointing.

Coming from Saratoga, we go through Schuylerville, New York on the way to the Battlefield. When we moved out to the area in 2001 Schuylerville was pretty much your typical small town that has seen better times. They had a plain, small town diner, a consignment shop, gas stations, a florist, a few other businesses and a lot of empty storefronts. I've always thought that was sad because it's so close to a National Historic Park and a lot of other major historical sites. This area was very important during the Revolutionary War. Plus, Saratoga is a huge tourist town, and Schuylerville is only about 15-20 minutes from Saratoga. It made me wonder what happened to Schuylerville and if it was bad management or something else.

However, over the years, as I drive through on the way to the park, I've noticed that the town is starting to change. Art galleries, then some more upscale stores and a deli started opening up. When I went by last weekend, there were even more places open. I keep meaning to go down there with Dave one day to explore but haven't done it yet. Now that a few more stores have opened up, I think it's time. It would be great if there is a good breakfast or lunch place that we can stop at before or after heading out to the park. If you want to go a little further out of your way, you can continue across the Hudson on Route 29 east another 5 miles or so. You'll pass the county fairgrounds on your left and just past that is the Ice Cream Man. Dave loves their ice cream. I'm less thrilled about it but I'm not a big chocolate fan and a lot of their flavors have chocolate. They also have baked good and I think sandwiches. They are open all year and have an indoor seating area. Of course, if you've got dogs with you, you'll probably want to eat outside or in the car.

Murdock and I went tracking again today. This time, the weather was beautiful - 50's and mostly sunny. Some wind, but it wasn't bad. Amazing the difference between today and two weeks ago.

We went to some Skidmore property behind the polo fields in Saratoga Springs. It's a wide open area. Most of the property is cut grass (that must be a full-time job!) but there was also an area of long, natural grasses. That's where we tracked because apparently that's the best place for a new dog to pick up scent.

We laid two tracks. The first included a right angle turn toward the end. The second was just a straight shot. As I was laying the track (walking) I went through a pile of feathers where it looked like a bird had been killed. Interesting. I wasn't sure how he would react to that. Murdock stayed in the car while I did this. I dropped a favorite toy at the end of each track as his reward for following it correctly.

We took him to the straight one first. Therefore, it was very fresh. He found it easily and only got off the track once or twice. Even the pile of feathers presented only a minor distraction! I was impressed by how motivated he was to follow my scent with no real prior training to do so. By the time we got to the first track I had laid (the one with the turn) it had probably been at least 20 minutes. This makes it a little harder because the scent starts to drift. Still, he did it with almost no problem. And he was VERY happy when he found his tennis tail at the end. He loves that toy but almost never gets to play with it. Of course, it figures - I think I left it there, so now I have to get a new one. Oh well, I'll get one from Paw Lickers.

So, it seems Murdock is a natural. I had fun with it and this is something we can do alone. I just have to make the time for it. I'm sure we'll do more of it but I don't know how serious we'll get. I just want to let him be rewarded for doing something he loves to do anyway.

Last Sunday Dave and I drove down to Grafton Lakes State Park with the dogs. I'd say it was about an hour and a half, but it's hard to say because we made a lot of stops on the way there and back.

It's a big park, with about 25 miles of trails, but we only went for 2.5 miles. We went around a trail called the Long Pond Trail which is a loop around the largest of the five lakes in the park. Although there was snow on the trail, it wasn't very deep, only an inch or two except in a few places where it had drifted. We walked on the east side of the lake first and although the trail was flat, it was rocky and had a lot of exposed roots. The west side of the lake was much nicer with a smoother trail and nicer scenery. I think it would be even better with the ice off the lake and the extra bonus is that there are plenty of places for the dogs to go in the water. In fact, about half way around there is a boat landing with a wide, open shoreline. And the lake is only 33 feet deep at the deepest, so hopefully the shoreline is fairly shallow. My dogs enjoy wading, but they don't swim much.

I would definately like to return to walk the rest of the 25 miles of trails. The only downside is that the drive really wasn't that exciting. For me, part of the fun is the trip there and back. We went down 87 until we got to exit 6 and then took Rte 2 all the way to the park. Maybe next time I can talk Dave into taking side roads all the way and the trip will be more fun. Of course, the benefit of the route we took is that we could stop at the Krispy Kreme in Latham on the way back. Then we got dinner at the Mexican Connection in Saratoga which I highly recommend!

Today Murdock and I tried tracking for the first time. It was very very cold and extremely windy, so he was distracted a bit from his work by the weather, I am sure. In fact when I got back from making a path for him to follow (called 'laying a track') he was hopping around on three feet because his paws were so cold. I know from experience that he is usually fine when he starts moving and, sure enough, after about a minute he was bounding around in the snow having a grand old time. Still, we only did two tracks before we took him back to the car. My friend said he did pretty well for the first time. Since I've never done it before, I don't really know how to assess how he did. I walked a straight line in the snow and he had to follow it until he found an 'article' (in this case, a sock) that I had dropped. The problem is, he wasn't that interested in the sock and we're trying this without food. Next time I'll bring his ball and use that as the article. That should be plenty motivating for him. We'll try again in a couple weeks. I think it would be a very fun activity for him, he tracks all the time anyway.

I thought people might enjoy some photos of our dogs.


Murdock in the ocean outside Bar Harbor, ME


Cody enjoying the wind on the beach in Bar Harbor, ME

My husband Dave and I live just outside Saratoga Springs in upstate New York with our two dogs, Cody and Murdock and our cat, Lily. Cody is about 7 years, he's an Australian Shepherd and we got him from a shelter when he was about three. Murdock, our hound mix, was about a year or a so when we got him from a shelter. He's been a challenge and we've had to work through a lot with him, but now that he's a little older and more mature he has settled down quite a bit. He's about four now.

Our dogs are very important to us and we enjoy bringing them with us as much as possible. Therefore, we are always looking for activities we can do that include the dogs. This will be an account of the places the four of us explore together. I've thought about creating a travel website for dogs and their people that gives information on dog-friendly travel destinations. Unfortunately, that's an awful lot of work, so I thought I'd start with the basics and begin a blog. We're pretty busy right now, so we don't get out as often as we'd like, but I will try to update the blog everytime we go adventuring together.

Oh, and I can't forget Lily! She's a pure white domestic short hair that Dave found by our home when she was about six months. She had fleas, worms and mites and we couldn't find anyone missing a cat, so she became ours. She is very affectionate and loves to play but doesn't tend to join us in our journeys, alhtough I keep telling myself I'm going to leash train her and bring her with us someday to see if she enjoys herself. Maybe someday.

Kristina