Paws and Paddles: THANKFUL THOUGHTS

There's nothing quite like a trail walk with friends (and with all our dogs) on Thanksgiving Day to remind us all how lucky we are to have those friends to see us through the ups, downs and curves in life's road. And, of course, our furry friends to comfort us, make us laugh, make us pull out our hair in frustration but rejoice in each of their accomplishments as they work their way through the lessons of running with an integrated human-canine pack.

A small contingent of us headed out on the Jennings Lane part of the Elk Lake trail system, with dogs gleefully running through the tall grass, checking the underbrush for the very best scents, and peeing on everything in sight. There was a notable absence of runners on the trail this morning, thanks, no doubt, to the aftereffects of running the Victoria Marathon the day before. Something else to be thankful for, as we were able to walk in uninterrupted bliss for the most part.

Gemma is getting better and better and staying beside me or, alternatively, coming back or waiting when told to do so. She's almost ready to graduate to no-leash status from dragging-the-leash status. The clicker has been key to this part of her training. She doesn't always come as quickly as one would like, but she comes. Which explains her muddy conclusion to the day's walk, when she veered off towards the lake and unexpectedly found herself belly-deep in mud. She looked mighty surprised as she almost went ass-over-teakettle in the thick gooey mess. But her non-stop puppy momentum won out and she came crashing back through the underbrush to the trail, quite delighted with herself. (I hope she was still feeling as pleased with herself when she was standing in the washtub having a bath when we got home!).

We tried for a group shot of the dogs when we got back to the parking lot, with mixed success. I think we'll need to give it another whirl in the next few weeks.