Spring Time in the Mountains...

Things have been a little crazy around here lately. We had the biggest storm of the season over the past weekend and the dogs enjoyed the snow. I, however, did not enjoy snowblowing the driveway. Though I did get in some pretty amazing powder skiing on April 1st (no joke!). On Tuesday Rafferty got to show off his snow skills by plowing through powder and then knocking me over while I attempted to capture his snow frenzy on camera. Our Paw It Forward package arrived from Natalie and Bob yesterday and the Marley and Hugo had a lot of fun playing with their new throw toy while Rafferty bounded along behind. They were rather irritated when I made them sit and pose for the picture rather than letting them have all of the new treats.

All that powder "skiing" makes for some tired pups at the end of the day.

Leave a comment with the word "Spring" if you would like to particiapte in the Paw it Forward! First 3 will get a gift from the Pack!

Some Sunday Stills

Fun in the Snow

A morning pack walk with some of the Innsbruck dogs. We are having a pretty good storm move through the area, so some of the pictures are a little fuzzy due to all the snow!

Too Cute Tuesday

Marley has to be one of my favorite subjects for photography. I am always taking pictures of him. He is just so different and unique in every picture (though I could say that about all my dogs): his coloring just works in so many different light/background settings. This is a picture from our morning romp. It was short since it is so cold even Marley was ready to go back inside after 20 min.

Also, are my alt tags still working? Are there ever ones that don't? The way that I put them in is different for PCs and Macs. Just want to make sure everything is up to speed. Thanks!

Cold day

Today was sooo cold! With my parents out of town it falls on me to shovel the driveway. So around 11 am today I went out to clear the snow. I had hoped it would warm up, but no such luck. I spent 45min shoveling snow while Marley and Hugo did their very best to knock the walls of snow back into the area I had just cleared. They ran and dug and jumped and wiggled their way through all of the fresh snow.

I had thought about walking Rafferty around the PCMR base area....but in the end I chickened out because of the cold. Instead my sister and I went to see New Moon. I took Rafferty along since he did so well at The Invention of Lying (sorry about that Mimi!) yesterday. We got there a little bit late and had to go into the theater right as the movie started. Since I have been having such trouble with my night vision I had to feel my way along...making the going a little rough for Rafferty. But once we sat down everything went smoothly. I had to laugh watching him...once the wolves came into the movie he perked up and actually watched through the space between the seats! It was so cute. He didn't make any noise, but rather just watched the big dogs on screen (he was actually tracking, so he had to have been seeing them run!). We left the theater and he was a great pup ignoring all the spilled popcorn.

I love this pup and can't wait to see the fun things we will do!

Skiing Tomorrow!

Really, the title says it all. And more snow is on the way, with a big storm due to hit tomorrow night (sadly after I have already skied). Can't wait for snow and skiing, and some epic powder days. Even the dogs are ready for some fresh snow.

Keep on Rolling

I have decided to try for a post everyday until the end of the year. I have loved blogging everyday, and it is such a fun way to look back on the past month! With that in mind, here are some pictures from a recent outing with ALL the dogs. Enjoy!

First Big Snow!

Big Boy

Rafferty is now 27.2 lbs at 13 weeks. Luckily he has now figured out the stairs, both up and down, because my back was not going to take much more of that. He is doing fantastic with his house training and is such a fun puppy to have around. He has started going on VERY short outings. He went in while I got a smoothie, and also joined me at Starbucks while I picked up a coffee. Both times he was very good, and made me realize he has almost out-grown the small vest!

He loved the snow this morning. On our walk he would take in a big snort of snow, pause for a moment, and then bolt to the end of his leash trying to do labby scoots. Now that it is cold he has taken to snuggling up next to Marley (much to his annoyance :) and sleeping by his side. He continues to be a quiet puppy and has learned 'kennel' and 'come'. Can't wait to see how much he gains next week. He was 21lbs when I brought him home, 24 last week, and 27.2 this week.

Winter is here!

More snow today...about 6 inches total in the yard!  Both the bog dogs were loving it, they will take a big snort of snow and then go running around like crazy.  Marley, being the mountain dog he is, loves to lay in the snow.  

On campus, Sterling kept sniffing the snow and then trying to do labby laps!  I felt so mean correcting him, but working time is working time.  After class I got out the long line and let him have his fun.  I cannot wait to start going on winter hikes with the dogs, hopefully I can get some good pictures of Sterling in the snow.

In other news.... Maggie, Madden and Sage will all graduate on Sat.  Fairmont's partner was unable to finish training, and so Fairmont is back in class.  Hopefully they have sunny skies in California.

The last days of 2007...

Happy New Year!  Sorry it has been awhile, lots of things going on. 

Here is an update on the last 10 days...

Christmas

This was lots of fun.  Tom had to work Christmas Eve day, and I went up skiing with him.  I think i hung out more in the patrol shack than I skied, but it was good to be with him.  That night we had a great dinner with Mom, Dad, Michelle, Tom and Myself.  We opened some presents that evening, with Tom getting plenty of socks to last him the rest of the ski season!

He also got some nice flannel shirts, a multi-fuel backpacking stove, a snow saw, and a crystal card for avalanche work.  I received my first ornaments meant for my own tree this year (thanks Grandma!), and will hopefully have a tree next year to put them on!!! Other gifts included ea rings, socks, money (going towards snow stuff!), books (which I have already read), and plenty of clothes!

Sterling tired after playing in the snow, and with stolen wrapping paper, Christmas morning.

Christmas morning brought with it lots more gifts, too many in my opinion!  The dogs got their presents too!  Marley got a food cube, Hugo a new throwing toy for the park, Dante a new squeaky stuffed dachshund, and Sterling a different flavored Nylabone (I need to find some better toys for him, within guide dog guidelines of course!)  We had a great dinner that night as well.

POWDER!!!!

Christmas eve and Christmas day brought with it lots of snow!!!  This has made skiing great, and the dogs very happy!  While I know tourists are good for the economy, if not the environment, my sanity has been severely tested these past weeks.  From stopping randomly in the middle of the street to figure out where they are going, to clogging up the stores, trying to park in our spots at the apartment, and always putting the bar down on the ski lift!!!   

Snow Monster

The dogs love the snow.  There is an area in Park City that has some permanent tunnels for the dogs to go through, much like agility tunnels.  Marley loves them!!!  He will even jump over them.  When spring comes around, I may have to get clearance from the vet to let him do some agility work.

Skiing

The bar on the ski lift is something that really bugs me.  Of course, if others want it down, I put it down, however the other day I really wouldn't have cared if these people fell off.  Tom (in uniform) and I were going to ride up Payday.  This is a lift that puts 6 people on each chair.  So we all load, Tom on the outside, and me next to him.  We have barley gotten off the ground and these people were trying to put the bar down.  They slammed  and caught the bar on Tom, Tom's pack, and my knee and knee brace.  And these people didn't even care!!!  They just ignored us and pretended like it had not happened.  I still don't know what to say.  Tourists, remember to pack your brain and some common courtesy for the people that live here all the time.