Dogs in their Natural Element.....

It was a cool, crisp, cloudless morning. The kind of morning you dream about on hot summer days and freezing winter ones. The sort of morning you wake up early and look for reasons to spend as much time as possible outdoors because, as with all perfect things, your heart knows this is a fleeting moment.
My beautiful dogs found this to be the perfect day also because they had the opportunity to engage in one of their favorite sports.....chasing something up a tree. This seems to be to be the canine version of "Lord of the Flies". But, as always, the wise raccoon knows eventually the dogs will tire, get bored or hungry and one by one, wander back to their houses, leaving him an escape route.

Amber, my overweight chocolate lab is a little out of her element out here, but every now and then, I let her out of the house and join the group. A through bath always follows before she is allowed back in.

She thinks it is worth it!

The old large black and white Walker is Bo, father of the beautiful red dog, Teddy, and the smaller black and tan hound Maggie. If Bo were a human, he would have been dropped long ago by his insurance carrier and be campaigning for a public option because he has so many pre-existing conditions. Some days, he can barely walk. But it always amazes me that he seems to have one more hunt left inside of him. I love this dog dearly.

The chocolate lab keeps an eye on the prey. She has to save her energy for the long
walk back home.

This is Maggie, daughter of Bo. Maggie is probably the best natural born hunter I have ever seen. She will stay on a tree for days.....or until I put a leash on her and take her back to her house.