Willa has been with us for a little more than three months. She has adapted very well on the farm, and is now allowed to stay outside all day with the rest of the motley crew. I have been so busy lately that I haven’t had time to even walk my own dog. So, yesterday I decided to take her for a simple walk, just around the block (our blocks are huge in Laveen). I went ahead and put on my hiking boots to continue breaking them in, and took my GPS unit to calculate the mileage.
As we were starting out, I decided to go ahead and take her to the end of Estrella and head up the 200-foot climb into South Mountain, and that’s it. Well, it didn’t end there. Willa did a lot of huffing and puffing on the climb, but she did very well. I was very proud of her and soon I was trying to decide if we should just head back home or do a little more exploring in South Mountain. Unfortunately, I broke my #1 rule. I had no cell phone or water for either one of us. But we went ahead and did some exploring on an unmarked trail, which had a pretty good climb to it.
Willa still did well, and after realizing that we had already hiked 1.5 miles, I decided to turn back before we reached the end of the trail. So, I never did learn where it went (that’s for another day by myself to explore). Willa and I headed back down the trail. She was a little weary about going down, however, because there were a lot of loose gravel and rocks. She was a trooper though. As we were descending down the trail, Willa showed her true self. She saw a bunny rabbit and tried to take off after it, by heading down the side of the mountain. So, I basically had to hold her back before she took us both off the mountain. After hiking three miles total (the longest she has ever been on a leash), we arrived home safely.
Our next adventure: Willa hiking with her doggie hiking pack on. Now that will be interesting.
As we were starting out, I decided to go ahead and take her to the end of Estrella and head up the 200-foot climb into South Mountain, and that’s it. Well, it didn’t end there. Willa did a lot of huffing and puffing on the climb, but she did very well. I was very proud of her and soon I was trying to decide if we should just head back home or do a little more exploring in South Mountain. Unfortunately, I broke my #1 rule. I had no cell phone or water for either one of us. But we went ahead and did some exploring on an unmarked trail, which had a pretty good climb to it.
Willa still did well, and after realizing that we had already hiked 1.5 miles, I decided to turn back before we reached the end of the trail. So, I never did learn where it went (that’s for another day by myself to explore). Willa and I headed back down the trail. She was a little weary about going down, however, because there were a lot of loose gravel and rocks. She was a trooper though. As we were descending down the trail, Willa showed her true self. She saw a bunny rabbit and tried to take off after it, by heading down the side of the mountain. So, I basically had to hold her back before she took us both off the mountain. After hiking three miles total (the longest she has ever been on a leash), we arrived home safely.
Our next adventure: Willa hiking with her doggie hiking pack on. Now that will be interesting.
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