First Hike to Sardine Lake

A few weeks ago, Gary and I took all 3 dogs on a short hike to Upper Sardine Lake.  It was a little bit of chaos trying to manage two puppies and Levi (who loves water and can't be kept out of it), but it all went pretty well overall.  I wish I would have had the front clip harness for Hudson because I couldn't really work on nice leash walking skills in that setting, but it was a very good outing for him and he got to see a lot of interesting things and people.  We tried to get him to swim a little bit and he did a short amount but wasn't a huge fan.

Hudson's First Camping Trip

A couple weeks ago Gary and I took a short camping trip at Frenchman Lake, just up the road from our house.  The trip was a getaway to celebrate our second wedding anniversary, but with all these new puppies we knew we couldn't go somewhere that the dogs couldn't come with us, so camping was a good option.  We were able to stay on private property at the lake, and borrowed Gary's parents' RV, so it was a very peaceful and relaxing weekend.

Hudson and Paco had a great time wrestling almost nonstop (unless they were tethered to separate trees), and on Sunday we found a section of the lake without anyone around that we were able to take all the dogs down to swim.  Hudson did pretty well, and went right in, but was a little unsure about swimming out to retrieve his bumper or ball.  He did swim out a couple times, but usually didn't end up bringing the bumper back with him.  I don't have any pictures from the water because I was wading in it with them to encourage them to get in. The dogs had such a great time, but were absolutely filthy with a fine layer of dirt by the time we left.  Needless to say, they all got baths as soon as we got home. 

After bath time, all the dogs got to come inside (a novelty for little cow dog Paco) and Hudson enjoyed teaching Paco about his favorite little hideout/secret passageway through our coffee table. Silly puppies!

Hunter Creek Trail

After almost 2 years of living in Reno I can't say that I've explored as many of the hiking trails nearby as I had hoped to.  I recently was told about Hunter Creek Trail which is just outside of the city of Reno and is ~6 mile out and back hike to a waterfall.  Levi and I made the trek today, and although it was very crowded, it was a nice hike for being close by.

Ready to start the adventure!

Levi seems to have a special sense for when water is near, so anytime the creek was accessible he would beeline for it.  On one occurrence, it was too steep and muddy for him to get back up to the trail so I had to climb down and help push him up (needless to say, I wasn't thrilled).

Everyone loved his booties and kept commenting on them.  Unfortunately, at the very beginning of the hike he lost one of his back boots so I took the other one off.  The trail was pretty rocky so his poor back paw pads became raw.  I thought he was just getting tired on the way back and that's why he had slowed down and kept wanting to stop.  I didn't realize until we were almost done that his paws were hurting :(.  I guess I'll have to invest in another set of booties for his back feet.

All-in-all it was a nice hike and we are both ready for a nap now!

Thomas Creek Trail

A couple weekends I took Levi for a local hike in Reno called "Thomas Creek Trail."  I was hoping that with the nice weather and the lower elevation that most of the snow would have melted.  What I hadn't expected was that it would still be really wet and muddy.  It was a nice hike, and had a good mix of the mountains and pines and the desert and sagebrush.

Muddy boy!!!

Hidden Falls Regional Park

Since moving to Reno, Levi and I have started taking agility lessons again back with the trainer we were going to in Davis.  I had hoped to find someone good that was in the Reno area but apparently the only trainers in this area just train for NADAC and not AKC or USDAA.  Since it is such a drive to go for lessons, we only go about once a month.  I also try to plan other outings while we are in the area to make the drive worthwhile.  Last month after our lesson we went for a hike at "Hidden Falls Regional Park" in Auburn, CA.  It was really crowded and was more of a walking trail than a hike, but it was nice to be out in nature.

Snowshoeing Tahoe Meadows

One weekend that I had off in January I decided to take Levi up to Tahoe to go snowshoeing.  He LOVES the snow, so I try to get him out to frolic in it as often as I can.  It was a beautiful day so there were quite a few other people out snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and sledding.  Tahoe Meadows is so large though that it didn't feel overly crowded.