Snow Birds

Sharon and Maisy are headed to Maine for the winter. It was a perfect and sunny fall day. Temple had to remove some porcupine quills from Elsa's mouth, foot, etc.

English Setters are Dogs Too

I have had the pleasure, over the last couple of days, to puppy sit my friends English Setter puppy Carat.  It has been a pleasure to have a puppy in the house again and it has definitely been making the older dogs stay on their toes.

Friday I took the dogs for a walk on the Jodphur Loop at Kincaid Park.  Yesterday JD, Crystal, and Carat played at the Kincaid Beach.  The tide was high and the dogs played along the gravel stretch, in the dunes, and in the tall grass between the bluff and the dunes.

Dogs at Play in Kincaid Flats

There is a great spot down at the end of the Coastal Trail near just down from the Kincaid Chalet in Kincaid Park.  From the Coastal Trail at the Chalet you head down the hill until you come to where the trail follows the contours of the bluff that runs along the ocean.  There is a beach several 100 yds away from the bluff.  And in between is what I call the Kincaid Flats.

When there has been a lot of rain the flats are definitely wetlands.  All sorts of waterfowl will congregate... depending on the time of the year.  It has been raining a lot.  In fact today was probably the nicest day we have had in a month.  I took my dog JD and friend dog Crystal out to burn off some energy.

After the two spent some time getting muddy I decided I better get them cleaned off before we headed back to the car.  That was when the madness began.  There were some Greater Yellowlegs (sandpipers) taking in the water in the flats and JD decided she was going to get one.  Of course she did not, but she tried... for 20 minutes strait.  JD chased the birds and Crystal chase JD.  It was quite a scene.

I don't think the birds were any worse for the experience.  They didn't seem to be nesting and JD never had a chance.

Puppy Pictures

Over the last two days I have gotten to meet the newest member of the weekend walking "Anchorage Airedale Pack".  Hardly an exclusive group, we walk the loop from the North Bivouac parking area to the gas line trail, to the tank trail, and back to the parking lot.  

Gypsy Lou is Mark's new puppy and she is fitting right in.  Below is a slide show from my latest "role of film".  It features photos of Gypsy, but include more with Jasper, JD, Maizy, Elsa, Crystal (the lab), Marty (a Yorkshire Terrier).  

My cat makes the slide show, but the bear print and the cow moose that Jasper agitated are a little more impressive.

Airedale Photography

I manage to take a lot of pictures of jd. Well here is a cool one and my favorite. It is from the first snow last October. She was in heaven and this was a lucky shot.

I got an Olympus E-330 last fall around the time I took this photo. SLR's are amazing. I love the fast shutter speeds and the depth of field that you are able to get with this type of camera.

The Softer Side of Airedales

The picture is of Rory (left) and jd (right). Don't let the small letters in jd's name fool you...she is a wild one. But only out in the open.

See that is what I have come to notice about Airedales. They have boundless energy on the walks and at the dog parks. Get them home though and it is a different story.

It helps that this picture was taken right after a weekend walk with the Airedale Group at the North Bivouac Trail Head in Anchorage. I just wanted to post this peaceful picture of these two great dogs.