Location Taken: Arcadia, Michigan
Time Taken: January 2011

You know what, we need more puppy pictures!

Here’s my two enjoying the snow along the beach of Lake Michigan.

This was the first time we’d let Revel (the black one) off of the leash. We can’t do it where we live, due to leash laws, but up at my Grandma’s place free-roaming dogs are normal. And it means that they can run at the speeds THEY want, which is both great for their health and great for them no longer trying to dislocate my arm.

But it does mean building a certain amount of trust and love first, to make sure they come back, and it does mean taking it slowly to check for quirks.

Well, Revel has hordes of trust and love, but he also has a few quirks. He really likes cars, including, well, chasing them.

So while we could trust him to not run for the hills, we couldn’t trust him to not run for the road. So well, it was back to carefully watched excursions outside for a while, letting him out with a chaperone rather than letting him use the dog door.

Which was far easier than you’d think, since he’s never managed to figure out the dog door at my Grandparent’s place. Despite using the dog door at our place. Despite the other dogs using it quite happily and easily. He’ll still just stand at the door and look pathetic until we let him in. Or out. Or one followed by the other as he changes his mind.

On the plus side, we’ve managed to stop him chasing cars. Well, the small cars anyway. He’s cornered a few snow plows over the years.

+3