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Monday, September 5, 2016

Waning Days of Summer - Labs Playing in a Lake!

Because it's approaching the end of summer, I am thinking about my favorite parts of summer. One is visiting lakes to let the Labraduo swim and retrieve. This year, Shyla found her confidence and was rivaling R in races to fetch balls out of the water.

A few of you met Shyla back when she was the most fearful pup I'd ever known. Some of you read about her fears here. In either case, you know that it was a big deal that she'd actually compete with R in a race.

She uses her tail during swimming more than any dog I've known before. When she grabs the ball and is turning back toward shore, she flicks her tail every time, creating an elaborate trail of water.

This year, Shyla watched R bring two balls back to the shore in his mouth. And she mimicked it. Here was her first successful carry of two tennis balls! I have to admit that I kept worrying that she'd choke on the ball further back in her mouth. Yes, I'm the worrier in the family.
These photos were all from our campsite high in the San Juan mountains of southwest Colorado where we stayed for a while on our most recent trip. There are myriad ponds/lakes dotting the tundra in that area. Most of them don't have trails leading to them so we had complete solitude while the dogs frolicked in the water.

We're hoping to sneak in at least one more visit to a mountain lake before it's too cold. I just saw a forecast that included SNOW for one week from today. That shows you how fast winter comes upon us up in these mountains. I have a lot of things that I want to do before it snows!

Happy Summertime to all my Northern Hemisphere friends!

18 comments:

  1. Complete solitude. What a treat and getting harder and harder to find. We find that September is one of our best months for quiet trails since it precedes the "leaf season" and the summer folks are gone.

    Love how far Shyla has come. It must warm your heart all the way to your toes.

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  2. Oh it would be so fun to watch R and Shyla jumping into the lake and bringing back balls! They are soooo brave,,, and I think Shyla is smart to use her tail like that!
    Yes,,, fall is coming here,,, and we are ready!
    But not for snow yet!
    love
    tweedles

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  3. Crikey ..... it sure is good to see Shyla and R running together again. Beautiful photos. I'd sure like to jump in that pond with Shyla. She's come ahead in leaps and bounds, aye??

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  4. You are such a smart girl, Shyla! We hope that you and R have many more swims together before it gets too cold!

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  5. the photo with the tail-wave is my favorite... you caught a super moment with the cam!!! Bravo!

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  6. Oh, it looks like you all had a fabulous summer. I cannot believe you have snow forecast already! That is just crazy.

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  7. My goodness, it's exciting to see Shyla so confident, and R feeling good, too!!!

    Could possibly have been us on Cottonwood... I always try to keep an eye out for the Lab Mobile, especially when we hit red rock country. It seems our treks always overlap by at least a day!

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  8. Ciara and Lightning may need to come for a visit. No snow in sight here - we still have temps in the 90s!!!

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  9. Bravo, Shyla!! We've loved watching her confidence grow. :)

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  10. Bet you feel right at home in that water
    Lily & Edward

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  11. Shyla and R have shown how amazing they can be cuz their pawrents work hard to help them!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  12. Shyla looks like she is having a blast, it is so wonderful to see how far she has come with you (and R's) help :-)

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  13. Bravo Shyla :) Looks like your having a blast racing around with your brother :) There is nothing better then swimming :) Milo & Jet

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