adventures in Great Danes – Page 6

Morning Walks: Mountain River

Scout and I continue our morning adventures. The weather has been beautifully cool and crisp in the mornings. But the water was still comfortable enough to dip my toes in for a bit.

Scout is doing great. I was hoping these walks, far from our usual routine, would take my mind off Bixby. Walking through the neighborhood, everyone always makes an effort to say hello and often comment on how much they miss Bixby. Me, too.

So, we needed to get away. And away helps me notice things about Scout as we work together. She relied heavily on Bixby as her guide in the world and she’s actually struggling to find her way without him. These explorations have been good for us, I can see where she needs more confidence and also where she needs a bit more training. She followed Bixby’s lead in most things, which worked well for us, he loved having a groupie and she was just a breeze to train because of it. But now we have to find our footing without him.

She’s outgoing on walks, not afraid of much, but can be timid with new routines or new experiences, like walking in the river. It takes her a bit to work up her courage, but she gets there. We get there. Before we know it, she’ll be alpha dog. Leading the way, bowing down only to her kittehs, whom she adores.

She’s still not playing at home – no tug, no fetch, a few zoomies. But she loves going on drives and is happy to snuggle on the couch. And she is ridiculously happy when the neighborhood kids come to visit and when she’s allowed to go out the front door, unleashed, to greet people, trusted to come back when she’s called. She knows it’s a big deal to earn that trust and it gives her hyper tail wags.

x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions

Morning Walks: New Destinations

Scout and I have gotten into a rut since we lost Bixby, so I decided with the cooler (ha!) weather, we’d expand our explorations.

As long as the weather holds out, we are going to explore a different open space each week. I was thinking we would find a different one each day, but this morning’s destination proved to have an abundance of trails we can explore over several days. So we’ll play it by ear with each location.

Can’t wait for tomorrow morning to see where the next trail will take us.

Until then…

x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions

Ducklings and Danes: Ducklings Day Out

The ducklings seemed bored today and were managing to get into a bit of trouble inside. So even though it was only in the mid-fifties, I decided some outdoor time would be good for their mental health and mine.

Scout got in on the fun and was, as always, very respectful of the boundaries.

They really enjoyed themselves, digging in the dirt with their beaks and munching on straw, grass and whatever they were unearthing.

I sat nearby and when I realized they stayed on the side of the enclosure where I was, I moved to the other side. They followed and found all kinds of new things to explore.

It was a successful first foray into the wild. It will be warm for the next week, so they will get a lot more outdoor experiences.

Ducklings and Danes: Week 3

They are quickly (and everywhere) losing their downy yellow fluff. Their pin feathers aren’t quite filling in yet, so they have some bare pink spots all over. Especially their wings.

They spend a great deal of time out of their crate now. They mostly sleep on their blanket, but they do wander into the kitchen for some cat grass now and then. I expect they’ll become more mobile as curiosity takes precedence over growing. Right now, growing requires lots of eating and sleeping.

They get upset if I’m not nearby…unless Bixby is, then they are quite chill.

Bixby brought them a bunch of toys their first day out and ever since, they seek out those toys to snuggle on, so I make sure to put them on their blankets. Sometimes Bixby will drop a new one on the blanket for them.

The other day, the ducklings were out and I was busy working. Suddenly all I hear are duck feet running and lots of squawking.

They had made their way to the bathroom and were making a ruckus at the bathtub.

To recap, three weeks old, they know the word bathtime, they know how to find the bathroom and they know how to get their point across. Give them another week, they’ll be running their own bath.

I have lost all control.

(Oh, please, warm weather hurry up, these guys need outside time!)

Early this week, I was in the office, editing “bathtime video”, where I say it’s bathtime to the ducklings. They heard this and came running down the hallway and into the bathroom.

I had no choice but to run a bath for them. LOL

“Is it ready yet?”

I included a long section of bathtime zen, but don’t miss the end with them running down the hall to greet Bixby after their bath.

Ducklings and Danes Week 2

This has been a big week. They’ve been learning to swim (yes, they kind of have to learn), they’ve spent time running around the house (for enrichment – once the weather is nice, they’ll go outside in their penned area to explore), and their time with the Danes is much more playful and they hold their own.