Who? Me?

December 16, 2015 - Wednesday
33 degrees/mist/drizzle/calm winds
Pentoga Road

It must be nearing Christmas. There's a stack of wrapping paper on one side of the room, presents on the other, and a table with tape and scissors in front of me. Darn straight, Santa must be coming to town.

Tuesday was a busy/lazy affair around here. I'm not sure we did much of anything in the morning other than basic house-stuff. The weather has been so dreary that playing outside isn't as fun as it usually is and since it was Sargie's last day before going back to work, I wanted to hang out with her.

We made a trip to town where Sargie purchased more wrapping paper and other Christmas goodies. She's down to the brass tacks on presents and is eager to finish wrapping, sorting, and remembering who gets what. 



I spent some time in the afternoon and rededicated myself to Brutus's training, to practice his guiding skills, those necessary for him to bring me home, either through the woods or by the road.

Almost a year has passed since the old boy had a leash on him, yet he took up right where he left off. I leashed him in the garage. He led me to the edge of the drive, stopped, sat, looked both ways, then we walked to the other side of the road and continued against the traffic (pretend or otherwise). When the lone car came towards us, he gently nudged me onto the shoulder and walked between me and the car. The pup has lost none of his skills.

Coming back, we did "woods training," meaning that he was off the leash and had to lead me home by staying no more than ten feet in front. We remained on the road until he brought me to the drive, then later, we repeated the exercise in the field and woods in back of Neighbor Mike's. The pup was perfect, even stopping and sitting at the edge of the road, waiting for me to come alongside and snap the leash onto his collar.

There's little doubt that Brutus enjoyed his disciplined outing. I sometimes forget that he's a work dog first, a companion and close friend, second. We'll continue our work and brush up on his training. Though we want and enjoy him as a pet, I also depend on his eyes. That's his job. Both of us have gotten lazy during this past year, but that's about to change.

I worked up some wood Tuesday afternoon and did the usual before-dark chores. I continue to be amazed by how much wood we've not burned this winter. I've yet to put a stick of hard wood into the stove. Our home has been heated entirely with the softer "junk" popple that I've gotten from Yooper Brother Mark's plant. 



Brutus has been having some jealousy issues lately, mostly having difficulty accepting Grady as one of the family. He acts no differently than an older sibling does when Mom first brings a baby home from the hospital.

One of the several suggestions I've received is to bring another animal or two into the mix so he can see that Sargie and I have enough love to share for everyone/thing in our family.

Other than those that live in a barn, I don't like cats. Nothing against them, but they act like... cats. I'm not sure a gerbil or hamster would fill the bill and I'm fairly certain raising guppies definitely wouldn't help a bit. Another dog? No. One pooch at a time is all we care for.

With that being said, I've been reading about miniature horses. Sargie's always had a fascination with them and at 30 to 38 inches tall, munchkin-horses have been trained to do all sorts of interesting tasks including being used as guide animals. 

I don't know if we'll do anything other than read about them, but it's an interesting study and something that has definitely caught my eye. 

I'm going to walk my usual three miles this morning then turn my attentions to doing some house work before heading out to the shop. Sargie has some empty totes to go back to the storage shed and I need to run the vacuum sweeper over the floors. Brutus and I will go for another "working" walk later this afternoon. It looks to be an action-packed day in the neighborhood.

After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Leading me back home off leash... a unique skill I taught him several years ago. Here, we are practicing on the road, but in the woods, Brutus walks ahead, taking me back to the house. For normal road walking, he's usually leashed.