Friday, December 21, 2012

Pre-holiday activities

We have been working hard to fill all of Star's days with us up with fun, since we know her adopter could materialize any minute!

Last weekend, my sister and I took her and Genghis for a wonderful walk around Greenbelt National Park, a lovely park full of trails and right around the corner from where we live.  

 
Since they hit it off so well on the trail, we let Genghis and Star have another play session the following morning on my porch!

Those two are perfectly matched. 








All Star wants is someone who can just go and go and go, and who won't take offense at her obnoxious chewing and rearing. 




Genghis is oblivious to rudeness, and apparently loves having a little girl dog chewing on his face, standing on top of him, and climbing on his head. 

 




Funny to think that all of my recent foster dogs have been of a similar type--petite short haired young leggy things--and almost all have loved to play with Genghis. 

After her fun morning with Genghis, I convinced Florian that it had been way too long since we'd been to the Potomac. 

The weather was cloudy and misty but warm, a perfect day for a spooky meander.













 

We saw some kayakers in an area of narrow, deep rapids 













that was just below a dam and a sign that said to get out of the water immediately and avoid the deadly undertow. I could imagine kayaking in that nice calm stretch above the dam, 

not knowing that you were headed for a major change in hydrodynamics. Gives me a chill to think about. 


The dogs didn't seem too worried, though of course we are careful to only let them play on the safe edges of the Potomac. 












After a long hike along the river and then the C & O Canal, 

 




we found a bridge that took us across the road and next to the neighborhood that looks over the Potomac and some very enviable houses. 





 




Since Florian, the intrepid explorer, can't stand going back the same way he came on any trail, 










we hiked for awhile along a heavily trafficked road, during which stretch I was of course tasked with holding Star and Lamar. 












Though I doubted we ever would, finally we found our way back down to the river and our van and Florian had the satisfying moment of saying I told you so, Zuzi. 

And Star for once gave us a very quiet evening. Well worth the exertion!

12 comments:

  1. hah Genghis looks like a lovely big fellow... so good to see you packing in all the fun for Star! Hopefully her forever home will come along really soon!

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  2. Pauley & Genghis have a lot in common; love those playful little girls! The weather has not been nice enough lately for any hiking & we are already going stir crazy. It looks like you had a great one.

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  3. Looks like Genghis and Star have a hoot together! Sounds like it was well worth the hike to have a quiet night with Star!

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  4. Genghis must be some kind of therapy dog for troubled dogs. Maybe he could get a job at a shelter helping to rehabilitate dogs? I think I might have seen dogs like that on Dogtown. The walk is lovely! I'm laughing over Florian's quirk. He's a "don't look back" type I guess :)

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    1. My sister loved your comment :)--I think Genghis WOULD be good at that! Yes, I laugh a lot at Florian too...he drives me nutty sometimes but there is never a dull moment :)

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  5. Star probably did not know what love or play was til now
    Benny & Lily

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    1. I wonder about that, as with all foster pups. And I wonder how she got that awful scar. Her spirit is certainly undiminished, whatever she went through!

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  6. I am having hiking withdrawals! It's so nice to live vicariously through you for a few minutes. My husband has had all this training on ground search and location for Search and Rescue and he still gets us lost! My back up plan is now an app I have on the phone called Map My Hike. I can at least see the point we started from, although I usually have a pretty strong sense of direction, unlike some people in our family! lol

    Is Genghis an Akita? He's gorgeous!

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    1. Genghis is an Akita! We think he's purebred, although my sister got him from the shelter--in fact, the Prince George's County shelter, which is where Fozzie came from!

      That sounds like a really good plan for your hikes. Flo and I don't venture off trail so often but I would love to just get out our really good topo map of the Shenandoahs someday and wander around, and pay attention to landmarks to get ourselves back. I have a terrible sense of direction, though fortunately Florian's is pretty good :)

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  7. Star looks so happy with big lad Genghis, very heartwarming to see damaged dogs doing what they love, so sweet.

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  8. Hi Kirsten, we love going along with you on these extended hikes through the trails and along the river. Wishing you and your family (including the fosters) a happy Christmas and loving homes to all the "kids" that need and want one.

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  9. Looks like a lovely hike. I like the idea of Genghis being a therapy dog for troubled dogs - he obviously is good at it. Am off now to bring home one of my dogs from his foster home. Have a wonderful holiday.

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