BOXER ADVENTURES

 Today was the 9th annual Paws 4 Potter event. The dogs were decked out in this year's costumes. They entered the costume contest but unfortunately due to stiff competition, including a French Bulldog in a hair in curlers wig, they did not win. They did enjoy seeing all the other dogs and their owners and visiting the vendors.  We didn't see any other Boxers, but there were many people who told us that they love Boxers and described Sisko and Booker as beautiful.  They happily accepted compliments and pets. They also enjoyed the large 2 mile pack walk through the park. Booker's leash manners are still not where I would like them to be, and he was completely over- stimulated.  I was a bit frustrated, I will admit.   But he was friendly to everyone and pretty much ignored the barking or aggressive dogs.  So I will choose to see the good in today, not the bad and I know what we need to work on. A fun day for a great cause!

 Returning to work after vacation sucks, right?  I was swamped and stressed at work and my mood made worse as the weather has been cold, dark and rainy.   I did manage to get the dogs out for a chilly run last night after work.  I am a fair weather (AKA wimpy) runner and would have preferred the treadmill and a baking show, but the boys made it clear they needed some exercise. Tonight it was sunny and a little warmer and I suggested to Marc that a quick drive to a nearby village for a walk to check out Halloween decorations would be a great way to decompress on a Friday night. So that's what we did.  Of course, not as many people decorate for Halloween as they do for Christmas, but there were still some spooky sights to see.  One family who lived close the the road had some decorations out and we paused to check them out. These big bad Boxers were SO SCARED. It was actually pretty funny.   They were much happier to see real people out and were happy to say HI to them!

 After the week of vacation and all the hiking we did, I was sure that we would all be exhausted and just want to lay around and relax.  So I wasn't sure how the dogs would feel about joining me on a longer run today. The minute we got up, they were full of it - jumping on one another and wrestling so I figured if they had that much energy they could join me.  So off we headed to our favorite paved trail. The main trail is 3.3 miles one way and there are 2 parts that were extensions of the original trail.  We ran the main trail, crossed the road and went along the parking lot and kept going.  When we reached 4 miles I stopped and turned around.   I wasn't sure if we would run the whole way back - I thought for sure Sisko would be tired but Nope!  We made it back to the start.  This was Booker's longest run! I am one proud mama.  We got home for some well earned lunch. After their rest we had a mini spa day.  They both got showers including a scrub down with the bath mits  

 We packed up this morning and said out goodbyes to cabin life. I hope the dogs enjoyed the trip as much as we did! I know they slept well on the way home! I am thrilled at how great both do0gs were on this trip!  They met wildlife, other dogs and many strangers and handled it all perfectly. I am also SOOOOOO happy that Sisko's knee issue never acted up (knock on wood) despite all the hiking, walking and running miles!!

 I didn't make any plans for our last full day because I was sure that we would all be exhausted.  We slept in a little late and when we let them out at 8:30 AM to go to the bathroom this started: So much for being exhausted! It was very cold with a thick cloud cover and we weren't sure we wanted to be out in the cold, so we took it easy.  Late morning the sun peeked out we decided to hit a couple of short easy trails. I am a streak runner and had just been doing minimal miles after our long hikes. Marc and I both wanted to get a run in and so we went to the beginning point of the Pine Creek Trail in Wellsboro, PA. I told Marc to go ahead and run and I would start with the dogs and see how they felt and if they seemed tired we would just walk. Needless to say, they were both completely ready to run and we crushed 5 miles.   We got back to the cabin early and relaxed since it was our last night there.

 I debated if I wanted to spend more time in the car today, but I had read about World's End State Park which was about 1.25 hours from our park and looked fabulous.  We decided to head out.   I was not prepared for the conditions on the way to that park which consisted of windy roads and hills.  Both Booker and I got very car sick.  I began to regret my decision to travel to what I became convinced was actually the end of the world! We got into the visitor's center and the helpful staff gave us some suggestions and we chose a challenging trail and headed out.  Any potential regrets I had were instantly gone as we hiked this AMAZING trail. While Sisko does great off leash, Booker is not 100% reliable yet AND this was a hike along the edge of the canyon almost the entire way.  So we gave them a lot of slack but kept them firmly on leash! They had a great time moving back forth sniffing the smells.  This trail offered some challenging spots navigating between, over and under huge

 This morning we decided to hike some of the trails within the park.  There is a loop that goes around the lake and we thought that would make a nice hike. The dogs were both raring to go despite the long hike yesterday.  It was pretty chilly out, but the sun was bright, and Sisko definitely prefers cooler temps! It was a relaxing way to spend the morning, and the dogs loved the unfamiliar smells and paths that they had never experienced.  They were forced to endure many photo shoots! On the way back we encounter some deer.  One was especially friendly - I suspect that people feed them and they show very little fear of humans or even the dogs!  Booker didn't know what to do with himself! Sisko showed a lot of restraint and neither one barked which was great! We ended today with just over 9 miles!