#its something that ive never trained but sparty nails it and honestly

[fjordfolk]

roundup while i remember it:

sparta is getting better with river and stream crossings after her little dip last year, and from having to carry her across a (wide!) bridge on Thursday, to her doubting and having 2nd and 3rd thoughts but ultimately crossing a *bunch* of them today, she's really getting her confidence back. she's still cautious re: crossing water (as she always has been) which i honestly appreciate, but it's nice to see her get over this particular thing.

troja did amazing picking and following the trail today! she's never done that seriously enough for me to rely on, but tonight she went ahead a couple of times and once even picked a better route than sparty did (heresy, i know.) these are skills i value, because of hikes like these ones where we didn't get back until 2am and for almost two hours i trusted my dogs fully, because it was too dark to really see the path.

for that last bit it is also helpful to have a light colour dog because sparty? love her. adore her. can not fucking see her.

#they both did awesome although i could tell some ~15km in troja was getting a little tired #sparty was holding up but judging by how she was getting further and further ahead of me on the trail she was ready to get home lol #im glad to see troj picking that skill up though - shes been more attentive to her nose recently #its something that ive never trained but sparty nails it and honestly #ive wondered what to do when spart isnt hiking capable anymore because i rely on it a lot and #shes kept me from walking straight off more than one cliff #and shes fantastic to have in the dark or in unfamiliar territory #but shes the only of our dogs that do it - troj only starting to show signs of it now and lunert? #God forbid you let lunert guide you Anywhere