Took Kodie and Gretchen to my favorite forest today for a walk. It was the first time that Gretchen walked without a leash and she did quite well. Mostly, following Kodie. I became sad as we walked for the forest has been destroyed by clear cutting. My favorite paths were blocked by heavy timber and small paths I used to follow had been graveled so that the heavy machinery could get through. It was dismal.

We reached a point in the trail where the path curved downward and rounded a bend. The dogs were running ahead of me a bit, when right at the curve, they both slid to stop and crouched down. As I watched, I saw Kodie’s ruff raise up high enough to rival a moose, and she tucked her tail in tight and began to growl. With no idea of what was around that corner, I whistled them softly back to me, they came with Kodie still growling. Not sure what was behind me, I walked backward for quite awhile, watching closely but nothing pursued us.

It could have been anything, a deer, a wild turkey, a coyote or a fox as it around dusk that we took this walk. i am glad they alerted me though. I well remember the coyote encounter last year and do not wish to have that repeated.