Sage’s winter coat is coming in quite thick and soft. I swear it gets nicer each winter. Very dense too. He has much wool on his winter pants, and he looks blonder in the back half and still really red on the hood and cape. His tail is quite bushy. Maybe Mom was right that it is bushier…
When we were sitting together on his hay bales this afternoon in the slanting sun, I encouraged him to grow a good thick winter coat so he can play in the snow this winter. He always complies. If we move to mountain country, he will be glad he did. He licked my nose and tried to get his tongue in my mouth. Everything ends up either very serious or very silly with him. Never boring.
I have taken him to the bus stop 3x this week, walking with Jeff and I and keeping him close, not letting him range ahead with his radar when he gets anxious after the tennis courts. He seems calmer in a group. Yesterday I took him out with his friends, Pete & Cooper, Maddie and Riley and he was happy once he found out this is what we were doing. He is very submissive to all of them, especially Riley Springer. They accept him, and he is not a nut when he is with them. He is a normal dog in his pack, trotting along and sniffing and exploring with his friends.
I let him greet off leash- there was no one in the woods but us- and then I let him tear around with the other dogs. We looped a bit and found ourselves with each of our older dogs and none of our younger dogs. The oak leaves were too noisy so we had to stop walking and listen- Kathy called them all, and I kept quiet. I wanted to see if they would all come to her call. Sage returned first, what a good boy! We waited a few moments before Cooper blew through us and Madison flew in. Sage’s tongue was out the side, his breath was cloudy, but his face radiated joy. I left him off leash down to the stream and when we went back up toward the hill and he stopped to wait for me uncalled, I treated and leashed him.
It was a good call- with his harness he helped me up the hill, and down the other side I saw an additional car in the lot. I called it a day for Sage: he was successful, he had a great time, blew off some energy and communed with the pack. If the other car had a dog I didn’t need to risk ruining it. He hopped in to his section of the wagon and I closed the tailgate. As we left a truck with a dog came in- but we headed home happy.
