Return of The Spring

Last weekend was unseasonably cold and windy. Last night, there were snow flurries after we returned from conformation class. Today is a new month, April 1, and with it comes the return of spring. Heralded and celebrated, spring fights to shrug off winter's oppression, with a daytime high temperature that reached past 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Andy is on the mend from a cold, his first since March 2020. I'm feeling fine, so used a few hours to finish reinforcing the fencing on the entire west fence line of the pond pasture. The geese are now completely enclosed in their one acre with the pond.

I had to test the new fencing, of course, and make sure that there were not any holes that a fox or coyote or raccoon could squeeze through. Though a large coyote can clear the 5 1/2' tall fence, a raccoon would have to climb, and foxes are daytime hunters so I am not as concerned about their activities. What better way to test the fence than to set Celine loose and see if she could find a way out? Prins and Dove spent all morning outside with me; both still had gas tanks half full. Andy took Bridget along and of course Lenka came as well. Not a hole was found in the fence, and Bridget re-discovered her strong working dog lines. She firmly decided that the farm geese would not be allowed on shore on her watch. Bridget has not been able to swim in the pond in two years, due to high algae levels in 2021, so she had a blast today. Between running laps around the pond, Vallhund entourage close at her heels, and swimming to her heart's content, I think that Bridget is going to need the entire weekend to sleep off today's excitement. It's hard to believe that she is a senior dog. She certainly doesn't act like it!

Skadi and Andy enjoyed sitting in the sunshine on the picnic table. Skadi had her fill of exercise early on in the outing, and was determined to consume goose poop until she exploded. So, onto a slip lead she went, and got to spend some time with Dad.

Prins and Dove are always practically perfect, so the afternoon pond outing was no exception. Celine was a good girl after she couldn't find an easy escape hole in the fence line. She is not as fit as Dove and Prins, which I hope will change now that I have a large completely fenced area that she can build better endurance and muscle tone. Our fenced dog yard is large, but it's not the same as full out running in a field. The goose pasture is actually the most level and manicured area on our farm. The pond was dug in summer 2018, and the entire acre around the pond was professionally graded by Triple B after they finished the pond. The cows and horses never had access to the area after 2017, so there are no rutted areas. My new fitness goal for the dogs and myself is to use the pond pasture area to walk every morning before I let the geese out of their pen, then when we have time we can use the pond pasture in the evening after dinner for light exercise after the geese are back in their pen for the night.