On a walk with the dog

In an especially grumpy mood one morning, I wanted to pull the covers over my head to shut out the world.  I heard a gentle yelp from Milo's room.  Darn!  He needed to go out!  Why didn't he know that was in a bad way?  Why couldn't he leave me alone?

Feeling even more down, I stumbled out of bed, dragged on my track pants and released him from his crate.  He jumped up on my leg and with his big, toothy grin looked me dead in the eye as if to say, 'Time to go for a walk".

Milo is a 6 year old Yorkipoo that we adopted 2 years ago.  Some call him a rescue and I suppose that is true:  He had languished in a Yorkie breeders compound after she had 'rescued' him from a less-than-good environment.  The day we visited he was one of two that we considered.  The other was a tiny Yorkie similar to Tia who had been with us for nearly 15 years.  Milo was disheveled, his hair was long and matted.  He followed me around the yard for the entire visit.  When I stopped, he stopped and sat beside me.  He came up to me on first calls and he sniffed approvingly.  I was drawn to him but it was that look in his eye:  Mischievous!  That did it.  I told Sally he was the one and a week later he was home.

'High energy' doesn't do justice to Milo.  He has an insatiable appetite for playing and at the mere mention of 'outside', he is up and ready to go. His favourite toy is his stuffed duck!  Playing tug of war with him is good for 15 minutes.

He's not fond of rain so on those soggy mornings we walk under a long covered breezeway at the front of our building.  He darts out to do his business and then wants to head back inside. 

And that's what he loves to do.  Sleep.  Then, all dogs like to do that.  He has favourite places of course with the main one being up on the sofa beside me while we 'watch TV'.  Because he and have similar bladder habits, we get along just fine.  

During the week our walks are shorter and limited to early morning before work and immediately after when I get home.  On the weekends though we get to stretch our legs with longer walks.  He's particularly fond of heading down to the Humber River where he can sniff and pee to his heart's content.

On those longer walks I'm inspired to take pictures.  Many of the 'Today's view' photos come from those walks.  The trees, the sun, the river...a true nature-lovers paradise just steps from the apartment.  Sally did a fine job finding this apartment complex.

My favourite thing about Milo is his fondness for squirrels.  True to his Yorkie heritage, he abhors them.  With his great eyesight, he'll spot one 50 feet away and slowly and stealthily approach.  At abuot 10 feet away, he lunges:  zero to full tilt in 3 bounds!  So far he has only managed to nip at the tail as the squirrel scurried up the tree...what will he do if he actually catches one!  No, I don't plan to find out.

On that grumpy morning once I'd pulled my coat and baseball cap on, Milo took me for the walk.  He knew.  

Until next time...