merimask | Snow dog. Winter beach.

Kiba and I took our daily beach walk early today.

The beach is at Beaver Island State Park, on Grand Island, near Niagara Falls. That's the Nigara River, with Canada across the way. Kiba loves this place, as I let him run free there when the beach is quiet and empty like it was today.

It's very freaking weird, to be on the beach with NO snow and NO ice, and in fact the water is a good ten degrees warmer than it should be right now (it's almost 45 degrees...and the air temp today? 55.), can you say "global warming"?

I keep saying that I need to take pictures of my guy, because he's so darn pretty. Today I actually remembered to bring the camera. So, a slideshow.

Kiba is a freaking ANGEL in the car. Really. Huskies are supposed to behave like terrors on trips, but not this fella. He sits patiently until I switch harnesses and invite him out.

The only sign of impatience is in his ears, which he puts back when he's hoping for some dog fun.

We pause on the path in the sun, for a photo op, and now he's REALLY impatient because he can actually see the beach...

...so he has to tell me about it. He's not really snarling...I just caught him in mid-sentence. "Awoo roo!"

Finally! On the beach and off the freaking leash! What's that waaaay over there? A bird, on MY beach! This is why I need the entire mile-long beach to be devoid of activity before I let Kiba off leash...he's a victim of stimuli.

He loves the water, but only to a certain point. I've never seen him actually swim...

...he just sort of splashes around like a toddler in a kiddie pool.

Action pose! Because the thing Kiba loves to do most of all is RUN! I can't tell you how hard it was to get these pictures of him running around...mostly it was a blur of fur and tail way off in one corner of the frame. I only got these because he was loping and not running flat-out. He's FAST.

Second pass...at least I got him in the middle of the frame that time.

Here's the ONLY picture of him running full-out. He's so pretty when he takes off, he just puts his ears back and pounds down the beach like a cheetah. He sort of crashed into me after I took this. Oh well, I was asking for it by getting in the way and all.

Yeah, his tongue really does flap out of the side of his mouth like that. It's pretty funny.

Morning light.

I just thought the morning sunlight on the water was so pretty. Buffalo on the horizon back there, looking upriver. Buffalo on the left, Canada on the right.

So, back into the car! One damp, happy dog and a fair amount of sand. It's a good thing huskies do NOT smell, not even when wet.

That's my Volvo wagon. Much love for the wagon. My car kicks your car's ass. Unless you have a hybrid.

When we leave the park we always drive along the river, because I love taking the scenic route home. Today was SO pretty, I figured I better stop along the river for some pictures. I use 'em for reference all the time. Expect to see some winter water/tree watercolors sometime soon. The light was inspiring.

Terrible compositions (my friend

rumdiculousis much better at photography than I am), but I wanted to capture the color of the winter river. It's the most lovely cobalt-to-prussian blue this time of year...and still no ice! Must paint this, and soon.

So that was my morning.

On the way home I stopped at the post office to mail an order, then over to my Mom's house to say hi, then to Wegman's for some grocery shopping. Halfway through Wegman's I hit the wall. See, we have this...thing...we say here around the house. Greg and I call it "Running out of breakfast", when your carbo breakfast leaves you crashing by noon (that's why carbo breakfasts SUCK). Well, like an ass, I had a donut & coffee for breakfast (not healthy, I know, I know) and then went out for a long hike with the dog & ran errands and suddenly BANG I'm shaking and weak and STARVING in the grocery store. Not a good place to be. You know, you should never shop for food when you're hungry because you end up buying the most stupid stuff! I ended up with a cart full of sushi and whole wheat crackers and fruit salad and chocolate bars...all the things I was craving because I had crashed big-time. Greg gave me a 50 today to do some shopping (for neccesities) and I only planned to use half of it, but with my cartload of impulsive hunger-food I ended up with about....35 cents to spare. Umm...sorry hon? :-)

Time for housework and maybe some preliminary sketches...I've been in the mood for watercolors for a while, now.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

*squees for puppy love*

I swear, when you post about Kiba I want one so badly. Considering what my friend is going through with his puppy though, I'm going to guess a lot of time went into making her so well trained. Plus, temperment is always a crap-shoot it seems.

FLUFFY PUPPY I want to bury my nose in his furrrrrr

Gorgeous puppy!!!!!!! I want to snuggles him!

Beautiful photos! :D

Kibaaaaaa! Le cute! I never knew how adorable his face was until I saw that one of him in profile ^__^
*snugglewufflepuppypoo*

That's why, as much as I like the idea of adopting an unwanted dog from a shelter, I like to own purebred dogs. You know exactly what you'll get. You get to meet the parents (I only get dogs from reputable breeders that have one or both parents on hand to meet...Kiba is JUST like his father, Am/Can CH Arctic Winds "Striker"). Studying a specific breed helps you pick the perfect dog. I knew I wanted an active, friendly, people & dog loving breed that was mid-to large sized and with an easygoing temperament. Kiba is all that and better, because he's not a barker, not a wanderer, and more trainable than I thought he would be (Siberians are notoriously independant, but not my guy).

Everyone who sees him thinks they want one...but I can tell you, these dogs LOVE being with their person and if I didn't work at home he'd probably be a destructive animal. They need a ton of exercise too, and the first year or so (the puppy stage) is a LOT of work. I was glad to do it though...I was lost without a dog in my life.

Hee! Kiba smells good too...like dust and sunshine. :-) See why I loved Okami so much? Ammy reminded me so much of him.

He'd snuggle back, probably TOO much. He's enthusiastically friendly. :-) I tried to teach him "Off!", but he's bright so he's decided that means he shouldn't jump up on ME but everyone else is fair game. He makes judgement calls like that all the time. :-)

See, everyone ~thinks~ they have the cutest dog in the world but I ~know~ I do. ;-)

Men LOVE him too. I can't take him anywhere (except for the deserted beach, maybe) without guys stopping me to tell me how awesome my dog is. Seriously, he's a guy magnet. I could loan him to lonely women for a massive fee, he'd totally be worth it.

Oh my god, he's GORGEOUS! I want one! I can't have one, but I want one! We just don't have the proper lifestyle for a dog. We both work, and we're out a lot evenings and weekends. It just wouldn't be fair to a dog to leave him like that. That's why we have cats in multiples - they've got company when we're out, and when we're home they have their humans to worship them. But he is just the most beautiful boy.

Bob's car broke down last night and I had to stop painting the sewing room in order to go get him. Grmph. That car is a piece of crap, and I really wish he'd get off his butt and get a new one. Maybe this will inspire him. I just hope that said inspiration isn't too expensive. I'm not feeling optimistic though - it's transmission related. He's only got third gear. I guess that's bad. I drive an automatic, so I've got no clue. All I know is that transmission stuff is expensive. So the car is at the shop, and he has my car. The practical result of this, given that we work 40 or so miles from each other is that my 8-5 work day with an hour for lunch is a 7:30 to 5:30 with lunch at my desk. Oh, and three guesses about who is going to get to walk to the mechanic's and back to pay the bill when the car is done? I guess I should be glad that it's close enough to do that.

Do some serious research on hybrids before you get into one. There are some issues that they don't like to hype. Battery disposal, for one thing. I've heard of people running into this as a problem - the batteries are only good for four (?) or so years, and when they have to be replaced they hit you with a $300 or $400 disposal fee for each one. I don't know what happens to them then - I hope they don't go to a land fill. Also, the gas milage on them isn't anywhere near what is advertised if you drive like most of us do. They figure that when the new estimates start coming out that reflect actual driving usage that the milage of the hybrids is going to get about 30% worse. The other issue I've heard of is less likely, but more scary. If you're ever in a serious accident, emergency personel may not be able to get you out. Hybrid engines are equipped with a voltage booster, and the line for it runs along the frame. Different manufacturers run the lines in different places. There is *supposed* to be an automatic cutoff to the line in case of an accident. But if something goes wrong with the cutoff, and emergency services cuts through it with the jaws of life, there is excellent probability that the person doing the cutting will be electrocuted. Because of that possibility, I've heard apocryphal stories of first responders refusing to cut people out of wrecked hybrids because they won't risk the lives of their crew. They'll get them out - but it takes that much longer. Don't know if it's true or not.

Now what *I'm* excited about is bio-diesel. That's really cool. Fuel you can grow!

Kris

*raises hand* I'll pay, I'll pay!

I bet Kiba brings in the men! Not only is he PURTY, but with that friendly 'love me I'm awesome' temperment, he's just asking to be worshipped by strangers!

There's this kid, maybe 13-14 years old who walks his dog in a park near my house with a beYOOtiful red husky puppy (well slightly bigger, kinda in the gangly teenager stage) with these ice blue eyes named Orca and he's always surrounded by women telling him how pretty she is. I laugh really hard to think that in a few years he's finally going to figure out how to milk that for his benefit. Curse you Huskie owners for figuring this out before everyone else! :)

Kiba is FALSE ADVERTISING! I feel like he should come with a warning label..."Huskies are very HIGH MAINTENANCE dogs and need a LOT of time and attention". They get surrendered at shelters more often than almost every other breed, because they are no good for the casual dog owner. Better to start with a Springer Spaniel or a Basset Hound, as they are less demanding, time & exercise-wise.

You could have a dog, but you should probably think about one of those breeds I just mentioned. Bulldogs, too, are great first-time dogs (not pit bulls but the classic bulldog with the droopy fat face...they're so ugly that they're cute).

While I love cats (and a good cat is worth their weight in gold), I just like the way you can interact with a dog. They're travelling buddies, partners in fun. I am never alone because KIba is my best pal. Of course I'm here all day and I get lonely so he's more company for me than just a housepet, I suppose. Plus, he gets me off my ass and outside, which is very important.

lol...I know, I've heard all the talk about hybrids...but I still want a Prius. I know some folks who have one and the car is just AWESOME and pretty much trouble-free. Combustion engines are so dirty...SO much of a car's engineering goes into ways to combat the problems with combustion (exhaust, noise, heat exchange, lubrication, etc...) and after almost 2 years the maintenance on this car is so easy. Plus they're getting about 60 MPG on average (and the do a lot of city-driving) and I think THAT is worth the price of the battery disposal in itself. Not to mention the benefits to the environment.

Bio-fuels are an intersting alternative too...but they don't solve the emissions problem and the most efficient sources aren't going to be utilized (as least, not in the US). Corn is everyone's first choice here because we have a plentiful supply and because the agricultural infrastructure already exists...but corn is a very inefficient biofuel. one acre yields less than 30 gallons. Sugar beets produce twice as much, but there are a lot fewer farms producing sugar beets and farmers are just as reticent about switching to sugar beets as Detriot is about switching to hybrid technology. In this country, corporations are discouraged from innovation because it's not conducive to the immediate bottom line. Grr. *pout*

That first pic with Kiba's ears laying back is sooo freakin adorable! He looks so eager but controlled. XD

I wanna meet your dog! He looks like a sweetie. And I'll bet his fur is so soft.

Snow dog. Winter beach.

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