Yes...I'm obsessed with dogs: dog sitting, herding and walking

A few months ago we watched Joy and Chris's border collies, Jadzia and Curzon. It was great to have them here because they are so well behaved and Curzon keeps Indy entertained.

More border collies....We are watching Diane's (my herding instructor) puppy Kuro while she recovers from a serious injury. He is very sweet and loves people. Him and Indigo have started to play and wrestle. I think she will be very happy if we get another border collie because she loves to play and Ari doesn't want anything to do with that.

I took advantage of the amazing weather and went herding with Indy on Sunday. The drive to Carnation is so beautiful. Next time I go I'll take some photos of the drive. There are views of the mountains, rivers and of lush farmland.

Indy is really doing great with herding. She catches on really quickly and only needs a few corrections before she learns something. We are working on teaching her to keep her distance between me and the sheep. She also is learning the commands, Come-bye (clockwise around the sheep) and Away (counter clockwise). She doesn't know that she can control the sheep from further away, so when she is too close the sheep get to close to me and almost knock me over! She has a fairly reliable lie down, which is important for slowing her down. We are in the process of finding a herding instructor in Mass, so that she can keep improving over the next year. I am hoping to trial with her soon after I get back.

Since my knee is getting stronger after working out at the gym for the past few months. I have been able to start jogging. I tried jogging with the dogs the other day on their crazy handlebar elastic leash that can hold 3 dogs. It actually worked well and exercised them sufficiently. I think they will get better at running with me and not sniffing the ground as they get used to it.

I took some pictures of our walk through the neighborhood. I love this house with the cherry blossoms and rhododendrons blooming

This is our little "dog park". Many of the people here have been coming to this field for the past 13 years with their dogs at 7 pm every night. It is great for us to be able to walk here and get the dogs really tired.

I love the way these pink flower petals are spread over the otherwise ugly corner of this yard.