Yesterday Red passed away of old age. He had been acting strange the day before, pacing his kennel and flinching when I went to touch him, which is very unlike Red. Normally Red prefers to sleep most of the day away or to come out with a tail wag and a quick hello before going back to napping. I sat with him for a while and felt his head and petted him. He didn’t seem to have any physical pain anywhere, but he was clearly anxious about something. He didn’t eat his food, which his friend Jack next to him appreciated as Jack got to eat an extra breakfast. The next morning Red appeared to be fine and back to his old self. Sara gave him some lovin’ in the morning, but by the afternoon he had passed.

It’s so hard to lose a good friend, especially a dog like Red. Red was a tough old man, who loved to be on the trail and run, or would come up and snuggle us. I will always remember Red with lots of love. With a hundred dogs of all ages, it’s inevitable that a dog will pass away, just as our friends and family do, but it is never easy.

I had the privilege to be on Tracie Hotchner’s ‘Dog Talk’ on NPR talking about frosty dogs in the middle of summer. The interview is about halfway through the clip -

http://www.traciehotchner.com/dt/podcasts/Dog_Talk_07_17_10.mp3

Yippee. Hopefully more people will realize how loved and how amazing these dogs are. My life lights up every day I get to spend with them!!!!

These little munchkins have grown up so quickly, it’s hard to believe. They were no bigger than my hand when they were born, and now they are out checking out their new world. They have their mother Rain’s enthusiasm and personality, sweet and energetic. There’s  a male and two females and they only get cuter every day!!

Short of the dogs’ hugs, these are some of the best hugs I’ve had! Hugfest 2010

Pictures and video will follow!

This weekend is the Teva Mountain Games and I will be trying to break the record of 7,750 hugs in 24 hours. Over 40,000 people are expected to attend over the four day festival. I will spend Friday checking out the area, finding a great place to hug and enjoying some amazing athletes. Then Saturday, we will let the games begin for me!

I will be raising money for the Save Audrey Rose fund. Audrey Rose is a fictional character of mine who is at one with nature and feel more at home there than in cities or towns. She is free in ways most people are not. The Save Audrey Rose Fund is being created to develop workshops that engage girls with the outdoors and let them know that nature belongs to them, too. Each girl will receive a notebook that is hers to keep and we will do some writing exercises that are intended to help girls realize their feelings and fears or fearlessness in regards to nature.

The first workshop will take place this summer in Steamboat Springs. It’s a two day workshop done through Partners of Routt County!

As the weather warms up, hold on, the weather is not warming up at all. The last couple of weeks have been filled with gusting winds, snow flurries and rain. While the weather is dampening my spirits, the dogs are loving the cool weather. Mama kitty has had her kittens and fluffers is looking like she’s due any day. Fuzzybutt, the youngest cat has found a new friend – a fox. Apparently they were chasing each other back and forth across the road. Fuzzybutt can’t be more than eight pounds, if that. She’s got spunk and apparently is running the show out at the kennel.

While the dogs have been behaving, sleeping and enjoying a bit of rest, I’ve been able to spend a lot more one on one time with each of them, which means I get tons of snuggles every day I’m out there. There is nothing so horrible in the world, it can’t be made better by the smile on a dog’s face or the wag of a tail, when they are excited to see you. It’s amazing how much animals become part of your life. I consider the dogs out there part of my family and some of the closest friends I have.

I recently shot the class of 2010, a photo shoot of the entire kennel. More pics to come, but this pup, only about 8 months old is a handsome man. There’s something savage looking about him. Alpha of his pack, when he gets backed into a corner, or into his home, he fights back with kisses!