This summer has been delightful, and unseasonably warm for Alaska. One ‘ole fella I fell in line behind at the grocery store noted it was the warmest summer he’d seen in his 72 years.
…Besides all of that our life has changed a bit with the addition of Stirling, being our 4th terrier. Stirling is a wonder-dog in so many ways; but he is also a bit of a dink where it comes to other dogs, …especially the little ones.
And added to that, our Gypsy seems to have been afflicted by a shoulder injury. The particulars on that are unclear, but she seems to be doing better with a steroid injection and relative rest.
So by comparison, I’d say our former life was more carefree. Now instead of ramming the country side off leash with GPS collars, at least two of our pack are on leash at all times. Besides that I’ve got Stirling in organized classes once or twice a week, which takes us off the trails altogether.
…So this summer our fall-back dog-walk has been straight out our front door across a small field and stream onward towards a small pond at the edge of a near neighborhood. This walk is low on adventure, unless you consider a rickety bridge that’s 
threatening to collapse on one end, or the fact that the little pond is infested with wildlife.
In fact that brings me to the point of this thread. We’ve been watching a beaver in the small pond all summer. Now beavers have a reputation in Alaska for baiting dogs into the water, and then being quite destructive on their soft under-bellies. Aoife, for one, absolutely loves water of all kinds. And maybe I’m gullible, but I wouldn’t want to test that rumor. So we carefully enjoy these rather large rascals from a respectable distance. As you might figure from one who is so respected; this beaver doesn’t hesitate to make himself known to our pack. In fact, Mark tells me one day our beaver ran across the trail right in front of him and the -dales!
So this day I decided to take my camera; and we half expected to get disappointed as is sometimes the case when you take one. But low and behold, our friend was waiting in his usual place…
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