The dogs and I spent about six weeks with my parents at their farm in Granville. If we don’t think about all the not so great things happening in the world at that time, or now, we had such a great time.
Without a full schedule or any schedule, we had seemingly infinite time to do whatever we wanted. The dogs loved going on long hikes multiple times a day. Griffin spent time as a farm dog and went with my brother and I on fence repairs. It was fun to have Griffin along because we could send him back to the vehicle to grab a tool. He sometimes didn’t get the right tool – but he was trying!
We got to know the cows really well. The one who liked to escape up a steep hill. The senior who couldn’t walk as far as the others. The very curious calf.
On our walks we found some wild plants for cooking experiments, such as the garlicky “ramps” in the spring. There were so many dead trees from the invasive Emerald Ash Borer. I hadn’t realized quite how many of those trees were on the property. The dogs found lots of animal bones and a few carcasses (gross).
During this time we did some training. I set up my agility equipment there for the first time in a decade. Griffin, Tonks, and Viktor are more responsible than Blaze and Luna were so we could use a cow pasture instead of the fenced dog area. This gave us more space to work but also meant sometimes the space was occupied by the cows. The calves liked to lean against it during naps or stick their heads in and rub their necks on the ridges.
The dogs got to have swimming time pretty much every day. I would take my computer over to do reading while they played and explored. What I took away from this was how much I was able to meet their needs for exercise and enrichment. Do they need multiple hikes and a long swim every day? No. But did they love it? Yes. As we moved back to our usual home in June, I’m sure the dogs would have preferred to stay at the farm and with our routine there. It gave me a lot of time to think about what kinds of things dogs want, what kinds of lifestyles dogs are designed for and the compromises that have to be made in urban environments.
Up next, our summer.