Hope for Spring

Had some major milestones today here at the kennel.  I saw the first robin of the season this morning. Despite the picture of Molly on the snowbank it seems likely that Mud Season will be arriving this week.  For those of you who have never lived in the North Country, Mud Season is a period of time between the end of winter and Black Fly Season when the frost starts coming out of the ground and many driveways and backroads (unpaved) turn to mud.  The depth of the frost, the amount of sunshine and warm temperatures, coupled with the amount of snow still around determines the length of Mud Season. This one may take awhile, but you can rest assured that the Black Fly Season will be along before you know it.

In addition to the first robin we also had a couple of grouse contacts today.  The first one was Molly's first experience with a grouse.  She was out in the yard, as she can stay up on the crust in the morning and I saw her head snap up.  A grouse blew out of the apple tree right over her head and she chased it off into the woods.  Having grouse in the yard is always a double edged sword.  On the plus side there are grouse in my yard.  On the negative side, puppies can get a little wild if they keep flushing them when they're just wandering around the yard.  Hmmmm, maybe there isn't a down side how can it be a bad thing for a 10 week old puppy to hear and see a grouse thunder out and then dive into the woods in hot pursuit.

After that I loaded everyone up, Sam and Glo, the three Bud boys, and Molly (her first truck adventure) and headed out to get them some exercise.  Sam and Glo went first and Glo had a really nice grouse find right off the road at about the 10 minute mark.  Sam was near by and I whistled her in.  She didn't see Glo but she got a snoot full of grouse and locked up.  I saw the grouse running out in front of the and then Glo moved and the bird flushed.  The Bud boys, Spot, Tick, and Trouble, ran next and were gone down the road off the breakaway.  When I got around the first corner they were a good 100 yards ahead and went another 100 yards before they decided they should come back and see if I was behind them.  After that they settled in and stayed pretty much with me for the rest of the run.  Molly went last and was still able to stay up on the snow.  It was a fun morning.

This snowbank put Molly at almost eye level.  Undaunted, she climbed up and down the snowbanks with reckless abandon.