Will and Emma exploring at Stratton Brook Park

The world through puppy eyes

The pups are fourteen weeks old and we celebrated with their first big trip to Stratton Brook Park. Only about a mile away, this is the closest state park to us, with trails, with a lake, a fishing pond, and a pretty red covered bridge that fits right into New England. This is where we often walked with Tobie, our first border collie, since we could walk from our house along a trail through the woods and down the town road to get there. This is a 20 minute walk just to get there, so we drove today. The puppies are still too young for a walk that long and we wanted them to enjoy the scenery at the park. It was a beautiful sunny day, cold and crisp, but the trail through the woods was totally covered with ice-covered snow and is too difficult to manoeuvre this time of year, especially with tender paws.

We walked the long trail from the road to the covered bridge and the lake. Everything was new to Will and Emma. They were enthralled with the brook rambling alongside the trail. The potpourri of new smells were exciting, and they even met a new young dog named Ginger. Walking was easier on the trail where it was packed down, but the icy snow was strong enough to hold their weight. If we didn’t have a good hold on their leashes, they easily could have slipped into the creek. We were careful, though - no pupsicles for us!

There was a small flock of Canada Geese on the fishing pond for the pups to watch. This is their first exposure to the geese. The breeder where Will and Emma are from trains her border collies as geese dogs, to flush the geese from golf courses, parks and private properties. There seems to be quite a need for these goose dogs.