Cooler weather, remote collars & autumn festivals

With a forecast for this week with lows in the 30s and highs in the 60s I think it'll finally be time to whip out some sweaters at work!  As well I think wearing my flannel lined ladies jeans from Prana (glad to see the model has them fitting a little looser, as that's how mine fit as well!) will be a must, as well!  I'm not overly looking forward to dreary winter weather yet, but its fun to whip out the clothes!

Kenai is getting pretty pumped as well.  The cooler weather makes him more hyper than per his norm.  I'm excited for us both this winter.  I plan on purchasing telemark skis [finally].  This will allow for some sweet backcountry adventures that will be much more up Kenai's alley.  Backcountry snow adventures, coupled with his remote zap collar will be superb.  For anyone with a rambunctious dog who doesn't have a remote shock collar I highly recommend them!

Puh-leaaasee take me out?!

 Kenai has this PetSafe model.  It was pricey, but has proved well worth it. The negative tone button (a high pitched beeping) has been absolutely key in his recall training.  So many people with huskies (or any working breed dog, for that matter) have huge issues with recalling their dogs.  That issue with huskies has been my prime focus in all training with Kenai.  Sure, he can sit, lay, shake, high-five, etc, but recall is more important to me than all of those.  This collar made it possible when he started rebelling in his 6 mo.  - 1 year age gap.  It gave me the consistency and immediacy with correction I was lacking.  He goes too far, I whistle.  If he ignore the whistle, I verbally call.  If he ignores that, he gets the negative tone, and if he ignores that he gets zapped.  He's smart enough to know now what one leads to if he ignores part of the routine.  So typically he will pivot on the spot [mid run] and return to me.  I've even called him off killing a groundhog halfway through!  I let him finish the job, but wanted to check to see how responsive he would be.  That's how clutch this collar has been in our training.

Dreaming

My Morgantown weekend has been a bit more docile than I'd originally planned.  With all the cooler weather and dreary, constant rain I've ended up lounging inside a lot more than planned.

We ventured out yesterday though to go to the Buckwheat Festival - a festival devoted to the joys of buckwheat pancakes.  I'd never had a buckwheat cake before.  The thought of fermented batter struck an uneasy chord with me.  But I ventured out and had a couple bites yesterday.  Not as awful as I'd feared it would be, but not incredible either.

Today begins the Forest Festival in my home town.  One of the largest festivals in the state - we LOVE our festivals, don't hate.  Autumn is probably my absolute favorite part of the year, despite the fact that it means dreary winter is on its way.  I love, love, love the Forest Festival.  All the fun food and vendors and crafts that celebrate the beauty of autumn and WV jam-packed into one glorious week.  Love!  I hate the touron crowds anymore, but the food, om nom nom.  So many amazing smells!  The trees are going to be at near peak this year - for the first time in several years.  This unseasonally cold September has contributed some phenomenal early colors.

Higher elevations are said to be at peak this week, but I'm hoping there will be some remaining beauty next weekend as I finally plan to hike the Dolly Sods Wilderness for my fall color fix.  We shall see.  This day last year I was hiking up there.  Did a grand 8 miles - Kenai did 16 with all his doubling-back, he slept for almost 24 hours straight!

I leave you with these little autumn beauties, snapped last weekend.  Happy autumn to you and yours.