We went for a hike towards the end of the day, less than an hour before the sun set. My real camera was at home, and my phone camera is iffy at best even in good lighting conditions.
But Ptera hadn't had a chance to do much other than hang out in the yard and sleep on the bed for the day, so I wanted to get her out and about a bit, and had to make sure to grab some photos for our
Hikes and Beach Goals series.
In the end, a tired dog is a good dog. To a certain extent. For Ptera, I feel that unwinding in the woods makes for a more relaxed kind of tired than a weekend of flyball or lure coursing. She may sleep as deep, but she seems more calm in her sleep after hiking.
She looks so sweet all curled up there and sleeping! Barley is definitely more peaceful after time in the woods than other types of exercise, too--but usually we do agility class and then take a short walk in the woods, so she lucks out and gets both types of exercise at once :)
ReplyDeleteI read an article to that effect a few weeks ago. Basically, most of our ways of exercising dogs are tapping into their work ethic, or in many cases their prey drive. So they are pumping themselves full of adrenaline, and getting mentally tense, not just working their muscles. By contrast a nice hike in a quiet area with no strangers, cars, etc to worry about is a way to relax your mind and body at the same time as getting a physical workout (for you, too!)
ReplyDeleteMy little pug just loved to hike in the woods when he was younger. He'd fall into such a deep sleep when we got home that he'd twitch. His back doesn't allow him to go on such long strolls anymore. I'm sure he misses it.
ReplyDeleteJean from Welcome to the Menagerie