So much to do in the environment!

 

Catty found this tree pretty interesting and decided to give it a climb!  If Catty wants to investigate something, she will sort out a way to get where she wants to go.  Smart, smart rattie girl.

"Not much going on up here!"

"Wait - I see some birds over there!" 

"There's lots to see from this vantage point!"

"Hey mom, get a picture of me!"

Off we go...

Another great shot of a very pretty girl!

We move down to the steps and Catty says "Let's play a game!".

We play a few games of find it - again working her body by moving up and down the stairs.

Then off we go!

Look at Catty's adorable waddle!

Up the rock wall she went!

As we head out the park  Catty says "Hey mom, check out this wall - talk about fun!"

Wall walking time which is great for working on balance.

We found a fun rock to play on and of course a great photo shot!

 

All of the exploration and use of the environment isn't just about fun. It builds confidence, encourages curiosity and gives her  a mind & body a workout.  We could just walk the 7 mile loop we are on but, by finding environmental opportunities -  Catty also receives a lot of enrichment and excitement!

 

Catty is full of surprises

"Hey mom let's go check out the water!"

Dogs are always changing as time moves forward and that's true for Catty and her interest in water.  

I was beyond fascinated to watch Catty's curiosity with the water since, many times before she had zero interest in going anywhere near it!

"This is kinda nice"

She slowly moves a bit further out...

and then she stops to watch the birds.

I was shocked with how far out she went and seems like Catty is always surprising me!

And after a bit it was time to move on

"Are you impressed?"

Time to move on for the next part of our adventure!

Catty working the environment

Catty and I head over to Lake Washington Boulevard Park! 

As you can see she very excited to get over and explore the area.

One of the advantages of early morning walks give us the whole park to ourselves!

Up on the wall and what a nice view - you can see Mt. Rainier in the back ground.

There's lots opportunities for environmental exploration...

And lots of enrichment games of jumping up and down on all kinds of things at the park.

This rock wall was lots of fun for Catty!

Catty loves to climb rocks! 

This is great physical and mental work for her.

Time to check out the water

We've been down to the water before but, she never shown much interest.  However, for whatever reason this trip peaked Catty's water curiosity.

Stay tuned to see what Catty thinks of the water!

Catty checks out the pier

We head down to Lake Washington and Catty wants to check out a pier!   This is great as the surface is wood planks and you can see and hear the water beneath the planks.  I have to imagine the smells are also super interesting to Catty.

 

Catty loves to get after crows so, the crow sitting on the pier was a perfect opportunity her.

"What is down there?"
 

There were men fishing on the pier - this was pretty interesting to Catty.  You can see the I-90 bridge in the background - were we had walked from.

Sniffing, sniffing, sniffing! 

There were some yucky dried fish parts on the pier and Catty devoured them in no time flat - well before I could get to some of them.  Catty will eat pretty much anything she thinks in edible and in her world, lots of things are edible...

"What do you mean no swimming?!"

She's actually getting ready to grab that animal part on the left side of the sign. I was able to get to it before Catty!

Watching the men fishing and the crew boats!

Off we go!  

We were well into our walk and Catty is still ready to rock and roll.

Off to the next section of our walk - the large park in the background of the above pictures.

Catty time!

 

June is Catty's "gotcha" month - we adopted her from New Rattitude back in 2010.  Boy oh boy have we learned a lot about dogs since adopting Catty.  She's a delightful, loving, loyal, wicked smart & opinionated terrier.  Catty often keeps us on our toes! 

Being currently foster free, this gives Catty and I more 1:1 walks and we do lots of fun stuff together.  Little miss Catty is a girl that loves to be busy - she's a typical terrier who is curious about the environment and ready for pretty much anything. 

 

Catty is between 10 and 12 years old and she's in excellent physical shape!  On our walks we often find things in the environment to work her body and brain.

Here we've found a fallen tree in a park near our house.  Catty may have short legs but, they are strong and get her where she needs to go. 

 

"Come on! I want to go see what else there is to do!"

"Take my picture and lets get going!"

There are lots of stairs in our neighborhood so we use those to work our legs and core!

We also have lots of hills so, we take advantage of walking up and down them.  A good workout for both of us.

We head over to the I-90 bridge overlook

"I'm posing so please reinforce me with a yummy treat in your bag!"

So much to see! 

Catty had fun looking through lots of the columns on the wall.  Good work for her core.

Watching the cars travel over the bridge

"What's this thing?!"

I did not know the name of the I-90 bridge... now I do!

Time to motor!

As you can see Catty is a mover. 

Catty may be considered a senior and have short legs but, she can out walk most people!

Stay tuned to see where her little legs take us next!

Baer update!

Sweet Baer is now Chico and he's doing amazing in his new home!  Chico quickly settled in and his dad is just thrilled with his new buddy.   

Here's Chico hanging out on the patio with his dad.  This was Chico's first 24 hours with his dad and as you can see, he's nice a relaxed!

Chico had no problem getting cozy on the couch with one of his many new toys!  Love that pillow too.

 

Chico and his dad have already been out explore the environment - so much fun!

 

 

 

A duck pond and Chico looking for the ducks!

 

 

 

A giant tadpole and Chico is curious as ever

 

 

 

So much to take in and Chico hasn't missed a beat.

 

"Life is good!"

 

 

Chico's dad works from home and as you can see Chico is working hard as his dad's office buddy.

Such an amazing match and happy life for Chico and his dad!