Summer Semiwolves - Sunny Skinnydipping

At 30 below or 30 above the wolfdogs enjoy an easy jog as much as I do.   With ease, and unlike the panting of the common dog while running in such heat, they run along without a sound from their throats.   A wolfdog adapts to the extremes of both summer and winter in a much better way than the shepherd or the retriever. Physical fitness will in addition make it possible for the dog to run without overheating.  An anatomy that allows effortless locomotion in a physical fit dog prevent the overproduction of endogenous heat.  Interestingly;  a walk on a leash results in more panting than an easy freerunning trot.  The trot is the natural choice of gait for a longer distance in a canine.

In my experience the trot should be the main gait from the age of 3 months until maturity.  This period of physical development is crucial to the animal for the rest of its life.  Walking, and especially on a road, should be restricted in favor of a trot to enhance the better physical development.  Not only for the muscles and fitness of the animal, but also for its joints and bones.   Maybe more important for a lazy breed like the wolfdog.

Arriving the lake they cool down swimming and playing.  Unlike my skinnydipping they have to wear their coats on in the water, but a much reduced summercoat without wool as  undercover.  This is midsummer celebration 2014. 

Entering his 13th summer with no trace of senescence

Similar to the reindeers;  this animal floats on top of whatever surface his is running on.  The distance doesnt matter - short or long.  He has passed 12 years and is running  his 13th summer without any trace of senescence.

Glacier Graywolf - Graceful Gallop

The Gray Wolf

LUMINOUS LANDSCAPE - LIGHT LUPID LOPE

Springbreak

My snowshoe trails transforme from a solid to a liquid form and runs hurriedly towards the ocean. 

The trails are difficult to walk and impossible to run on right now.  My wolfdogs with their large and weblike paws, still surface the trails, while I am surfacing 3 steps and breaking through on the 4th.  The picture shows the speed of the water and is just 10 meters adjecent to my track.  It roars like thunder and the noise makes the wolfdogs very cautious and reluctant to approach it.  On the third picture one can observe the dog`s anxious expression about crossing a bridge.

The small brook on the fourth picture wasnt there last week and his first response was to return, but very soon the dog seemed to remember the stream from the time before the snow and run over.  Any change in the environment, be it a fallen branch or tree or similar, must be inspected before passing by.

Frustration is released in the end by attacking some bushes before heading home.  My own legs are anticipating the springthaw  to make running possible.  Fortunately I have access to some dirt-roads that I use for running in this time of transition.

Forestal Signatures

New snowfall covers my snowshoe tracks in between every effort to make a trail the last couple of weeks.  It gives a perfect chanse to observe the tracks of wild animals.  Usually the animals dont move much the first days after a heavy snowfall, but it seems like they were in a need for a walk today.

Hares occure most abundantly with no particular direction to its tracks.  The fox has been absent for a while, but is forced on the go - maybe by hunger.  Squirrels have been in a hurry - no doubt about that - running at high speed from one tree to the next.  The most lazy walker is the lynx, barely lifting its legs off the ground and making parallell longitudinal lines in the snow.  Only a short sprint trying to catch a hare will make the lynx put enough energy to suspend its legs above the snowy surface.  The moose has no trouble walking with dignity and in no hurry on its stilt-like legs.  I doubt the snow is a hindrance for the king of the woods. The deer, not as large as the moose, has still no problems walking down to an opening in the river for a sip of water.  The last one to mention, made my wolfdog startle by its sudden appearance from under the snow.  A woodpecker had found an ants nest in a rotten log under the snow and had a january culinary meal while we almost stepped on it.  To get up into the air from under the snow made such noise that my wolfdog run off in fear.