out with the dog on sunday

out with the dog on sunday...

on sunday afternoon I was torn between riding the bike and walking the dog
after some thought I realized that brutus has not had an epic walk in some time
as much as I need to ride the bike
brutus needs to get some serious exercise
brutus just like me is more stable after he has had some serious exercise
so I left the bike in the basement and leashed up the dog

just as we headed out the door snow started to fall
this caused me to turn around and head back into the house
then I directed the boy's attention to the window

at the sight of snow we were all on the back deck playing in the first sign of winter

after some time in the backyard with the family I ducked away with the dog
took a hike onto the Roosevelt trail in Rock Creek Park
brutus was in his glory
but... honestly
as much fun as he was having
he was having far less fun as he had had on each snow filled hike in the years prior
as this hike was without his brother roscoe

the absence of roscoe changes the dynamics across the board
the mischief decreases
the energy level decreases
the number of miles decrease
the amount of fun decreases

previously when I hike the dogs covered several miles for each mile of mine
now that brutus no longer has roscoe
brutus hikes with me
bringing his mileage significantly down

it was a great hike
good to get out into the woods
no cell phone
no ipod
no blackberry
just the sound of city off in the distance
we did a loop that had us out for roughly two hours
covered some miles
we each got to clear our heads

I think it is about time to get another dog...