How to Tire a Dog

Vail mountain in the summer -- the view from the road to Piney Lake

 Chris has been up in Vail all week... and Lloyd and I just couldn't live without him, so we went to see him Tuesday and Wednesday night. :-D

In fairness to me, I'm not a pathetic can't-live-a-week-alone, but Chris invited me up those nights.  This is the week leading up to our anniversary, and I'm friends with a lot of his colleagues who were going to be there, so I was happy to accept the invitation to go to Vail with Lloyd.  I left Lexie at home because she can survive 36 hours on her own.  I wouldn't want to leave her much longer by herself, but she was fine for 1.5 days.

Knowing that Lloyd wasn't allowed in the house where Chris (and I) were staying, my focus for the 36 hours we were in Vail was TIRE OUT LLOYD!  I knew the more energy he could burn away from the house, the more quiet and still he would be in the yard and at night when he was sleeping in the van.

Just a girl and her dog!

Our activities on Wednesday included:

• Two hour morning walk
• Swimming in a pond
• Playing ball in a friends' yard (while I visited with the friend)
• Lunch with Chris at an outdoor restaurant in Lion's Head -- thankfully Lloyd was nice and tired by lunch time so he spent all of our lunch laying quietly under our table.  He looked like the perfectly trained dog -- really, he was just tired
• Running and swimming at Piney Lake
• Playing at the dog park

Swimming at Piney Lake

Lots of energy -- even at an elevation of 9000 feet

Almost one-year-old

I can't believe I get to live in a place so breath-takingly beautiful!

Despite all of the above activities on Wednesday, Lloyd never really conked out... until Thursday.  He was EXHAUSTED yesterday.  I have never seen him move so little and have so little energy.  I started to feel like I have a dog turning 10 years old instead of turning 1 year old.  He seriously hardly moved all day.

It was such a blessing that he was so tired Thursday because now that I'm back from my trip to Vail, I have a one-track-mind:  Pack the car and organize our house for our 5 week trip!  It was such a blessing to me that as I was packing our belongings, doing laundry, organizing food, vacuuming the car, mowing the lawn, and packing the van Lloyd was laying in the house or in the shade just watching me.  Usually follows my every step as I walk around the house, and jumps in the van any time a door opens.

He had two spots on Thursday -- laying in front of the door or on the bed.

Meanwhile, Lexie made it clear that she doesn't want to be left behind again!

 
What do you do to tire your animals or children out?

For your enjoyment, here are a number of blooper shots when I was trying to get a pictures at Piney Lake of Lloyd, the view and me.  :-D

Brooke + Lloyd + View = a tough picture