Funemployment

I've been back just over a week and the dogs have gone hiking or on some kind of big outing every day. They are definitely getting the good end of this unemployment business. They haven't had every day hikes since I was in school almost 5 years ago. 

Today I took them biking. Unfortunately I don't have a mountain bike (or the skills and coordination to use one) so I had to stick to a flatter gravel trail. What I didn't realize is that Ryan has never been biking with me...and that his somewhat robotic brain has trouble processing new things. Ryan is a very.good.dog. I don't think the thought of doing anything bad even occurs to him. Part of this is that he learns patterns and he sticks to them...when we go to the dog beach he follows the exact same path every time we go there and lays down in the same spots waiting to see if we will play ball. He never jumps out of the car before being released - again, I don't think the thought enters his mind. 

Today as I started biking, Abby and Ryan ran ahead and Abby started to race down the grass embankment towards the road. I called both dogs and continued to bike. Abby came back up and kept running along the path...and I suddenly noticed that Ryan was gone. I looked behind me and he was wayyyy back (almost at the car 100 m away) and running full speed. Ryan never lets me out of his sight for more than a few seconds....but apparently the person he doesn't let out of his sight walks on two legs and is never on a bike. He must have heard me calling, saw some 'stranger' next to him on a bike, thought he lost me, and took off back to the car. When I called him again (loudly and frantically since he was just about to cross the road) he came racing back towards me and passed me *again* without even looking at me. It took 3 times and me getting off the bike for him to realize that the land version and bike version were in fact one and the same.

The rest of the ride was fun and uneventful...oh Ryan.