Oh Maya, we love her!!

When we got to Vega Lake Maya immediately jumped out and began to explore her new surroundings. She was quickly acquainted to the 3 feet of snow by diving right into it. She is such a funny dog. She couldn’t understand why her little brother Toby could walk on the top of all the snow while she would just sink right to the bottom. It was a funny sight.

We found out a couple things about Maya while we were there:

1. Maya is not a fan of snowmobiles. She was always trying to bite the skis every time she could get close to them.

2. Poor Maya has very sensitive feet. The hard snow gave Maya little cuts all over her paw pads and I’m sure that wasn’t very comfortable.

And 3. Maya will chew the top off of an oil bottle if you leave her to her own devices. What a freak. We came back from skiing one day and Maya had made her way onto the couch and grabbed a semi empty bottle of oil we used for the snowmobile and chewed the top right off. Oil everywhere.

Yeah Maya and Toby had a blast at the cabin. We have a dog parade coming up in about two weeks that Maya is going to love. Can’t wait.

We finally got there and were very happy to be out of the cramped car. Maya was so excited to meet everyone and “help” set up the tent. Once we got settled, Maya got her life vest on and we headed down to the lake. She chased sticks and met cousins and wore her self out. We brought her collapsible kennel with us just in case we needed to lock her up for a bit. We kept it in the tent with Maya’s blanket in it. She was so exhausted every night we were there that instead of trying to take up the whole bed, she slept in her kennel. It was very nice for Kati and I.

The next morning, we woke up early to someone’s dog barking. We decided to get up and go for a walk. An entire section of the camp ground we were staying at was closed due to flooding so we walked over there. We were able to let the dogs off the leash since no one else was around. The flooding was pretty extensive, but it was shallow enough that we could wade through to all parts of the camp sites. Maya had a ton of fun bouncing through the water, chasing birds and sticks. Her brother Toby doesn’t like water, but when he saw how much fun Maya was having he decided to do a little wading himself.

Later that day, we went out on the lake in a boat so I could go skiing. Maya got her first boat ride. She had her life jacket on so she felt safe. She got very worried when I started skiing. She was very confused by what I was doing. She watched me very intently the whole time and was very relieved when I got back in the boat. We rode around the lake for a bit and Maya enjoyed the wind in her face. She also got a ride on a wave runner. She was NOT a fan of that.

She was such a good dog the whole trip. She slept all the way home and most of the next two days. We will definitely have to take her camping again.

Horseshoe Lake is not far from our house so we loaded up some drinking water, towels, toys, the life vest and the dogs and headed out. There is an island at Horseshoe Lake that you can walk across a dam to. It turns out that there was no one out on the island (which was surprising since it was such a nice day). We were able to let the dogs off their leashes and take a nice hike around the island. Along the way, Maya decided to rub her face on a snake. Let me explain something about Maya (I think this is true for most dogs). Any time she finds anything disgusting or smelly, she will immediately lay down and rub her face and neck in it and then roll on it. So on this occasion, she found a snake. I am assuming it smelled bad, or maybe just different, and she decided she HAD to have that smell on her face. So she proceeded to rub her face and neck on the snake. We were right there when she decided to do this so we yanked her away immediately. Turns out, the snake was not dead. It was just sunning itself. We are very lucky we were there and the snake was too dazed to attack.

After that little adventure, we found a nice secluded area to let the dogs swim. We put Maya’s life vest on her and threw a stick in the water and she was off. She didn’t even seem to notice the vest on. We could tell that it was much easier for her to swim and keep her head above water though. When she chases sticks in the water, she sometimes has trouble keeping her head above water enough to keep water out of her mouth. With the life vest on, she had no problems. Her and Toby played for a long time, chasing sticks, tug o war, chasing me. It was a great time. Maya was so tired by the time we left, she curled up in my lap and slept all the way home. Not the most comfortable for me while I am driving, but what can I say? She is spoiled.

Kati got too close!

“I’m just a little Pit Bull riding on the dashboard….what’s weird about that?”

Look at that fat little belly! She’s our little piggy!

Here is Maya and Toby walking along the river. Look at Maya and Toby side by side. I can’t get over how small she used to be.