It was one of those glorious fall days that linger in your memory as a perfect example of autumn. Gorgeous scenery that exploded with the warmth of the yellow, orange and red foliage, along with the good company of Airedales and their humans which made for an exceptional day. Above, Sue Grant with Brady (I think that is his name), Julie and Lou Zanine and Cooper.
The Airedale Terrier Club of Greater Philadelphia held its annual fall hike on Saturday, November 13th @ the Valley Forge National Park. Mako and Punch were in attendance along with their buddy Violet. Violet is a pretty Airedale girl with the sweetest personality. She was in her element on this Saturday, as the only girl amongst a sea of handsome boy dales. Violet brought her people, Matt and Julie Eastburn with her, too. It is always a pleasure to be in their company - they are really nice people. Julie and V can be seen above and V is with her Matt by the log cabin below.
Julie tried to take a group picture by this log cabin and it was like "herding cats." Mako looked at the camera but Punch kept turning toward a mighty powerful smell at the foundation line of the log cabin. Julie took some pics that probably have Airedales going every which way. The dales were busy taking in the sights and smells. Punch was just interested - like a good little scent hound - in the smell at that cabin. Julie made the joke that she was probably smelling a ghost. I had lost me sense of humor at that point - with two dogs going in two directions - so I was voting for animal pee. LOL! I'm a lot of fun! Mako took that spot seriously, too, hence my suspicion that it was animal pee. Maybe we're both right and it was ghost pee! Or a ghost dropped some crumbs?
When we ventured on, a pair of Coton de Tulears greeted us. Their owners were delighted that their dogs chose to bypass several Airedales in order to greet Punch. "She looks like them!" their lady proclaimed. Above, Punch says hello to a Coton as Mako looks on. Below, Julie pets a Coton.
I remarked that Punch was drawn to them for the same reason - they were small, white and have large eyes. Punch is attracted to Malteses, Bichons, Cockapoos, etc. because they look like little versions of herself!
We were joined on the hike by Mako's breeder Caroline Beard and Mako's nephew Tommy. You can see that Tommy was on a mission to check out that tree and there wasn't much that Caroline could do about it!
ATCGP President Bill Kochler strolls along the Valley Forge trail with Foster as two tourists try to pass them.
As we stopped for a water break, Sue gives Brady some water as Julie checks out the view. Julie knows some great trails at the park and was planning our route. Matt and Julie take Violet on lengthy hikes every weekend at state and national parks. Julie will be starting a new blog for the ATCGP where she and others will be planning additional hikes. She'll be a great activity organizer for our club and be a great tour guide as she (along with Matt & V) shows us the best dog walking trails in the region. I'll be posting new info as it's available.
Lou and Cooper are in the center of that photo, too. Cooper and Lou attended our ATCGP Specialty in May and I included a picture of him my post about the Specialty but I had misidentified him as Winslow. Lou wrote to me to inform me of the error and in return, I invited them to our hike. We're glad that they were able to attend. Cooper is a teen-age Airedale so the hike was good socialization for him - he saw lots of dogs, people, cars, bikes, strollers and was quite shocked when a horse galloped by! Mako assumed his "been there, done that" mode. Besides, he was more interested in catching up with Violet!
Violet, Brady and Cooper were at the vanguard of the hike at this point. It was fun to hear the people count the Airedales as they passed by. Some looked shocked as their eyes fell on Punch. "She's not an Airedale." I would then go into the routine of all PBGV owners, "She's a P B G V! A Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen - the smallest of the basset breeds. A rabbit dog!" Then I'd hear, "Well, I knew she wasn't an Airedale!" What they don't know, is that in her heart, Punch thinks that she's an Airedale, too! An honorary Airedale on short legs!