dog walking friends

I have a foxhound named Zelda who is about 50 pounds and 3 years old, so she has stamina. Absolutely perfect hiking buddy. We have an amazing 30-mile trail system close by where people generally let their dogs hike off-leash. I love walking with her like this, I think she gets such better exercise and socialization. She's well trained to "come" and not run away, so I don't have to worry about that.

We get out there in the woods and can easily put 10 miles behind us. I want to do a 20 mile hike sometime this year. I just have to watch her paws. They soften up over the winter (don't we all? ) and last year they got a little ripped up during our first long hike.

Dogs! I love dogs. My dogs always get me off the couch in the evening - there is NO skipping their daily walk!

My goofballs:



The one on the left can walk, run, whatever - for many, many miles. He'd very much like to pull a sled, but he'll happily pull me on my bike in a pinch. (Which results in zero exercise for ME). He may look more German Shepherd, but he's ALL husky!

The one on the right is nothing but love. She's good for about a mile, no more. Any time I take the other one out for a run or a bike ride, she cries like a big wussy baby.

Hello everyone! I love all the wonderful dog photos. Here's my walking companion, Bolt. He's a 14 pound rat terrier/Jack Russell mix with high energy that makes him an excellent walking companion. Olaf is his favorite toy, although he's pretty ratty and needs to be retired now, after quite a few repairs. The only problem with dog walking is that we live in Florida, so Bolt's black coat draws the sun and his poor little paws get hot on the pavement. I'm getting him a sun shirt and some booties to see if that helps this summer. Poor little guy is outnumbered in our household by five old, lazy cats.