The sun is shining! This morning we took a nice long family walk around the neighborhood. As always, Maggie was great on the leash (which makes it easy to take a mug of java along on our walks).

The hardest part of walking with Maggie is the ice. The sound of ice crushing under our feet or us slipping on ice sends her into a frozen state. Most people are afraid of falling on the ice, but we're afraid of startling Maggie. As you can see from the photos, the walk really tired Maggie out. Steve is also "resting his eyes" on the couch ;-).

Yesterday's walk included a very embarrassing moment for me (Kat). As we were stopped at a busy intersection waiting for the light to change I reached down to pet Maggie and she cowered in fear. I had images of everyone in their cars grabbing their cell phones to call Animal Control to report an abused dog. Maggie doesn't mind being petted, but she doesn't like any sudden moves.


On our walks we've been on the look-out for a friendly looking dog (and owner) to introduce to Maggie to see how she reacts. We start scouting dogs as soon as we spot them blocks away, but rule most out for being too big, too small, too hyper, etc., and then we alter our course to avoid the faulted pet and owner. Well, today we came upon a three year old male Wheaten Terrier with a very attentive owner. Right there on the corner Maggie had her first play-date! "Uneventful" is the word that best describes this momentous occasion. The Wheaten Terrier sniffed Maggie, and she stood frozen in her tracks. We'll keep trying.

We did learn from the other owner that when the weather warms up dogs often play together on weekends at the local middle school. We've logged that info in our "Maggie" file for future reference.