April 19th adventure

Aloha, Weather....It changes with each day, and we had a little of everything this week with sunny skies and warm, to rain and snow and cold. It is one of the many cool things about Utah that those of us who have been fortunate enough to live and play here have all experienced. This has been a great spring in my mind with early dry trails yet still plenty of snow in the higher elevations which makes multiple sports possible from snowshoeing and skiing, to biking and hiking in shorts...how cool is that!! The biking by the way has been sweet! Deer Valley has opened to my pack and me and we have been taking full advantage of some really fun spots and the dogs have been totally diggin' it! Aspen & Wriggly,D-bear, Roxy, Zoey, Jasper and Reo were my lucky 7 pack of wild and crazy dogs on this beautiful day. Peace. Schwaby Peac

April 18th Empire Mountain Adventure

Aloha,
It was a wet day in down town PC and a mix of rain and snow in the Empire hills. We started off on the road which is totally clear and looks to stay that way from here on out until next winter season. It was gloppy snow on the way up Empire ridge and was still wet on the top of Empire chair but a great work out. As you can see the visibility was minimal so the photos are not the greatest but it gives the feel of winter again doesn't it? Aspen and Wriggly the two Vizsla's are running with Da pack for a couple of days because their mama just had a brand new baby girl, congratulations to Rachel and Dave!! Great adventure today and amazing dogs!!
Peace. Michael

April 17th White Pine Adventure

Delila Bear (front left) "Dog of The Year"

Aloha,
What a totally opposite scene from Monday! Up to six inches of new snow with more snow falling and overcast sky's, White Pine canyon was a winter play land and all the dogs were excited and exploring away in the white forest. We ventured through some amazing back country and I wished that I had brought my skis because there was some steep and fun looking runs that I had never seen before and were looking so nice to make virgin turns on. Oh well, I know now and may take the boards next time. We all got one hell of a work out which has been the theme so far this week with some long, fun and tough hikes. I have some bad ass dogs and am proud of everyone of them, especially D-Bear "Dog of the year", she is 11 and still going strong.
Live strong. Peace. Schwaby

April 16th Dutch Hollow adventure

Aloha,
Dutch Hollow was looking like early spring with dry trails and grass beginning to grow with the little yellow flowers blooming. We hiked a new trail that was built last year for both biking and hiking. This trail took us up high on the hill and was a windy fun trail with a small stream mid way through it. Running low on time to scout it out any further, we jumped on a foot path and started running. The parking lot looked to be a long ways away but we arrived back to the trail head in just over two hours. These trails were perfect on monday but maybe a little wet after this storm cycle. I'm thinking they might be ready for biking saturday after a warm and sunny Friday!! Awesome pack of happy and lively dogs today making for an awesome start to the week!
Let's hope for an early spring!! Peace. Schwaby

Aloha Friday the 13th

Aloha Friday,
Usually friday the 13th is a normal day for me and the dogs, lucky friday we call it. Today though I seemed to forget all kinds of things including my camera, so I added a photo from the awesome hike on thursday in with our second hike on the Mountain Estates trails ( which are totally sweet), with Miss Molly dog. Our first hike was in the Oaks/Solamere area on the Lost Prospector, Fox tail and Gamble Oaks trails which were half mud and half semi dry dirt, not ready for the bikes dudes. Boston from Pine Brook joined us today on this fun filled adventure and what a good dog and trooper throughout the hike given that he is totally out of shape. I hope he was not too sore this weekend. We made it through this weird forgetful day and no one was harmed or fouled so I guess it wasn't all that unlucky.
Enjoy this cold Indian winter weekend and snuggle up with your family and furry friends.
Peace....Schwaby

April 12th Indian winter adventure

Aloha winter,
It's back!! With up to six inches in Empire pass, our Indian winter is in full force. I made up the Indian winter, but hey, if we have an Indian summer, why not an Indian winter?? Better late than never for our water and trees and such. Not so good for the ski resorts but who cares anymore at this point, we just want spring and summer to get off to a great start this year!! We were robbed of our spring last year and I personally would like to enjoy this one on my bike and paddle board. Of course it is snowing as I write this and in all honestly makes me happy in a goofy weird way. Let's face it my friends, we need the water for such things as hero dirt for biking full lakes and streams for SUPing and beautiful flowers and trees for us all to enjoy. The dogs were out of their minds with excitement to see the return of the white stuff, like a drug babe, getting high on the big fat flakes!! It was breathtakingly beautiful on the mountains and frosty trees once we made it to Bonanza flats where the dogs were even more JACKED UP! I love their energy and it makes me happy to see so much simple joy in these amazing creatures of god. Animals are the answer along with trees.
Peace. Schwaby

April 10th Pinebrook adventure

Josie goin' for the stick!!

Zoey with the pull away fake.

Roxy the otter.


Aloha,
This was a funky day indeed with the warm temperatures, lack of snow at this time of year, and mud, mud and more mud. We all know that this was not the most exciting winter we have had in many years and some of us were disappointed. But I have to say the sunny days were much more abundant than last and quite honestly, the hiking was great! I would have liked to have skied more with my furry friends but what da hay, we get what we get. I would not recommend this hike right now with the way the trails were looking and we did not see anyone else except for a few dogs down by the pond of Gorgoza park. Sasha and Josie (Boxer and Pit bull Terrier) are getting along nicely with the pack and seem to be having a blast. It always takes a few adventures for most dogs to totally settle in with the pack and feel comfortable following a new pack leader. We really like these two and their mom and hope they stick around for the spring session.
Schwaby Tip. Recess- When your dogs are just hanging around you, doing things on their own, wandering off into the neighborhood frequently on their own, lacking direction from their pack leaders. If we are not giving our dogs directions throughout the day and they are making their own decisions most of the time, this can lead them to making poor decisions , aggression and much more. Teaching and working with your dog is on going all the time, not in sessions. If we give them directions and jobs, they are using their brains and working for and with us. This makes them happy and relaxed (calm submissive) making for a better balanced dog. It is important for the pack leader to be calm assertive when giving directions!! Your dogs will learn to love, trust and respect you more and you in turn will do the same with them. Balance.....we are all looking for it.
Namaste' Michael