Who's tracks are these?

Two months have gone by without me posting anything about Maya, and in a way there isn't anything new to say from the last post in October. She continues to progress, but basically still favors her damaged leg an awful lot. If I walk her on leash she's pretty good about using it and walking on four legs, but when she's running around the yard or in the woods she's very protective of it. I figure that's good. She knows it's vulnerable and she is taking care of it. I also think it slows her down, so when she's running free she just gets along faster on three legs, though there's also times when she is running and it appears both back legs are in play. I'd probably need to film her a while and analyze her strides, though realistically I'm not going to do that.

If anything Maya has slowed some, which in most dogs would be expected at about two years old, which Maya is as of Dec. 18. Since Maya is an Irish setter, and typically they have a longer adolescence, I suspect her injury and long convalescence are probably more to blame. She tends to stay close to me, though not exclusively, and she's definitely more nervous, both when she's out and when she's surprised at home. She barks a lot more than she did before and is less friendly with people coming into the house, though sometimes it's hard to tell if she's just ecstatic about seeing someone or concerned.

Dog or coyote tracks?

Friday we went to the mountain but got out late for this deep into winter. It was 3:40 pm when we started out on the trail and Maya was none too happy about it. She was OK for the first 15 minutes, but then began to hang back. After taking a side loop we got back to the main trail and she stopped—facing in the direction to go back to the car. I ignored her and headed farther up the trail. She joined me but kept along side me, stopping from time to time. Once she let me get way ahead and around a bend and only came when I finally stopped and called her. This is the same place where Maya has been spooked before, particularly around dusk, which it was. I also came across some tracks that I wasn't sure if they were a dog's or maybe coyote paw prints. They merged with the main trail and all I knew was Maya didn't want to be there. I stopped and tried to listen. I heard lots of sounds off in the wind that I couldn't discern. Maya with her dog senses was surely hearing and smelling more than I. So, only a half hour into the hike, we turned around and headed back. Maya was very happy. She stuck with me but was definitely on a mission: get out of there! Walking back was heading west so the sunset was lovely—and the woods of course were "lovely, dark and deep."

It was a 45 minute walk across a crusty inch of snow and it was enough. Maya sacked out as soon as we got home. She had to be called for dinner. Yesterday we got another two to three inches of snow and we'll try another jaunt in a little while. The sun is out, though it's still slightly below freezing. The cold's gotta be tough on that leg, so I'll watch her carefully. Maybe the other day it was just too damn cold and windy for a smart dog.