Celebrating The Arrival Of Spring With The Dogs - Part 1

This winter has been one of the longest, coldest, snowiest, most memorable of them all. As other parts of the country (even Minnesota!) were having April temperatures in the 60s, we continued to suffer with nighttime lows near 0 and a snow cover which refused to leave. Yes, we had a couple of false starts to spring, cruel jokes of a sort. And then one day, the sun shining, I saw grass appearing in the north field - dead grass, to be sure, but it was still a memorable event. I decided to take the dogs for a walk in the field, but the gate was still frozen in place:

The small dogs and I could slip through the fence wires, but Seamus needed help. Nonetheless, we entered the field with great joy:

I still didn't quite trust Jack, so he was on an expandable leash. The other dogs went running on ahead while Jack smelled every smell he could reach:

I'm not sure if I've ever seen such happy dogs. Just look at Daphne, suspended in the air, as she leaps for joy while running full speed:

We continued on across the field:

I accidentally dropped Jack's leash and he behaved so well, dragging it along, that I decided to let him off leash and see how he behaved:

Seamus and Fergus danced across the still frozen field:

And I turned back toward the barn and house, where I could see the cattle, munching on hay:

We were almost to the fence line and woods when the dogs really got playful. Jack had been very well behaved, and now he began to show me his playful side:

The dogs were running in circles as we walked parallel to the fence. But the fun had just begun, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: