North Country Animal Shelter - Part 1

I'd intended to pay a visit to the North Country Animal Shelter in the town of Malone, New York for a long time and it finally happened one beautiful Saturday:

There was only enough parking for a few cars and I had to enter through a chain link fence gate with side by side signs which proclaimed both "Open" and "No Admittance." I was a bit intimidated, but gave it a try:

The scenery was lovely, set in a snowy pine forest:

I walked past some outdoor pens with dogs in them and entered the dog building, where the small dogs, short haired dogs and puppies were kept:

Unlike most shelters, this one had lots of puppies:

And lots of small dogs:

This Poodle mix look frightened, so I spoke softly, hoping to calm it:

While other dogs, of course, were barking for attention:

I was told that this older dog, with the sad face and the short legs, already had a family who would pick him up soon:

I left the building and checked out the outdoor pens. In this northern climate, the idea of dogs being left outdoors was troubling, but I had to admit they all looked comfortable and happy. Each pen was wrapped in tarps to keep out the wind and each dog seemed to have a dog house and soft bed:

There was a row of smaller kennels, filled with dogs. Even though this was a Saturday, I was the only person looking at the dogs and I could only hope that they got more adoptions than what I was seeing:

This dog, near the entrance, looked all alone and I wondered if he might be antagonistic to other dogs. I decided to check out the cat building next, but I'll post about that tomorrow:

Winter Cathedral Of Pines - Part 3

The dogs and I were hiking on the Red Dot Trail (see previous two posts) and on our way back through the wintry beauty to the trail head:

I've never hiked this trail in the summer, but I can tell you that it's absolutely spectacular in the winter:

Clover ran on ahead and waited for us to catch up, but Daphne kept running back to check with me:

Seamus is given to gazing off into the trees and thinking deep, doggy thoughts - whatever those may be:

I didn't cross this bridge when we came to it, but the dogs sure did, running back and forth across the water just for the fun of it:

I heard no bird songs or calls, saw no animal tracks. It was quiet and mysterious:

The two Papillons continued to bounce and play:

Almost there:

We made it back to Osgood Pond, where Clover once again went to the shore to contemplate its mysteries:

Daphne joined her, appearing as if some force of nature was beckoning them:

But we continued on:

When we arrived at the trail head, the two Papillons finally ran out onto the ice of Osgood Pond. They ran full speed, headed for that peninsula, and then full speed back to join the rest of us as we plodded up the road to our parked car: