The Riley Factor #16

The Riley Factor

Fort Plain, NY, December 28 -- Sunday was a perfect afternoon at the compound in beautiful downtown Fort Plain - sunny, 50 degrees, snow melting.  Riley took an hour-long walk around the orchard and pasture fencing, sparring with the Herd of Four, going nose-to-nose with Michael, Raphael and Gabriel on several occasions, offering each his lick-the-face 'kiss' and even receiving one back from Michael, among the many head butts offered by the black bovine in an effort to drive the puppy back to his proper side of the fence.  Eli remained in the second row, soaking in the behavior and following the big boys around, but declining to participate.  After the walk-a-thon, Riley went on a long slow ride in the Ute on the trails and fields, including many of the secondary trails that had not seen traffic since the fall, sitting (wedged) in the front seat between Susan and Chris.  Riley fell into deep nap-land in late afternoon, which lasted through his second cage-less night's sleep.  House training continued to improve, with perfection being the ultimate end game.  Monday morning awoke to snow falling and more warm temperatures, and Riley and Gabby went on a long walk/ride with Susan and Nancy on the trails and field roads, traversing among the snow flakes and wildlife.

In related stories, high-speed DSL internet access is scheduled to arrive at the compound today, and the Green Bay Packers have added the NFL Playoffs to their holiday season scheduled activities.