This past weekend I spent many hours taking my gun for a walk. I know to some it may seem like a waste of time, but he had been a really good boy and was just begging me to take him for a walk in the woods.

He was a pretty good boy for most of the walk. He was light and airy and fit so nicely in my arms. However, five hours later he was starting to get heavy, and quite frankly I was getting tired of hauling his sorry butt up and down every hill I could see. He needed to start pulling his own weight.

He had spent the past few hours barking at squirrels and chasing deer. He was supposed to be sniffing out a big fat juicy elk for me, but he seemed to be off his game. It didn’t seem to matter where we looked, or how hard or long he sniffed, he couldn’t seem to catch the trail of an elk.

Eventually the sun began to go down and we made our way back home. It’s safe to say that we were both pretty worn out from the day. We went home, ate some dinner and he curled up in front of the fireplace.

All in all the day was pretty good. Of course, I will take my old gun out for a walk again. I’m sure we will go on quite a few more walks. After all, this is his favorite time of year, and I wouldn’t want him to get lazy and out of shape.

Joy Larson is a mother of four boys, graduate of the University of Montana, animal lover and writer.

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