A dog's life.

There's one important necessity to owning a dog in Alberta.  They have to like snow.

Luckily, both my mutts do - Honey especially.  She has a better tolerance for the very cold days and a little more, er, insulation.  Smudge and his dainty paws have their limits.

So basically, the more snow, the better.  

Did you know you can jump, play, dive, leap and bounce in it? 

You can sink right up to your doggie shoulders and you can stuff your nose in and push yourself along 

like a little snuffling dogplough.

Ahhh, that's better.  Just gotta scratch that itch - you can roll around in it - for minutes at a time.  Bliss.

 And just a little bit more - side to side, back and front, up and down.  It is just such seriously good fun.

But hold on, what is that delightful smell?  

Has someone prepared a gourmet meal?

Nope - looks like someone already ate their gourmet meal.

Scraps and leftovers.  Hoof anyone?

A coyote has got the better of a deer.

But wait, there is more - another leftover chunk of fur.

Honey grabs it and makes a run for it.

And I'm sure I can hear a little voice fading on the breeze.  "You can't catch me"

And I can't.

And the cheeky wee bugger runs all the way home, with your intrepid photo journalist puffing up the hill in hot pursuit, swearing not so quietly under her breath.

Smudge knows he's in trouble and stops half way, lies down submissively so I can put him back on his lead.

Honey is waiting for us on the front doorstep.  

"What took you so long?", she mumbles, 

through a mouth full of fur.