We're Back!

Hi there! I started this blog in 2015, hoping to provide helpful reports and insights for hikers like me who favor hitting the trails with their dogs.  For me, that was Ty, the outdoor-oriented Carolina Dog mix, and Tango, the oxymoronically chill Aussie-Malamute-GSD-wolfer, who humored our craving for elevation.  Hiking back then meant out of the house in the early light and returning in the evening.  

By 2017, while my posts tapered off sharply, we continued hiking but mostly shorter, lower elevation hikes to accomodate Tango.  On October 19, 2020, Tango's watch ended, thanks to a well-hidden and aggressive cancer along his spine.  Unaware of the heartache that was a short way down the road, we started fostering a feisty young Carolina Dog in September and, surprise surprise, her status has changed to "foster fail." Tango treated her like a little sister, granting her leeway no other foster had been permitted, as if facilitating the transition we had no idea was underway.  Her name is Arya, and yes, she'd rather behave like a beast than a lady! (Game of Thrones anyone??)  

My hope is to restart this blog to track our journey and hopefully provide some entertainment, useful info, and maybe hope along the way to anyone who finds us. See, Arya is special in a lot of ways but some of the sucky ones are leash reactivity and elbow dysplasia.  Suffice to say, these are not conditions that align well with the hiker lifestyle that she/we love so much.  Blog pages and Facebook support groups have been great sources of encouragement for me and I'd love to pay that forward, if I can.

While I'm keeping our name as Paws on Peaks, expect to see more flat ventures and maybe even wheeled ones more so than grand "peakbagging" excursions.  To that end, you can now find us on IG as @heathen_dingos_of_the_north, though activity is admittedly intermittent.  I'm also hoping to post more about adventuring from the medical and behavioral perspectives, especially in the context of living and exploring the Seacoast (NH) and surrounding area.  

Oh, and if you happen to have checked out our page in years past, Ty is still kicking my ass! She has spondylosis & some hearing and vision loss but none of these are too bad for her 12.5 years on this planet and hike days are still the highlight of her existence.  Actually, this weekend marks 12 years since we first met <3  

Drop a note if there's any topics you want to see and let's get started!