Swordwhale Walking: illustration, webcomic, stories, photojourneys, videos
  • launch here
  • art & stories
    • black horses
    • Sea Ponies of Chincoteague
    • Just Animals
    • playing with water
    • Tradigital illustration
    • environmental education >
      • Christmas Magic Mural 2020
      • animal alphabet and counting murals
      • Assateague ponies
      • the salamander room
      • more touch room ocean
      • more: touch room forest
      • wetland
      • wetland art
      • greenleaf
      • reptile week murals: Nixon Park
    • just animals: photography
    • Tales of the E.L.F. >
      • That Darn Elf, a musing or two
      • cast and crew
      • I dreamed of black horses
      • fanfiction: If Wishes Were Elves...
      • Skyfire
      • Leyover and Bardic Circle
      • Following Raven
      • The Merrow's Cap >
        • Merrows Cap credits
      • Manannan's Horses
      • Fins
      • fandom >
        • Radagast's Rabbit Ride
        • the Lone Ranger >
          • LOLs and Trolls
          • but wait, there's Moore, and Silverheels
          • Hi Yo Silver
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        • tales of Middle Earth >
          • Mirthwood
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            • Im-LOL-dris
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            • well, that coulda' been worse
        • Sherlocked
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    • murals
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  • mermaid tales
    • Gramma Swordwhale's Mermaid Blog >
      • how to mermaid
      • merfolk on the Chesapeake
      • my life as a mermaid
    • privateers and pumpkins and ponies oh my!
    • stupid gravity (the adventures of a mermaid on Eastern Neck Is.) >
      • stupid gravity credits
    • stupid gravity: the search for sea glass >
      • stupid gravity: the search for sea glass: credits
    • Stupid Gravity: Misty Cloudy Windy Stormy Augh! >
      • Misty Stormy credits
    • Stupid Gravity: the search for mermaids
    • mermaids, Moana and Maui, beached on Christmas Eve
    • horseshoe crabs forever
    • stupid gravity: hot hot hot >
      • hot hot hot credits
  • Chincoteague
    • back to the islands 2021 >
      • Ponies 2021
    • identify that pony
    • chincoteague pony art
    • Fall Roundup Oct 2019
    • Chincoteague 2019
    • pookas pumpkins and swamp ponies
    • Chincoteague Carousel
    • Chincoteague November 2018
    • the 3rd Sea Voyage of Makenuk's Fin
    • wild horses and kayaks 2017
    • wild ponies in camp
    • North Beach
    • on island time
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    • Chincoteague
    • Christmas by the Sea
    • island ponies
    • Ace and Unci revolt
    • beached
    • running water in between
    • Assateague Light
    • the Haunted Lagoon
  • crafty stuff
    • photo your toys >
      • how to photograph Breyers in the wild
      • Lokigator and Throg's Epic Adventure
      • Sam and Bucky's Excellent Adventure
      • Mando and Grogu
      • paint and wet snow pants
      • Legolas and Hwin, snow
      • derps (or how not to photograph Breyers and others)
      • Wonder Horse repaint
      • wild Breyers >
        • printable prints and downloads
        • water horses
        • beach Breyers
        • Lotus Legolas and Arod
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        • Black Horses
      • educational display
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      • advenatureData
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      • Otterlock and Hedgejawn >
        • Hounded in Baskerville
      • how to photograph your dragon
    • Rich Toy hobby horse rehab
    • ModPodge rules
    • paint pours
    • flour salt clay
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    • faerie gardens >
      • more faerie gardens
      • faerie festival at Spoutwood Farm
    • sea this tutu (and make)
    • I found Dory
    • knit me a mermaid, or chicken, or Hei Hei
    • sea treasures
    • sea glass
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    • rehabbing horse epic fail >
      • do you wanna build a snow pony?
      • do you wanna build a sand pony?
      • Barbie horse gets a makeover
    • mermaid saddles
    • Yule Laugh, Yule Cry... >
      • a Brandywine Christmas
    • Uncle Bob's Toys >
      • Uncle Bob's Toys 2016
      • more: Uncle Bob's Crafts
      • the Adventures of Mortimer
  • adventures
    • Go Play Outside
    • Nature Deficit Disorder
    • I heart Nature
    • autumn light
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    • mushing 101 >
      • dogs on wheels >
        • Autumn Run on Wheels
      • dogsled
      • dogsledding: running on snow! >
        • Groundhog Day
      • kids and dawgs: first sled run
      • Klondike Derby
      • Sled Dogs and Pirate Ships
      • Christmas Day Run: Rail Trail
      • Horses and Huskies: when predator and prey share the trail
      • Schipperke doo dah >
        • Runnin' with the Big Dogs
        • Hobbit Husky
      • women who run with the wolves
      • Play Time
      • wubba wubba
      • New Year's Dog Day
      • Team Swordwhale
    • trains, sleddogs, and horses oh my!
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    • horses >
      • horse reference for art
      • ponies small but mighty
      • First Horse: Saraf
      • the Wild Black Mare
      • between thunder and lightning
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      • Yataalii
    • Planet Water >
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        • Planet Water Bird: gulls
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    • kayak! >
      • blue boat home
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      • how to train your dragonfly
      • Chasing Raven
      • the Susquehanna River >
        • the Rock Garden >
          • return to the Rock Garden
        • Conewago Dreamin'
        • the Conejehola Flats
        • Thunderbird Island (petroglyphs on the Susquehanna)
        • to the White Lady and Beyond
      • Calvert Cliffs fossils
      • Sassafras River Lotus Paddle >
        • Return to the Sassafras
        • sassafras river 2015
        • sassafras paddle 20160814
        • Sassafras River 2017
        • Sassafras river 2018
      • Eastern Neck Island >
        • winter marsh, winter beach
        • Eastern Neck Island: under the supermoon
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      • Pinchot Park
      • Lake Marburg >
        • where are the manatees?
        • ...and the dolphins???
        • macros and SAVs
        • Lake Marburg 2018
        • how to be a kayaking Gramma
    • beached
    • dive in! (SCUBA) >
      • Gourd of the Rings
    • mid Atlantic seashells
    • longship company >
      • December sail
      • Sae Hrafn at Oakley
    • pirates and privateers >
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      • downrigging 2010 >
        • Chestertown autumn
        • Downrigging Weekend 2014
        • Downrigging 2015
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        • downrigging 2018: pink tardis
        • Downrigging 2019
      • privateer weekend
    • horseshoe crabs and red knots >
      • horseshoe crab spawn 2021
      • slaughter beach
      • horseshoe crabs and semipalmated sandpipers 2019
    • surfboards and watchtowers: Cape Henlopen >
      • beached
      • Watching Whales >
        • Watching Whales...again
    • Seadogs: Newfoundland water trials
    • wind hounds
    • wild things! >
      • baltimore aquarium
      • there's a hummer in the garage...ceiling ...
      • critter cam
      • sky walking
      • leaf-fall
    • The Adventures of the Good Ship Fearaf
    • the incredibly dead blog page
  • art class
    • framing 101
    • watercolor: how to
    • sip n paints
    • acrylic painting 101
    • wildlife art class
    • Santa, You're Doomed
    • (drawing) horses 101 >
      • horse color 101
      • gaits
      • ponies in motion
      • tack
      • Draw: a horse
    • dogs and wolves
    • go ahead, draw a pirate ship
    • anthropomorphism (cartoon animals and stuff)
    • the Little Kids Page of Big Ideas
    • mural: how to >
      • Gabriel's Whale
      • stuff you need
      • drawing (mural)
      • drawing mural 2
      • painting
      • mural jungle
      • mural bat cave
      • mural cats
      • mural ocean
      • mural arctic
      • mural leaf smacking
      • watershed mural
    • crayons and colored pencils
    • palettes
  • wait wait! let me get the camera!
  • who perpetrated all this???
    • swordbroad
Picture
click on the pic for Max's Adventure Runnin' with the Big Dogs

Schipperke doo dah

    I'd encountered these sturdy, energetic little dogs before. A friend called them "busy little people". They are independant minded, mischevious, smart. Think; a raven in canine form. They were bred from a medieval black herding dog (which also gave rise to Belgian Malinois, Groenendael, Laekenois and Tervuren ), in a time when only the aristocracy could have large dogs. Schipperkes guarded homes, small businesses and boats, giving the alarm when someone new (or potentially troublesome) was about. They became famous as "barge dogs" where part of their job was to kill rodents and to nip at the heels of the horses pulling the barges. They are often found cruising the world on sailing yachts today. One of their finer moments was in WWII, when the Belgian resistance used them to run messages... the Nazis never caught on. 

    You should know by now that I am a big dog person. I inherited Max from a friend; here he is, showing off his busy trot, and being held still so we can actually get a portrait of him.Thanks to Dave and Terry for helping get some good moving shots of Max as well as holding him still long enough for a portrait or two. The cat in the window is theirs: mew (or is that Squeak?) giving his opinion of the doggy outside the window. My cats just spat and swatted. Max didn't mind, too much. Some Schipps, though, have a strong prey drive and are not good with cats. In one of the lower pics, you see Max in a 'yak. I found a PFD that fits, so he can ride in the kayak (an earlier PFD made from bits of a wetsuit worked fairly well, but we needed more flotage). He's about 11, and yes, he's developing cataracts (hence the blue eyes), but these are very long-lived dogs: 17 years is not uncommon. 

    Darn. Now I'm always going to have to have one of these...

Runnin' with the Big Dogs: 
    Max trotted out so nicely with Legolas (75 pound Shepard/Siberian cross) on walks, that I hooked him up on the team one day. I only had a walking harness for Max, but the big dogs (Leggy, and Chasseur and Denali at about 45 pounds) would do most of the work. First, Denali and Max pulled a friend on a skateboard. Going down a slight incline, I picked up the gangline to help my friend control the speed (and not run into the dogs); this choked up Denali's leash a bit. I looked down to see Max pulling my 180ish pound friend on a skateboard, by himself. 
    A short run at Pinchot Park, with Max in the gangline (opposite Leggy, in wheel position) proved that Max liked running... and that Yoda's comment of "judge me by my size, would you?" sums up the qualities of many small dogs. If you are running a mismatched team like this, you must pay attention to your slowest or smallest or newest dog. I kept the speed to a comfortable level for Max (rigs have brakes). The idea is for the dogs to have fun! Max has a tendency to spin in circles when the team is stopped (waiting at startup, or stopping on the trail), so I have to unspin and untangle a few times. Training by having him pull a snow saucer with a light weight on it by himself helps. I use string cheese (high value treat!), and tell him to "line out", get ahead of me and stretch out the line, and stay straight (reward!) then go forward (reward!). With some practice he may get over the need to do Maxrame. 
    On a later, longer run, on the Rail Trail, Max rode in the sledbag (a backpack slung  on the rig) till the big dogs slowed from a gallop to a trot (about five minutes), then he went in the gangline, and trotted happily. A rest later for a few minutes in the bag, then back on the line. He seems like he really loves it. A fun sport for any dog!
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