Charlie the Hiking Dog

Anyone reading this chronicle of Charlie's work knows by now that we witness Charlie's influence on Tim just about every day.  Whether it's language development, social skills, empathy or otherwise, there's just no denying that Charlie has proved to be an invaluable tool in helping Tim find his way.

Now I think it's time that I add hiking to Charlie's list of positive influences on Tim.  

While we have always been eager to hike (particularly in CA - the views here really are extraordinary), hiking had become increasingly difficult with Tim as he insisted on being pushed in a converted bike trailer.  Of course, this limited where we could venture and as Tim grew, it became more difficult to push him up anything greater than a slight incline.

Then, along comes Charlie.

I don't know how or why it happened but as soon as Charlie started joining us on our hikes, Tim wanted nothing to do with the bike trailer.   In fact, on our first outing with Charlie, Tim squealed with delight as he watched Charlie scamper up the trail.   Seconds later Tim leapt out of the trailer and took off after him.   Since then we've been able to abandon the trailer and explore areas that were simply not accessible to us before.

These photos were taken on a hike we took a week ago at Del Valle.  It's a mildly steep climb up to an elevation of about 1500 feet.   The views are intoxicating.

 Charlie and Tim both managed the climb like seasoned hikers and seemed to motivate each other both up and down the trail.   Without Charlie I'm certain that these sights would remain unseen for us.   Yet just one more reason to praise the Wonderdog!