Our Australian Shepherd, Reina, recently marked her fifth birthday by leaving her mark about 30 times on unsuspecting plants at our regular haunt, the Redgate trails at Lake Pueblo State Park. We’ve been going there over four years now; I’ll let her off leash and she can be a dog, chasing rabbit and deer, jumping in the lake or eating snow (depending on the season) and investigating whatever her nose happens to find.

A few highlights from the past five years: her pulling up the pipes and drip lines as we were installing irrigation in the backyard; chewing down a newly planted grape vine to three five-inch sticks; finding a hot dog along the river trail and ending up with a fish-hook tongue piercing; having a coyote join us for a walk along the river trail; not knowing quite how to react to the llamas at my boss’s Chris’ place in Wetmore; and few close encounters with rattlesnakes at the State Park. Lately, she’s taken to patrolling the river banks in search of lazy frogs.

Reina’s a good dog most days and the indiscretions on her bad days aren’t that severe.

She’s has me pretty well trained.