Merry Christmas & Saying Goodbye to 2020

Markus resting underneath the stockings and by the Christmas tree

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you!

At this time last year, we were doing this exact exercise of looking ahead to 2020 and making plans and goals for the new year. Needless to say, the year didn't turn out like many of us expected when things were abruptly halted due to the pandemic. The year in reviews for 2020 are going to be ones to remember and as we look back on ours, there are both fun memories and even more memories of finding ways to stay busy while staying indoors.

Before we turn the page to 2021 with the hope that things will be different and start returning back to what we knew as normal, we take a moment this week to reflect on the year that was 2020. Then in next week's update, we're going to share with you about the things that we're looking ahead to in 2021.

We took a road trip

Eating in the car became a staple and Markus is caught here trying to get a bite of our In-N-Out Burger

Can you believe it? In the year 2020 with a pandemic, we managed to take a two week long road trip through US states before the borders closed. Since it was right in the beginning of the year, the coronavirus was still a distant threat and we also travelled by car, which allowed us to keep to ourselves for most of the trip. Looking back, we were pretty fortunate with the timing since things took a turn for the worst not long after we returned to Canada.

This road trip was the first time that we were travelling away from home for more than a few days with our dog Markus. We were incredibly ambitious with our stops and making sure that we were able to see as much as we could squeeze in. The days and the time spent behind the wheel were long, but they were absolutely fulfilling and the excitement of each new day's itinerary kept us going. Let's just say that by the end of the trip, having to suddenly stay indoors wasn't so bad for us (well, for the first couple weeks anyways).

Our road trip started in Vancouver and we made our way down to Los Angeles. That drive took three days with stops in Eugene, Oregon and Sacramento, California. This ended up being a good way to split up the trip since we were traveling with a dog and we made sure to stop every two hours or so for meal breaks and to stretch our legs out. We spent a few days in Los Angeles where Markus got his tan on and fully embraced being a beach dog.

Markus posing under a Joshua Tree at the Joshua Tree National Park

From Los Angeles, we made our way to Las Vegas stopping at iconic landmarks and National Parks along the way. It was such an incredible opportunity to not only visit these landmarks in person, but to be able to do it with our dog (even though there were major limitations to what we were able to do at these parks or landmarks with a dog). Around the time that we were in Las Vegas, we ended visiting the Joshua Tree National Park, the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park and so much more!

From Las Vegas, we made our way east and spent a few days in Arizona and Utah before turning around and making our way back home. Coming from Canada, the red towering rock formations were something that we've never seen before and they were absolutely breathtaking. We managed to see meanders at Goosenecks State Park and completed some hikes to see other impressive rock formations such as the Corona Arch. Doing a road trip allowed us to stop and pull over to admire these things along the way and being able to take Markus on the trip was such a bonus.

Markus at the end of a hike to the Corona Arch in Utah

On the way home, we also made stops cutting through Yosemite National Park, Lake Tahoe and other ones in Oregon. For all the times we've visited Oregon with Markus, we've generally stayed around the Portland area, but we made it a point to avoid the I-5 and take a quieter route this time around. While we didn't have the time to do all the stops that we wanted to do (and we will return to do these in the future), we did get to stop at Crater Lake National Park, which was still covered in snow at the time.

From Oregon, we made our way back home just in time before the borders closed and have remained closed for recreational trips such as this. You can find a full breakdown on all of the stops that we made and what you're able to do with a dog here!

Going loco for local

Whether it’s going on the road or something more local like Lindeman Lake, there’s so much to discover!

If you've been following us for a while, you'll know that we have a tendency to make our way down to the US when we travel or make our explorations, even if it's just for the weekend. With COVID-19 restrictions at the border, we haven't crossed the border since we returned from our road trip which was nearly 10 months ago at this point. Instead, we've taken more vacations in the surrounding cities and towns to the Vancouver area and we've focused our time on visiting trails and parks locally that we haven't been to before.

The goal at The Markus Project is to explore the Pacific Northwest which encompasses British Columbia, Washington and Oregon (depending on who you ask). You'll notice that for the second half of 2020, we've been writing a lot more about travelling within British Columbia. We've had our eyes opened to all the amazing and some unknown parts of BC that we had yet to discover even though it's in our very own backyard.

Until the borders open up again, we look forward to discovering newer parts of BC (or wherever we're allowed by provincial rules) with Markus. Admittedly, since the protocol in BC has become a lot stricter in the past couple of months, we've had to cancel a trip already and it's been a lot harder to keep up visiting new places, but these are all things that we're looking forward to doing again when restrictions are eased.

Lots of tricks and training

Most people would call this sitting pretty, but we call it “meerkat” where Markus sits up like one

A surprising advantage to staying indoors and at home is that we've invested a lot more time into training Markus! We often hear the phrase that you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but Markus never ceases to surprise us how easily he's able to pick up new tricks.

Markus was already 3 years old when we adopted him and he's 6 as of a couple of months ago. Perhaps he's not that old in relative terms, but he's not a puppy either. Whether it's because he's incentivized through treats or because he actually enjoys the challenge, Markus has been learning and internalizing new tricks on a weekly basis.

A few months into the pandemic, Markus earned his novice trick dog title, which is something fun that we did with him. Do More With Your Dog is an organization that challenges you to teach your dog a series of tricks, perform them on camera and they'll send you a certificate if you pass the test. We did the novice trick dog title with Markus just for fun and he passed the test with flying colours with his eyes set on being a circus dog. Markus, a trick dog. Who would've known.

During Christmastime, we were given an advent calendar from True Carnivores filled with treats for Markus for every day leading up to Christmas. If you follow us on Instagram, you would've seen that our goal for Markus was to perform a different trick to "earn" this treat every advent day. We figured we'd be struggling for tricks to do towards the end, but that wasn't the case. Markus had a new trick in the bag for all 24 days (with extra tricks remaining) and we realized how many of them had been learned in the past few months during the pandemic. Time well used!

Developmental Training and Habits

Markus watching the darn kids play outside while he’s staying indoors

Speaking of training, one of the things that concerns us about Markus development is the fact that we haven't had very many visitors since the pandemic began. Because of his street and rescue dog background, he was a territorial dog when we adopted him, so we would intentionally have people coming over to our place so he could get used to having visitors and meeting new people. That's a critical part of his development that's been lacking in 2020 as we just haven't been able to have people over. At the odd times people have been at the door, we've noticed that Markus hasn't responded very well and that's something that we'll not only have to monitor, but actively work on in the new year.

This may be true for a lot of dog owners, but another unintentional part of us being at home all day is that Markus has gotten used to us being around him all the time. This may end up not being great for his development either if he becomes too attached to us and suddenly gets anxious if we're not around. Ultimately, we don't think Markus will be affected by this, but we've also never been around each other for this long at a time and there's no predicting how he might react.

Since the pandemic, there's been an influx of pet adoptions and it absolutely makes sense. You're already home, so rather than having to send the dog to doggy daycare, now really feels like the right time to house train a dog. That said, eventually our regular days aren't going to include staying indoors at home all day anymore, so we need to be aware that dogs can develop an attachment to you being at home and could become anxious if you're no longer there. While they're still young and relatively new to your routines, it's good to practice leaving your dog alone once in a while so they're used to you not being around.

Maybe it's a Shiba thing or it could also be that Markus spent a large majority of his life at a rescue organization where he would spend hours on end alone in a cage, but we've found that he's not just comfortable, but actively enjoys his alone time. Even while we're home, he sometimes gets up from his bed and makes his way to a darker and quieter spot in the hallway where he can be alone. We think that because of this, Markus will be fine when things get back to normal (relatively) and we're no longer at home as much as we are now, but it's still something we're considering.

So that's it for this week! In our next update, we look forward to sharing our 2021 plans with you - assuming that things get back to normal. Til next week!

In our development with Markus, we’re constantly pushing for the next thing. We’re always trying new things to train and work with him - so much so that when something doesn’t go the way we expect it to, we can become discouraged or even frustrated.

Taking the time to reflect where things began helps us to appreciate where we are today and it gives us the boost for another day. Putting in perspective that Markus was a rescued dog who had difficulty being adopted because he was labeled as aggressive helps us to appreciate how far he’s come in his time with us.

The Paws & Reflect series is our way of pausing to appreciate all the progress Markus has made from his days as an aggressive dog at the rescue shelter. We revisit his past to help us put into focus all the great things he’s already accomplished with us.

We’re so grateful for your support of The Markus Project. We mostly choose our locations through searching and word of mouth. If you know of a park, trail or location you think we should check out, please share it with us. We’d love to know!