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Yellowstone National Park has 3 canid species...the red fox, coyote, and wolf. It's considered a great day if you see all 3 "dogs" in the same day...a "Three Dog Day!"

Our first day in Yellowstone was a 3-dog day. Believe it or not, the first "dogs" we saw were a couple of wolves, but we only spotted them in a scope and they were way too far off to photograph. But we did see them and heard them howling, which was an amazing way to start our visit.

It wasn't long after that we saw our first coyote, just sitting on a rock surveying the vast land around him, no doubt looking for a small movement which might signal his next meal. Dog #2.

Later that morning, we spotted this gorgeous fox curled up in the snow. Dog #3.

We'd already had a 3-dog day and it was still early afternoon. But then we got some bonus dogs!

Wolves! And not that far (relatively speaking...) from the road. Do you see them?

Zooming in a little closer...

...this beautiful black male wolf (we didn't know it was a male at first, but it was soon obvious...)...

...and gorgeous gray female laying down nearby.

While our fantastic guides Shawn and John are excellent at spotting wildlife, they also have inside information from what Kim called the Wolf Groupies...people who follow the wolves all day every day and record their activities. If you are in Yellowstone and see a sight like this, be sure to stop...they are most probably wolf-watching.

And when it comes to photography, these wolf groupies don't mess around! Talk about lens envy....

After awhile, he-wolf heads over to nudge his she-wolf friend...

"Get up!"

Isn't she gorgeous?! No wonder he-wolf has his eyes on her...

She follows him...

...through very deep snow...

...down the hill...

...where a carcass lays under a tree.

After filling up their stomachs again...

...she leads the way back up the hill. "Are you coming?"

And then, we witnessed something magical in the life of wolf-watchers. She averted her tail...and you know what that means...

When you're a wolf, sniffing=canoodling....

...and while we never saw them actually mating, our guides felt sure we had witnessed the beginning of a brand new wolf pack.

A new pairing of wolves, which will hopefully produce a nice litter of pups and a new wolf family pack.

Hard to beat a...

...three dog day.