Wags n’ Words

More Wet Stuff! (Hey, we just learned how to make the font colorful!)

We woke to more snow this morning, but it didn’t really stick on the ground much.  Made for a wet start, though, and then later in the afternoon, it really came down — snow that is, wet snow.

First up were Lucy and Ollie, both adorned in coats.  Ollie had fun chasing me around…

And practicing his skills of levitation…he’s getting pretty good at it!

And making my ears dance on my head…

You may ask? Where’s Lucy and what did she do while you two played?  I’ll give you one guess…

Of course, when Gretchen pulled out the treats, we all sat in attention! Even Ollie…even Lucy…and always ME.

On the way back home, we hiked up the big hill and walked along the bluff. Ollie got a bug in his bonnet that he had to stop at every walkway at almost every house. I think he thought he was going visiting, maybe because he had on his nice coat.  Silly boy.

Gretchen and I had lunch and then we headed to pick up Gemma.  Right when we started our walk, it started to snow again.  We didn’t mind although we were a bit worried about Gemma’s funnel-head.  Could she drown?  Not likely. She’s too much of a mover and a bouncer for any liquid to collect in her lampshade.

At first that lampshade scared me, but as we played I realized it might serve me well. Gemma couldn’t reach beyond it to grab my ears…or so I thought…

And as you can tell from the expression on my face, I wasn’t too happy that she persisted to figure out a way to grab my ears with her sharp puppy teeth!

And that’s when the snow really started coming down, so we threw the ball a few more times…

…and headed back to Gemma’s house for a dry off, some lunch (hers), and one last “business” in the backyard.  Now, I imagine, we are both resting.  I know I am.

I’m dreaming of more snow!

Rubin

My Favorite (and Least Favorite) Things

I will admit there are a few things in this life of mine that I’m not so fond of.  The first are grates — you know the kind you come across occasionally on the sidewalk or perhaps over a bridge.  I do not like walking on them. I’ll do it if pressed, but there better be a good treat after the accomplishment. Next, I don’t like heights.  We’ve climbed mountains, mind you, and I’m fine on the way up and even on the way down, but when we get to the top, I freeze and get as low to the ground as I possibly can.

So today, when Gretchen had a free morning and we went on a walk together, I was a little miffed when she staged this picture…

Hard to tell from this angle, but I’m sitting (not standing, but sitting) on a grate and that grate hangs over the edge of a hill overlooking Seattle.  What’s beneath the grate?  About 20 feet before there is solid ground. Gretchen kept commenting about the “pretty view” but I was saying other stuff under my breath.

She got this shot, too, but she has neither a fear of heights nor grates so I stood on solid ground while she snapped photos.

And yes, that’s snow on those rooftops.  Which leads me to the things I like — snow being top of the list.  Next up, my orange and blue ball and playing fetch IN the snow…

Next on the list — my friends.  Today we saw Oshi and Perrito and they are kind of fun. Usually only Perrito likes the snow and gets kind of rambunctious when allowed to frolic, but today Oshi was full of energy. He chased Perrito around and around the tennis courts!

The snow had pretty much melted on the courts so both boys got a tad wet, but they didn’t seem to mind.

After we dropped (and dried) off the boys, we swung by Gemma’s house for a short walk. Gemma underwent some “procedures” this weekend so now she has to wear a rather funny lampshade on her head.

Don’t think her yellow get-up slowed her down any.  While Gretchen kept her on the leash to have some control of how much she romped, she was her usual self chasing me, pestering me, and pursuing me all through the snow!

But then we saw Christy, the mail carrier, our sole focus was on her. She’s one of my favorite things! Gemma has learned to lover her, too!

But then it was back to playing, something that is on both our lists of favorite things…

Most of the snow is melted now and I’ve had quite a morning.  After this post, I plan on taking a nice long nap (something else I like) and then perhaps another walk.  This time we’ll avoid all grates and high places!

Sun All Gone

I guess it couldn’t last too long.  The sun, that is.  It rained yesterday and I was forced to wear my dreaded red coat. Oh how I hate that thing.   I did my best to mess it up but good even though we didn’t have a lot of work to do.  First up was Monty, but he’s not work at all. He’s play and that’s exactly what we did in the mud and rain of the trails.

I realize the photo is kind of blurry but that’s because, when Monty and I play, we are moving fast.  We play chase and it all begins when I punch him in the neck over and over like a kid brother.  Eventually, he gives in and turns around and tackles me.  When he gets really annoyed with me, he barks and growls and throws me to the ground.

I love it!

And then we chase each other.  I’m much faster so I play games with him like go round and round in circles (around a tree or a bunch of bushes) until he gives up and realizes he can’t catch by chasing. Then he stops and waits for me to come back around, rears up on his hind legs, lets go a huge bark, and tackles me. It so fun!

Needless to say, I got pretty dirty, but man, did I have a great time.

On the way home, the rain really started coming down.  We picked up Oshi and Perrito and went for a walk. No real time for photographs what with Gretchen holding four leashes and the rain soaking us all, but when we got back to their house, we all waited on the porch (to get out of the rain) while the little guys got toweled off.  You can see by their wet demeanors how raining it was! Oshi just wanted to go into the warm house.

Perrito, on the other hand, was very interested in Monty who, in turn, was very interested in Perrito.  I think we all smelled likewet dog or something…

They got toweled off, raced into their house, and when Gretchen closed the door, we could hear them chasing each other around the living room…that’s something they like to do after they get back home. See, chase is a dog kind of thing!

Monty and I rest in our own warm house after a nice lunch. We dry off pretty quickly being poodles and all, but in the afternoon, the rain lifted and we got to go out to play fetch.  Too dark to take pictures, but I can tell you, we had a great ending to a great week!

Rubin

Foam on the Caramel Macchiato

Not as much sun today, but lots and lots of play time.  First up, Ollie who walked with us to pick up Gemma.  They hit it off like they were litter mates in a past life…

I was just happy Gemma has someone else’s ears to pull on!

At first I felt kind of left out, but eventually I got into the act and we played games of chase…Gemma chased Ollie, Ollie chased me, I chased Gemma…you get the idea. And then we all just chewed on each other…

After we dropped Gemma home and then Ollie, we stopped by and got the boys next door.  Not to be out done in terms of energy, they chased each other while I chased after my favorite ball.

And then they tried to convince me thet DO have faces…

But they were lively…even Oshi!  Perrito was, of course, his usual bouncy self. Makes it hard to take photographs!

Another busy day and though the sun didn’t really make an appearance, at least we didn’t get rained on!

Rubin

Sunshine Part III (I could get use to this!)

Have I told you about Tinkerbell?  One day Monty and I were playing in the backyard. Gretchen took this photograph…When we saw the photo later, I asked Monty what that purple light was on his ear. He told me it was Tinkerbell.
“Whose Tinkerbell?” I asked.
“She’s a fairy,” Monty explained.
“What’s a fairy?” I still had so much to learn.
“Well,” he said, “Perhaps it’s best explained how Tinkerbell explained it to Peter — ‘When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about… that was the beginning of fairies.’”
I was going to ask who Peter was, but I didn’t want to be more of a pest than I already was. “Why did Tinkerbell show up in the picture?” was my last question.
“Oh, she shows up to mark the happiest moments of your life,” Monty explained.

Later, I read up on Tinkerbell and found out all about Peter Pan. A very nice story though there aren’t any dogs in it. Oh well.

I liked this part the best, when Tinkerbell tells Peter, “You know that place between sleep and awake, the place where you can still remember dreaming? That’s where I’ll always love you.”

…fast forward to today. Need I say it?  Tinkerbell showed up today on numerous occasions…

First, with Lucy and Monty as we played fetch in the sun!

Do you see the blue light in the corners?  That’s Tinkerbell, I’m sure of it!

And then the three of us, waiting for our treat? (Well, Lucy didn’t wait very well…). Tinkerbell!

And then when we got Gemma and brought her over to my house for a romp and a wrestle…

More blue light…more tinkerbell…

And it just kept going like that all day long. Here are photos from a very special time with Tinkerbell…

Here’s one of Monty howling for his treat…it scared both me and Lucy!

The chase is on…everyone wants to play with Monty!

Monty resting by the zen rocks…he watched us play for a long time before he joined in again…

And then we all tried to chew on necks because we’re dogs and that’s what dogs do…

Once Gemma went home, Monty and I rested while Gretchen went for a walk with Chloe. They took a photo loop, so to speak, and checked out all the places that make for good photo opportunities…like the new view point at Mt. Baker…

and an off-leash time at the tennis courts…

…and finally, the obligatory pose at the Garden high atop the tractor…Chloe is very willing and obedient and she LOVES to be snuggled as a reward!

We ended the day with one last visit from Gemma and then a game of fetch in the blue glow at the soccer field…just me and Monty…

Sunshine Part II

I think that a shadow like this means Spring is around the corner except that Phil the Groundhog says otherwise.

Oh well!  I shall love it while it lasts.

Today was a busy, busy day.  It started with a short morning walk with Gretchen (she always takes me out solo to help me clear my mind before my work begins).  I waited at home while she ventured off to her other work (freelance writing), but when she returned, she came home with a surprise — LUCY AND OLLIE!

I was very surprised to see them both, but particularly excited to see Ollie. Ollie’s been staying with his grandmother this past month while his mom went off on her honeymoon!  Now Ollie has TWO parents and he seems to enjoy it very much. He was as happy to see me as I was to see him and we bounced on our walk down to the tennis courts whereupon we played with our usual abandon!

He’s not much interested in a playing fetch, but he loves to chase me when I have the ball.  Despite the morning sun, it was kind of chilly out so Ollie wore his fashionable coat.

We warmed up quickly though and meanwhile, Lucy did what Lucy always does — wondered where HER ball was!

Luckily she showed no interest in my favorite blue and orange ball!

While we played, Manny showed up with his family. Manny lives up the street from me and while he’s a nice guy, we’ve had a few run-ins.  Nothing bad, it’s just that Manny kind of runs at me and well, I’ll tell the truth, it scares me. But today, Manny was on his best behavior and we had a great time!

In fact, everyone got along fabulously…I think it had something to do with the sunshine warming us all up!

Ollie particularly took a fancy to Manny, but all of us took a fancy to Manny’s family…they raced and played and threw the ball with us over and over again and that made the sunshine even more wonderful!

Lucy, Ollie and I were sad to leave our new found friends, but everyone needed to get home and I needed to get back to work.

Next up…GEMMA!  We picked her up at noon and then went for a walk back to the tennis courts where we played “grab Rubin’s ear and NEVER let go!”….a game Gemma loves!

That Gemma, she’s pretty funny and very cute…

…whenever Gretchen tries to take a picture, Gemma is right there…RIGHT THERE checking out the situation…Silly.

After we played, we walked through the park and headed to my house where

Gemma and I proceeded to wrestle and romp. I showed her how to FRAP –

Frequent Random Acts of Play — which means I raced around the yard dodging imaginary ghosts with a huge smile on my face.  Gemma tried to catch me…

Even though my work day is over, I’m still feeling frisky so I’ll sign off now and try to get Gretchen to play tug with me in the sunshine!

Rubin

Is That Sunshine?

I think I saw something I haven’t seen for awhile — my shadow!  Yep, that was it and it made me wanna roll in the grass for hours and hours!

This is me at the park. Oshi and Perrito came with us and I played fetch (they’re not very good at it though they like to watch) while they smelled everything and peed on it for good measure!  When I got tired of chasing the ball, I laid down and rolled in the shadowy light of the trees on this pretty warm and sunny day. It was glorious. There’s nothing like a dog with his favorite orange and blue ball rolling around after a rousing game of fetch!

Perrito found it interesting to watch…

…but notice the shadows and the bright light and how I have a huge smile on my face because it’s sunny and relatively warm. Sure, I like the snow and the cold and I don’t even mind the rain, but sunshine…well, that’s something altogether special and we had it in spades today!

Even Oshi thought it was a lip-smackin’ good day, though he didn’t really want to hang out at the park as long as we did. He’s always looking back toward home.

Perrito, on the other hand, had his head down smelling the world and just like a Swiffer, he picked up everything…can you see the leaf on his chin?

We hung out longer than we probably should have, but no one seemed to mind, least of all me!

The rest of the day was pretty easy. I got some “alone time” with Gretchen and we went for a long walk through Frink Park and along the lake.  We met up with Gemma and one of her dads on our way home and we got a chance to romp and wrestle before we headed home.

So it was a surprise that later in the afternoon, actually right around dinner time, we went to Gemma’s house and retrieved her!  She came to our house and we played some more in the backyard and then posed for some photos in the kitchen.  It didn’t work to take photos in the backyard as it was very dark out, but in the kitchen we ran into the problem of Gemma not liking the flash. No, honey, OPEN your eyes!

Once the photo shoot was over, Gemma went searching for my dinner, which used to be in my food stand, but was picked up before Gemma got there.  She’s got quite a nose on her!

And still she closes her eyes!

More tomorrow!

Rubin