May 28, 2009
Dog-a-nalities
I’ll be the first to admit, no two dogs are alike. While people have “person” alities, we have “dog” analities. Or something like that. Take, for instance, how different dogs approach the same situation.
Today is a perfect example. We started the day with Ollie, which is a normal Thursday beginning, but we headed off on a field trip — something not so normal. Despite Gretchen getting lost, I figured out where we were going right away and I laid down in the car trying not to get too excited.
Ollie had no clue where we were headed, but he sat nervously behind Gretchen’s seat drooling and panting on her shoulder in anticipation. When we arrived at Luther Burbank
Park and headed to the off-leash area, Ollie bounced the whole way. Still, he hadn’t a clue where we were headed. He just knew it was different and new and therefore exciting. And when he got to the special destination? What did he do? He raced around like a wild man releasing all his pent up excitement.
What did I do? Race for the water, of course, because any chance I have to go for a swim is a chance I gladly take. Ollie, he’s not much of a swimmer, but he certainly cheered me on from the shore!
The park was fairly empty. When we got there we were greeted by about three dogs. One was very loud, but very fun because she liked to chase me. Her name was Abby. The other dog was very shy. Her name was Milkshake. She chased us, too, but Abby and I were really going at it!
Look us peel out! It was so much fun. And then everyone else joined in and that is like the best beginning of any day any dog could have.
It was great because in between all the running around, we could cool ourselves off in the lake. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves! Different dogs, different dog-a-nalities!
Whew! That was exciting, wasn’t it? Well remember, that was just the beginning. Next up were Rufus and Riley though Gretchen made me go home and rest a bit while she took the boys out in the sun!
Now, talk about dog-a-nalities! These two show theirs off the second Gretchen leashes them up. They get very excited, race up the stairs to the front door, and immediately put
their noses either to the ground or in the air (where Gretchen has the treats!).
Whereas Ollie takes off running when he gets to a park, these two do the opposite. It’s all heads down and noses working for these fellas. They can work a park, I’m tellling you. Gretchen tells me they spent about 15
minutes today sniffing every inch of the grass. Since the day was so warm (76 degrees!) she let them relax in the park a bit before they continued walking. I bet the boys were very happy to work their noses as much as they worked their short legs.
Here’s their photo spread of the day and their dog-a-nalities!
After the boys smelled their walk away, Gretchen came back and got me so I could go with her to walk Gerta. I like Gerta. At first, I was a bit overwhelmed by her enthusiasm, but now I know she’s just happy to see me! It was really warm by the time we went for our walk with Gerta, so we spent some time at the park lounging in the shade. Gerta really knows how to lounge!
Her dog-a-nality is kind of clownish really. She loves to roll around in the cool grass and when Gretchen tells us to sit and stay, she’ll sit, but she’s not so sure about the stay! Okay, in this picture I’m sitting and staying, but let me tell you, it was really hard since there was a squirrel racing up a nearby tree. Luckily, Gerta didn’t see it. She only saw the treats in Gretchen’s hand!
Despite Gerta’s crooked teeth and wonky bent legs, she’s really quite a charmer, don’t you think?
Next up, Teabiscuit! I’ve missed little Biscuit of later (after we spent the weekend together) and apparently she missed us, too. She wiggled when she saw us and actually came up to me to tap her nose to mine. Now that’s progress!
We walked down through Madrona Woods where Gretchen made us pose together. Can you see that Biscuit is smiling?
Okay, so maybe she isn’t exactly smiling, but she’s a lot more comfortable with me than she used to be. I, on the other hand, am kind of tired in this last shot and a little annoyed that it was taking us so long to get to the lake. It was hot! I needed to cool off and so did Teabiscuit! She finally pleaded with Gretchen to let us go swimming and Gretchen, after a short scratch at the neck, agreed.
That Teabiscuit is quite the swimmer!
She didn’t let the waves or the cold water dissuade her at all. She just bobbed along like a cork at sea. It was great fun to watch. Once we were all cooled off, we walked back up the hill (and let me tell you, it’s a hill with hundreds of stairs to climb!) and Gretchen tried to pose us on a bluff with Mt. Rainier in the distance. Unfortunately, you can’t see the mountain, but we look awfully cute, don’t we?
No two dogs are alike, I tell you. Ollie is pure excitement. Everything is an adventure for that little boy. Rufus is a serious goof and Riley is a happy curmudgeon (if that’s possible). Gerta is a puppy in a guard dog suit and Teabiscuit is a brave seafarer in a tiny body.
And me? Well, I’ll leave that up to you!
Until tomorrow,
Rubin
