June 5, 2009

How To Wear Out A Woobiegrandpaw

First, before I get started recounting a very, very busy Friday, I’d like to take a moment to wish my Grandpaw a Happy Birthday!!!! The picture to the right is of both of us in our younger years. Time flies, doesn’t it Grandpaw?  Especially when you’re having fun like we are!

Eat cake for me and don’t forget to wag your tail. It lets others know how happy you are.

Love you very much…Rubin, your faithful Granddog.

Okay, now onto a busy day. And when I say busy, I mean whopping busy.

Woobie was dropped off this morning bright and early. She’s staying with us over the weekend and while we know her family is nervous, Woobie has relaxed right into the routine of being a dog dog walker.

It started with just Woobie and me. We did a short loop, knowing how full our schedule was, through Volunteer Park with a stop at the tennis courts to play fetch…

…only Woobie doesn’t play fetch. I had to show her how…

no fetchfetch

On our walk through the park, we stopped at the reservoir, a place where dogs can’t swim (imagine!) with the tip of the Space Needle on the horizon! Hard to see in the first picture, but it’s there in the second!

volunteer parkspace needle

Do I look bored?  I’m not, I just know how busy our day is and I can’t believe we’re already stopping for photographs!

After Volunteer Park, we picked up Monty and went for a big long walk up through the Mt. Baker neighborhood and then down through the park where we posed for yet another photo! I’m posting the sequence since Gretchen always teases me about my clownish antics. They weren’t really clownish. It’s just that, well, I wanted to play with Monty, not sit quietly for a photo so I kind of sabotaged the posing by rolling into Monty.

good dogsabout to be bad

I'm badclownish

If you notice, Woobie ignored the whole thing. She’s an exceptionally well-behaved dog.

ignoring

new friendsMonty really liked Woobie and the feeling was mutual. It’s hard to tell because she always turns away from Monty, but I could tell because they got along fabulously and did a lot of sniffing.

I don’t think Woobie really knew what she was getting herself into today. When she found out I was a dog dog walker, she cocked her head and asked, “What does that mean?”

“It means I walk with other dogs all day long,” I replied.

“That sounds like fun!” Woobie wagged.

“Well, it’s hard work, but it can be lots and lots of fun if you pace yourself right,” I sighed back.

Little did Woobie know how tired she’d be after today. I think she walked about 10 miles and that doesn’t even take into account the play sessions, which were numerous.

After walking with Monty and me, she got to walk with Marley, the boy from up the street. While she definitely liked Monty, she fell in love with Marley. The feeling was mutual.

First, they had to pose on the dreaded grate on Mt. Baker overlooking the city. They didn’t seem to mind too much.

grate photo

And then they came back to my house and decided it was time to really play. At first they did a lot of play bows as a way of getting to know each other. (I watched from the sidelines. Imagine, me watching!)

let's playyes!

play timetouch play

And then they chased each other and Woobie’s long, long hair went flying!

flying hairmore flying hair

Did I mention how much hair Woobie has? Well, let me make a point to describe her long flowing locks. Her hair, and I mean each strand, is probably 10 inches long. Someone said she looks like a Lorax and after rereading the Dr. Seuss classic, I have to agree.

lorax

Gretchen had lots of fun taking pictures of her hair.  Not only the front view, but her feet and back end as well.

footback endback end2

That’s a lot a hair, yes?

This is when things got a little complicated. Gretchen took Woobie and Marley back to Marley’s house where he was going to spend the rest of his day only Marley thought otherwise. Two minutes after dropping him off, he jumped two fences (yes, TWO) and came racing down the sidewalk after Gretchen and Woobie who were on their way to pick up Oshi and Perrito. What could Gretchen do?

Guess who spent the rest of the day with us? Yep, Marley, the great escape artist.

So while I rested at home, Woobie, Marley, Oshi, and Perrito tangled their leashes on a walk through the park. Photographs? Are you kidding. Gretchen would have broken something if she’d tried, so she decided, after the walk, to take everyone back to Marley’s yard to see if they wanted to play. Marley was ecstatic to have the company.

let me show you around!yippee!

A whole lot of sniffing and introductions went on…

introintro2

intro3intro4

Until finally, little Perrito took matters into his own hands and learned how to push a big dog around…

pushpush again

more pushesmore sniffing!

Woobie, on the other hand, realized she was tired and found a cool, shady spot to rest up for what was ahead…

resting

Next up, Teabiscuit. Now this was tricky. Lil’ Biscuit isn’t very fond of big dogs (except for me) and so when Gretchen arrived with two new big dogs, you could tell Teabiscuit was none too pleased. In order to get a photo of all three dogs together, Gretchen had to pose them and you can see in this first photo that Teabiscuit has learned to stick up for herself.

"Back off, big guy!
"Back off, big guy!

But soon, after a bit of positioning and wrangling, Gretchen got everyone to relax (even Teabiscuit) for a couple of nice photos.

nice photonice photo2

But you’ll notice… Lil Biscuit is keeping her eye on Marley.

By this time, Woobie is pretty tuckered out. “Wow,” she said upon her return, “This is exhausting work, Rubin!”

Tell me about it. Luckily, while she worked, I got to rest. I needed it after my busy day yesterday and a night of agility practice.

Woobie’s day was not over yet, though. She and Marley drove with Gretchen to meet a new client. Wilson, an 8-month old Golden Retriever. According to Woobie, Wilson is quite a handful though she says I’ll really like him because he’s very playful. “Did you play with him?” I asked.

“No, I was very tired so I let Marley play with him,” she said.

“That was nice of you,” I responded.

By the time Woobie got back to the house, we were ready to walk Marley back to his house since his family was home. Then we all hung out in the backyard for some love…

Woobie Love

A roll in the cool grass and a few poses on the porch!

rollingporch pose

porch pose2porch pose3

porch pose4

All the while, Oshi and Perrito watched from their porch next door.

boys next door

“Are we done now?” Woobie just asked me after I inserted this last photo onto our blog.  She’s sacked out on the kitchen floor, barely able to raise her head to ask me the question.

“Yep, that’ll do it for the day. Good work, Woobie!”

Until Tomorrow,

Rubin

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