I’m Baaaaaaccckkk!

Two weeks of rest has done a world of good for my carpal tunnel. I’m refreshed and revised and ready to romp and that’s just what I did today with a full load of work on my very large plate.

First up, a walk with Quillette and Monty. Quillette is staying with us for a few days, but will be venturing off to other homes while her mom is away on an extended journey. Quillette will join us for the full month of September and I, for one, in very much looking forward to it. She’s fun to hang out with and she never tries to still my food.

Monty was scheduled for a walk today, but he, too, will be joining us while his mom travels in Ireland later this month. That will be super fun as Monty is my very best friend in the whole wide world. But for today, it was enough to hang out with the both of them and attend to our business of walking dogs.

We had an unexpected play time on our first walk of the day, though. We ran into Richard just as he was heading out with Ginger.  I was so excited to see them, I could barely keep my curls on!  I recently got to spend some time with Richard and Ginger and let me tell you, those two live in dog heaven. They eat pork for lunch, they go swimming in the lake, and they sleep on a big bed that I got to share with them. It’s incredible. You can imagine how happy I was to see them this morning and Quillette and Monty were thrilled as well.  We all walked over to the little park and played like wild children!

Ginger, as is her style, never stopped moving and showed Monty a few new dance steps she picked up at a recent Doggie Ball…

Quillette spent her whole time staring at Richard because he always comes equipped with special treats! And some times she even barks at him! How demanding is that?

Monty, Ginger and I just play fetch and leave all that begging to Quillette. We know that when Richard is ready, he’ll dole out the treats to all of us! Sometimes we rest, too, because playing fetch is hard work first thing in the morning.

Of course notice that Ginger NEVER rests. For a 10 year old she is like the Energizer Bunny I see on TV. She just keeps going!

Unlike Quillette, Ginger likes to steal my food. She did so when I spent the night at her house, so I shouldn’t have been surprised when she stole TWO of my favorite orange and blue balls. Gretchen says I need to be nice to the elderly, but sometimes it’s hard to be polite!

After our romp, we walked with Richard and Ginger up to Bradner Gardens, got ourselves a drink and then headed back to the house where we dropped off Quillette (she needed a rest) and picked up Ann who came with us on a walk and romp with Ollie!

Ollie was happy to see me, but did a good job of not jumping up too much.  Monty, Ann, Ollie, Gretchen, and I headed down through Frink Park we we got to play chase.

Ollie is always a little shy around Monty and me. I think it’s because we’re kind of big and the two of us like to play rough. We race along the trails, ram into each other and then practice boxing, raising ourselves up on our hind legs and letting our front legs swing.

I suppose when you’re Ollie’s size that can be pretty overwhelming, but he held his own today.  He raced along the trails with us and watched as Monty and I wrestled along the way. It’s hard to see, but the picture on the left shows all three of us racing down the path — Ollie’s right behind me blending in with the brown foliage, and Monty is right behind Ollie trying to catch up! I guess I’m a pretty fast dog, but Monty can get his big body moving pretty fast, too. Ollie just goes up as if on springs.

Often, though, he stood out of our way and smiled his original Ollie smile!

We then walked along the lake, up through the tunnel, and back home where Ann, Monty, and I rested with Quillette, while Ollie and Gretchen fetched Oshi and Perrito for a long walk and romp at the tennis courts.

When they got to the courts, Matilda, a 7 month old puppy, was just outside the fence and all the boys were very interested in her! Can you see her on the other side of the fence? If not, you can see the focused excitement of the three boys on their side!

But Matilda moved on and the boys played fetch and chase and practiced being silly!

I guess Oshi and Perrito are more Ollie’s size. He had fun being chased and watching the boys be the boys that they are…silly!

After their busy time at the tennis courts, Oshi and Perrito helped Gretchen walk Ollie home. Oshi was none too pleased preferring to go home, but Gretchen wanted to make certain the boys got lots of exercise today so she made Oshi take the long walk to Ollie’s house. Ollie was happy to have the company.

By the time Gretchen got home, Quillette, Monty, and I were all sacked out in the sun — three friends relaxing!

We just finished our last walk down through the park. It was humid today and ended up being quite warm this afternoon. Usually when we drop Monty off at his house, he’s hesitant to go inside, but not today. He was tired and hot and ready to rest in the cool shade of his house.  Quillette and I headed home. She’s resting now while I finish up the blog. Then I’m going to give Gretchen that stare, the one I learned from Quillette and Monty — the one that says, “Isn’t time I got fed?”

It’s a beautiful life!

Rubin