Whadda ya know?

You will be surprised to know that there are always surprises in my line of work. Moments when something unpredictable happens or moments when I have to stop and say to myself, “Whadda ya know?” or “Imagine that!” Such moments happen a lot and I only wish Gretchen had a camera behind her eyes so she could stop, blink, and record the moment.

Instead, her camera is in her backpack most of the time and only comes out when we stop and play or she decides to stop in the middle of the walk and stage a photo.  Today had many “whadda ya know” moments the first being that today is Ollie’s birthday! He turned two years old today and so we decided that he deserved an extra long walk and play time.

Gretchen picked him up first and then headed back to fetch Monty and me who were waiting patiently at home during the morning while she worked in her classroom.  Ollie was happy to see us and was thrilled even more when we sang him the Happy Birthday song. Monty and I had already been on a walk earlier in the morning and since Monty is a bit older, he stayed behind to relax and rest and prepare for more activity later.

Ollie was kind of sad that Monty couldn’t join the birthday party, but he understood and got over it pretty quickly when we walked over to pick up Gemma who gave Ollie a birthday wag as well. Then it was off to the park so we could play and whadda ya know? Saber was there! It was an impromptu party and party we did!

Gemma and Saber, as you can see, formed a puppy knot instantly and Ollie watched. “Those two are wild,” he told me, “And I don’t want to get my birthday suit dirty so I’m going to stay out of the way.”

Good idea buddy, good idea.

Since Saber and Gemma were “tied up” as it were, I decided it was okay to play with Saber’s toy – a very loud squeaky blue ball. Ollie liked it, too!

While Ollie and I played, Saber and Gemma wore each other out. In almost every picture Gretchen took this morning, Saber and Gemma were in it, tangled together in play.

Don’t think that Ollie and I didn’t play. We did, but we never got as tired as the puppies.

We took Gemma home after that and then Ollie came back to our house so Gretchen could drop me off. Next, he and Gretchen walked to Bella’s house and Bella was overwhelmed with excitement to meet the Birthday boy. Since Bella is a puppy and a strong puppy at that, it was impossible for Gretchen to get a photo of the two dogs together. All of Gretchen’s energy went to keeping Bella in a “heel” and Ollie at a comfortable distance from the excited pup!  By the time Ollie got home, he too was tired from the long walk and the long play time.  We sure hope he had a happy birthday the rest of the day!

Gretchen then walked Bella, who was now a bit more under control since the Ollie distraction was safely at home.  In fact, Bella did really well practicing her obedience so that by the time she got to our house, she wasn’t too wild in her desire to play with me (though you might think otherwise after looking at the pictures!). Imagine that!

At one point, Bella found my red squeaky toy and decided to play by herself while I rested. Whew!

As you can see, we played in the shade a lot. Despite autumn just around the corner, it was hot today so playing in the shade felt like a good idea.

Since Bella found the red toy interesting, I decided it was interesting, too. At that point, it became a game of keep away and Bella did everything she could to “persuade” me to give her the toy.

I’ll admit, I teased her a lot, but whatta ya know? She didn’t seem to mind. It was all a game to Bella and we played like this for a long time until finally it was time for Bella to go back home.

At one point, Monty decided to venture out on the lawn to say hello to Bella. Well, let’s just say, Bella said hello to him and whatta ya know, Monty was okay with that!

Bella did really well on her way home and when she got inside her house, she walked, leash and all right into her crate. She was tired and that meant we’d done our job!

Monty and I got a long rest this afternoon, which was good because we still had Wilson this evening. The plan was to go to the lake, but whadda ya know? We ran into Dixie and Gypsy at the park and decided that looked like more fun!

For some reason, the park smelled really interesting tonight and we spent as much time sniffing around as we did playing.

Dixie’s mom said that Dixie didn’t really play fetch, but once we pulled out an orange and blue ball, Dixie proved her wrong. I’m telling you, we haven’t met a dog yet who who doesnt’ like that ball!

Wilson, on the other hand, loves any ball but he, too, has a particular fondness for the orange and blue ball. In fact, he has a few of them at home himself. Imagine that!

As the sun set, we had a great time playing with all of our friends…Monty, Wilson, Gypsy, Dixie, and me!

As we walked slowly home (we were all tired) Wilson gently bumped into Monty and me, rubbing his long, lean body against ours and saying, “I thought I was not going to see you guys today, but you showed up and made me a very happy fellow.”

Imagine that.

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

PS — HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OLLIE!