A New Gal in Town
I’ll admit it — I like girls. Sure, most of my dog friends are boys — Monty, Oshi, Perrito, Wilson, Ollie and more — but I’ve always had a special place in my heart for girls. It started, I suspect, with Lucy. She was the first girl-dog I met and we bonded quickly, chasing each other around the house and then the yard and curling up together in my dog bed.
Quillette made me appreciate more mature females and has had the opportunity to school me in various canine ways. When Gemma entered my life, she brought that youthful playfulness I’d missed for awhile and now, well now there’s Bella. Isn’t she adorable?
Bella is a new client who is six months old. I met her briefly at the park weeks ago, but I was too busy playing fetch with my boy-friends to really notice her. (Truth is, I didn’t want my buddies to tease me about my new crush!) Today I wasn’t going to actually meet her, but after Gretchen took her on a walk along the ridge (where the above photo was taken) she decided that Bella and I would enjoy each other. That Gretchen…she really knows me, doesn’t she?
But I’m way ahead of myself. Our day began early in the morning, earlier than normal with a solo walk — just me and Gretchen. On our walk, she explained how our routine was going to change and that during the week, I’d have the mornings to myself on most days because she was going back to teaching part-time. “You’ll get to go to school with me occasionally,” she said, “But school can be exhausting and with your job as a dog dog walker, I want to make certain you don’t get over tired. So, I think it would be best if you stayed home some mornings to rest up for your busy work day.”
Huh? What is she thinking?
She went off to school without me and I was a pretty unhappy fellow. I laid on my bed and waited, but I wasn’t pleased. She did return, I’ll give her that, and we went on a walk with the boys next door — Oshi and Perrito.
We headed to the park, which was fun though the day was getting warm and I was still a little miffed about the change of schedule. But then Gemma and her dad showed up and well, I let go of my irritations and we all played with abandon!
Perrito liked Gemma … at first…but that Gemma is persistent and after awhile, Perrito was being chased by Ms. Persistence and he wasn’t so sure that was a good thing! Gemma? Well, she just kept coming — through everyone and everything trying to chase Perrito. Pretty soon, Perrito hung out as close as he could get with Oshi. You could hardly tell where one dog began and the other ended!
Let’s just say, everyone got a workout thanks to Gemma. That’s my girl!
Gretchen took me back home with the boys and once again, I was left alone. I’m not sure I like this new routine, but she explained that it was just a temporary move. “I want to walk Bella to see how she is with just me and if all goes well, I’ll bring her back here, okay?”
Let’s just say, I was skeptical…
…until Bella came to visit.
As I’ve said, Gretchen took Bella for a nice long walk just to get to know her before she came back to our house. What did Gretchen learn about Ms. Bella? Well, she doesn’t like metal grates (just like me!), she’s a bit shy of new things like loud noises and flapping flags, and she’s very, very curious about people, smells, and yes, Gretchen’s camera!
I asked Gretchen later why she decided to bring her back to our house and she said, “Well, on our walk, Bella did really well practicing her commands — heal, sit, wait — and I didn’t want our first day together to be all work and no play. Besides, Bella doesn’t have a yard she can run around in and I felt bad that I had to leave you at home twice today, so I thought it best to bring her home.”
Oh, am I ever-so sorry I doubted Gretchen!
It didn’t take long for Bella and me to hit it off. She was very gracious with the first meeting and once we got into the backyard, she invited me with a play bow and a head toss. That’s all it took because she’s one cute girl and cute girls are very hard for me to resist!
We started our play session with a game of chase…
Then I tried to teach Bella how to play hide and seek, but she was really good at finding me…
But eventually, we both got tired. Bella rolled in the grass, while I tried to sneak away and hide behind Ann who’d come home for lunch.
And eventually, to give me a needed break, I went inside the house while Bella found the water bowl. Bella was none too pleased about my escape, but hey, a guy’s gotta rest from all that cute girl energy every now and then!
As you can see, it’s been quite a change of schedule. I’m over it now, though in the beginning, I was a bit unsettled by it all. Meeting Bella, though, made up for it in spades.
Yes sir, I like girls very much!
Until tomorrow,
Rubin
been just 3 weeks ago and if you look at me closely, you’ll see that my hair is still in pretty good shape. So what was going on here, I wondered.
socialize, greeted Sophie only to find out that she is a nervous Nelly when it’s grooming time. Hey, I can relate. So, while Monty waltzed in to enjoy his day at the Spaw, Sophie shook by her mother’s side sending every dog signal in the world that this is not at all how she intended to spend her day.
sticking around to help her out, but then common sense got the better of me and I left Monty INSIDE THE SHOP, happy as a clam, while I walked to the park for a game of fetch with Ann and Gretchen.
I’m Baaaaaaccckkk!
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.
Rosie and Tyson!
