Wags n’ Words

Dog Walking & Pet Care – Seattle, WA

Monthly Archives: November 2009

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November 12, 2009

November 12, 2009 3:26 pm / Leave a Comment /

ollieSunDogs

Scientifically speaking, a sun dog is a halo around the sun. In my research I found out that sundogs are formed by plate shaped hexagonal ice crystals in high and cold cirrus clouds or – during very cold weather – by ice crystals called diamond dust drifting in the air at low level. Now, you may think I don’t understand what all of this means, but I do because I see sundogs all the time. I even think I saw one today — well, the scientific one described above, but I also so another kind of sundog today.

To me a sundog is one who can cast shadows, feel sleepy in the warmth, and just pause in the moment of the sun’s delight. We did that today, and much more, because, for a second day in a row, we had sun. No one expected it, but there it was — warm and bright and glorious. What this meant, of course, is that we had to play as much as we possibly could in the warmth of this day and so we head out, after our morning of teaching, to collect our pals.

First up was Ollie. Ollie kind of has his own halo on his head. Even though it took a little coaxing to get him out of his house (his dad was home) when he realized what a beautiful day it was, he raced and jumped and got really excited when he recognized the path to Gemma’s house.

Gemma doesn’t really have a halo. She glows, but mostly Gemma goes like a bullet, excited to be on the road to some adventure especially when that adventure includes Ollie and me. Because we were all rambunctious, we headed over to the tennis courts where we played one of my favorite games — CHASING OLLIE!

chasing olliechasingollie2

Ollie loves to be chased and Gemma and I did our best to give him what he loves. He’s a speedy little sundog and often even Gretchen’s camera couldn’t catch him in the frame.

outofframeoutofframe2

flingit'son

gemmaprowlgethim

He winds down a lot quicker than Gemma so when he’s done being chased, Gemma comes after me. I must do my best to entertain our clients, but let me tell you, it’s hard work! But not today. Today the sun cured all my worries, all my weariness. I just ran around that court smiling and hopping up and down like I was as young as my friends.

ready?still running

restingpounce

frontfeetplaying

Ollie and Gemma walked me home where I stayed in order to eat my breakfast. The Gemma walked Ollie home and finally Gretchen walked sunbunnyGemma back to her house, making a complete loop in her route. After Gemma was tucked away in her house, Gretchen headed up to Rosie’s house.

Rosie LOVES the sun. When she felt it on her skin when they first exited her house, she smiled really big and pranced all the way down the driveway. Her prance got more elated and deliberate as they headed out on their walk with Rosie asking if they could head up to the gardens. Know the sun would shine full and bright on the last of summer’s crops, Gretchen agreed and off they went, through the park and up the big hill.

The gardens are dying back, just as they do every fall, but they are still beautiful, especially in the sun.

See how happy Rosie is? The sun’s so bright, she has to squint!

shadowrosesquint

stillsquint

Rosie was reluctant to go home, but when she realized Gretchen had special treats to give her, she relented, sitting pretty on her dog bed while Gretchen sprinkled treats like sun drops around her.
Gretchen came home for some lunch then. Usually she doesn’t have time for lunch, but today we sat on the back porch in the sun and snacked on her favorite — Delicata squash! Yes, even I got a taste. I love squash as much as she does and this one was particularly sweet and delicious.

But our work was far from over. We walked up to Alice’s house where Alice glowed like the sun when she saw us. Without even asking where we were going, Alice pulled us north because she knew we had to pick up Woobie. I’m not sure how she knew, but she did. And when we got to Woobie’s courtyard, we both raced up the long flights of stairs to meet our friend.Woobie was equally thrilled to see the sunshine and see her friends.

We walked through Squirrel Gulch (that’s what I call it because it’s swarming with the pesky rodents) and down to the park. When Alice sees the big field she gets all frisky and wants Gretchen to let her off leash to run and run and run. Instead, Gretchen put us in a sit stay and tried her best to get our photos.

oops

Eventually it worked!

lookinganthisway

sunsmiledoh!

Woobie and I walked Alice back home after that and then we raced down the street to Saber’s house. When Saber saw us waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs, he almost leaped off the porch and down the 14 steps to where we sat. Gretchen held him back and then directed his clumsy 5-month old, 60-pound body through the park to the tennis courts for another round of play.

Woobie was content to soak in the sun while Saber and I played fetch.

fetchseeit?

soaking it upfeelswarm

And then Bella and her mom showed up and Saber thought he’d died and gone to the Sundogs. He loved playing with Bella and she seemed to love it too!

themeetingalleyoop

wrestlinggraydogs

Woobie and I were just content to soak it all in — the sun, the fun, and the friends.

darkshadowspinkball

feelsgreat

We took Saber home and then headed over to the school to meet up with our student friend, but he didn’t have a good day. So as a consolation, Woobie got to come to our house and hang out for awhile. We were pretty tired so it was nice to rest before we headed back to Woobie’s house.

But our day was still not done because Gemma needed one more outing. So we walked over to Gemma’s house and then back up to Woobie’s. And that’s when I saw the real SunDog — the halo around the sun! They say that the SunDog is a prediction of rain, but I like to think it’s just an exclamation point at the end of a beautiful day.

Until Tomorrow,
Rubin

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Posted in: Alice, Bella, Gemma, Ollie, Rosie, Rubin's Buddies, Saber, Tail Waggin' News, Woobie / Tagged: , , , ,

November 11, 2009

November 11, 2009 5:52 pm / Leave a Comment /

buddiesOn a Day Like This…

On a day like this…

It’s important to spend time with friends. After the weather has crippled your every move and the sun finally comes out, it’s important to call up your best buddy and see if maybe he can take a walk by the lake with you.

On a day like this, it’s important to put your nose in the air and smell that fresh air, the air washed clean after days and days of wind and rain.

On a day like this, you should count the leaves that have fallen, watch the birds bob on the water, and count the steps between here and there and then back again.

On a day like this, you should walk as close to your best friend as possible because who knows when you’ll be able to do it again.

sidebysidesidebyside2

On a day like this, take a moment to look ahead. Check out the view and ignore the clouds.

sewardparkthe lake

On a day like this, pause, reflect, and ponder. The world is an enormous place and you are merely one existence in a world of birds and trees and water and wind.

On a day like this, stop an pose. Don’t look straight ahead because that’s what you always do. Look around and then look around some more. Then look straight ahead. You’ll be surprised by what’s right next to you.

Look around

look rightstraight ahead

On a day like this, invite your friends to play. Let them chew on your ears, share your toys, and wrestle you to the ground.

earchewingtwofriends

On a day like this, even if you know it’s coming, let your best friend get away with grabbing your neck!

notmyneck!ouch

On a day like this, never leave your best friend’s side (or stomach)…

togetherstomach

toppleready?

On a day like this, be friendly and welcoming to strangers…even if they don’t stop and play with you…

comebacknewfriends?

On a day like this, especially in the warm sunny spots, run with wild abandon and glee…

gleeabandon

On a day like this, look off into the distance and notice all that you see. On a day like this, take a moment to be pensive.

noticinglookingoff

And then, when the pensive mood is through, be curious on a day like this…

curiouscurious2

On a day like this, find a view you’ve seen a million times before and commit it to memory.

viewmountains

On a day like this, have someone else take your picture and gather together all of your friends…

friendsbestfriend

oshiperrito

On a day like this, even though you think you might be tired, go out one more time to play and don’t get upset if someone steals your toys…

playingstolen

…and I mean all of your toys…

bothballsnew toy

And on a day like this, don’t tell your young friend that what he thinks is a toy really isn’t. You don’t want to ruin his fun.

On a day like this, be thankful that not a drop of rain fell on you. Be grateful that you are surrounded by furry friends. Be happy that your work is your play and your play is never work.

On a day like this, eat a hearty dinner, cuddle up next to the feet of someone special, and dream about days like this.

Until Tomorrow,

Rubin

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Posted in: Gemma, Monty, Oshi, Perrito, Quillette, Rosie, Rubin's Buddies, Saber, Tail Waggin' News / Tagged: , , , ,

November 10, 2009

November 10, 2009 8:52 pm / Leave a Comment /

gemmaClarifications

My Grandmother and Grandfather read my blog every day. I am deeply touched by their dedication and I really appreciate when they correct my grammar, spelling, and punctuation (among other things). But today Grandma emailed me about yesterday’s blog to point out that I never said that Gretchen “stunk” but rather that she “smelled.”

Dear Grandma…to a dog, nothing stinks.  Our noses are so much more advance than humans that we’ve moved beyond making judgments about what we smell. In doing so, we’ve opened our conciseness. We’ve moved beyond the need to disregard what was once labeled bad and have learned to embrace the complexity and vibrancy of every scent in the world. While it’s true that to other humans Gretchen probably stinks, to me she just smells like a wet, sweaty human (yes, you humans have very complex and unique scents). I do not like or dislike her smell though I know that if I were in a huge crowd, I could find her in a matter of minutes simply because her scent is locked into my brain.ollie/saber

You and Grandpa have unique smells, too. Your scent is like your history all wrapped up in the ball of your skin. It’s not only you that has a distinct smell, but the place where you live, the street that you live on, the neighborhood you live in, and on and on each offer me clues to the map of you, the map of going to your house.  When we drive to see you, I gather in all of those scents and my brain goes into overdrive — this scent lets me know we are on a path away from home and this scent tells me that we might be headed west and this scent tells me that we are in a neighborhood I recognize. And when we turn into your specific neighborhood, I put all those puzzle pieces together and my brain say, “Sit up! This is the way to your Grandparents!” and that’s when I get very excited.

I could go on and on about this, but I think you get the idea. While you might think Gretchen, your youngest child, stinks. I think she smells and frankly, that smell is home.

Now, onto our day, which again was filled with the smell of wet human =-)

I stayed home with Momma Ann today as she has taken time off this week. I like staying home with Momma Ann because she sleeps in. I like sleeping in too.  Oh, and just for the record, she smells, too! Anyway, Gretchen went off to school and then returned with Ollie bouncing at the end of his leash. Gretchen suited up for what proved to be a wet day, though not as wet as previous days. It was more sprinkles today than downpours, but still, we got wet.

Ollie, therefore, donned my old red raincoat.  He liked that. Why, I’ll never know. Oh, and that coat, it smells too. In fact, I know when it’s in the vicinity because I can smell and when I do, I run the other way! Ollie doesn’t. He just sits calmly and then waits while Gretchen velcros him in.

We walked through the park and over to Saber’s house though Ollie thought for sure we were headed to Gemma’s house and was slightly disappointed when we turned the other way. All three of us headed over to the tennis courts because it was just too muddy and soggy to play anywhere else. Ollie likes to practice levitation while Saber and I like to play fetch!

chasechase2

prancerwrestler

levitatesittingpretty

get it3dogs

After a good romp, Saber and I walked Ollie home and then Saber walked me back to Ann and my breakfast. Gretchen took Saber back to his house with the promise that we’d be back later. Then she walked up to Rosie’s house. Rosie was excited to see her, though not so thrilled about going out into the drizzle. Lucky for them, the drizzle stopped and their walk was pretty much dry. Whew!

rosierosie2

rosie3sniffing

After Rosie went home, Gretchen swung by Gemma’s house and despite the rain and the raincoat, Gemma was raring to go. They walked over to our house to pick me up and then we headed down through the park back to those tennis courts to play.

stalkernipper

shakerlicker

Now, I must confess that playing fetch with Gemma is very different than playing with Saber or Monty or even Ollie. She stalks me. She blocks my path. When I try to go for the ball, she lunges and nips at me. I don’t like it much. Today, Gretchen captured the event. The first photo is of my ball in the distance (the orange orb), Gemma in between me and my ball, and then me first wondering what I should do and then second saying to Gretchen, “See how she is?”

inbetweensee?

To distract Gemma, Gretchen tries to get her to play fetch, but it takes some doing. I appreciate her efforts, but still, it would be nice if Gemma wouldn’t get between me and my ball.

ballfaceballface2

innocent

After we played, we went for a walk up over the hill and back down through the park. That’s when it started to rain a little harder. So we rushed Gemma home, toweled her off and then headed over to get Saber for one last time.

When we first arrive, Saber is very sleepy. He stretches and yawns and slowly emerges from his kennel. Then he gets a whiff of me. Gretchen has me wait outside, but Saber can smell me even from inside his house. That’s when he starts to get excited. His big tail sways back and forth, he clomps around like a horse impatient as Gretchen tries to put on his harness, and then tries really hard not to bust through the screen door to get to me. It’s kind of cute.

Since we’d played at the tennis courts earlier that day, we decided to just go for a walk, so up and over the hill we went with a stop at the park overlooking the I90 bridge. For a 5 month old, Saber is really good at the STAY command. I am too, of course, but I’m a lot older and I get to practice it all the time!

staygoodstay

After our photo shoot, we headed up over the hill and Saber got really excited again when he smelled the doggie water dish at the overlook park. He gulped down water wagging his tail the whole time and I got to take a drink out of the drinking fountain. That water is the best! We headed back down the hill to Saber’s house and he obediently kenneled up waiting for her peanut butter treat. I waited outside and then wagged my tail when I smelled Gretchen coming.

It was good day. I didn’t have to wear my raincoat not even once. Hey, now that I think about it, Grandma, there is one thing that stinks…that Red Raincoat!

Until Tomorrow,

Rubin

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Posted in: Gemma, Ollie, Rosie, Rubin's Buddies, Saber, Tail Waggin' News / Tagged: , , , ,

November 9, 2009

November 9, 2009 8:57 pm / Leave a Comment /

You Smell Like a Wet Human

It was wet again today, but not as wet as last week. Of course, it’s only Monday. Who knows what the rest of the week will bring, but today, it smelled like wet human. Of course, that would be Gretchen. She got mighty wet today and the smell was pretty bad. Sorry, Gretchen, but it’s true. Everyone always tells me that dogs smell bad when they’re wet, but frankly, I don’t even smell it when I’m wet and I know my sense of smell is far superior to that of any humans.

But since I love Gretchen and since I love my work, I put up with the smell as best I could.

The day started rain and while I got a short walk in the morning, I didn’t go out with Gretchen when she suited up Rosie and Tyson in their fashionable raincoats and played at the Judkins tennis courts. Of all the dogs we walked today, those two got most of the rain and neither of them was very happy about it.

Gretchen wasn’t either because lots of rain means very few photographs…but here’s what we’ve got! Tyson questioning why they are out in the rain and Rosie trying to shake it off!  Notice those rain drops!

that's rain

shakingitoff

Playing fetch…

goingout

raindropsdancingintherain

Unfortunately, those are the only photos Gretchen got because everything was getting soggy — especially Gretchen!

Next up were Oshi and Perrito and this time I got to go with them…only I had to wear my raincoat! I really didn’t understand why because 10 minutes into our walk, it stopped raining! Still, it was pretty wet and since Gretchen didn’t change out of her wet clothes into dry clothes, she was smelling pretty ripe.

morerainugh

While it stopped raining by the time we got to the tennis courts, it was still pretty wet and Oshi was none too pleased. Perrito was just interested in figuring out how to pick up the big orange and blue ball, which he eventually mastered!

yuckhelp?

superyucksoggy

I wasn’t too happy either. I mean, here I was, playing my favorite game wearing the dreaded raincoat and it’s not even raining. I tried to peel that thing right off me, but it just wouldn’t budge!

come off!

And still Perrito tried to figure out which ball was the smallest!

whichone

After we dried off from that walk, we picked up Saber. By then it wasn’t raining at all so we headed out on a nice walk circling back around to the tennis courts because Saber was mighty energetic. See the sunshine? Ahhhh, that was very nice.

sunplaychase

comebackhackles

And then Michael and Desi showed up and we all had fun in the sun!

dancing

desiplaywme

Well, Desi didn’t have as much fun as Saber and I did. He’s kind of a shy guy. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve seen him run around with the best of them, but he’s very choosy about where and with whom he’ll run around. Saber kept trying though. Desi just wasn’t buying…at least, not today.

desi2

gettingtiredslowingdown

Eventually Michael and Desi moseyed on and Saber started to slow down. Then it was time for our treat before we walked a tired Saber home in the glow of the afternoon sun.

Oh…and in the wake of a wet human.

treats

Until tomorrow!

Rubin

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Posted in: Oshi, Perrito, Rosie, Rubin's Buddies, Saber, Tail Waggin' News, Tyson / Tagged: , , , ,

November 6, 2009

November 6, 2009 6:21 pm / Leave a Comment /

jumpingStarting Out with a Bang!

We headed out this morning for a short walk. I was going to stay home for awhile and Gretchen was going to put her last day of teaching in for the week. As we walked, the sky opened up and the Dogs threw every ounce of water they possessed down on us. I mean every last drop. And then, about a block from home, a huge light in the sky bolted across the black-gray clouds followed almost instantly by a loud crack and rumble that lifted me right off the ground.

I freaked. I bolted straight for the gate, extending my leash into a taut line of nerves. Yes, even though I come across as a tough dog, I was scared right out of my curls. There was no way I was going to go to school with Gretchen this morning. Even if she wanted to take me, I was just fine curled up in my bed at home.

Wow, what a way to start the day.

Luckily, that was the worst of it. By the time Gretchen got back from teaching, there was wind, but the rain had pretty much stopped. So we picked up Monty and Quillette and went for walk up on the hill and then back home. Gretchen left us there while she walked Saber, all by his lonesome, and they walked back up the hill to the tractor in the garden.

goodboyyellowrope

Saber, apparently, has a really good STAY command as Gretchen stepped back and snapped as many photos as she could of Saber on the tractor…

good staypeekaboo

…and then Saber on the Salmon bench.

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They wandered their way through the neighborhoods on the hill and then they headed by to Saber’s house. Next up were Rosie and Tyson and Gretchen could see the black clouds gathering on the horizon. They walked through the park quickly and then she stopped at the tennis courts to see it they wanted to romp and romp they did! Who knew Tyson liked to play fetch?

fetchsideways

rosierompmorefetch

happycheeks

After she dropped Tyson and Rosie off, she raced back home to the house next door where the boys, Oshi and Perrito, were thrilled to see her. Well, they were only thrilled for the first 5 minutes of the walk because those black clouds that threatened earlier, opened up with full force. She cut their walk short (after they’d done their business), took them back home, toweled them off, and promised she’d come back one more time in the afternoon to finish their time together. The boys were just happy to be in a warm house curled up in their beds!

Gretchen waited at home with Quillette, Monty and me (we all ate some warm lunch) for the rain to stop and when it did, she tried to pick up Oshi and Perrito again. They were having none of it. They just laid there and looked at her like she was crazy, so she came back to the house and got Monty and me. All of us went for a short walk and then Gretchen captured us on the porch in a weird light.

lightontheporch

Yes, that’s sun on the leaves and sun on the porch. It felt really nice. I mean, really really nice.

It made Quillette fall asleep and Monty all itchy. Me? I just wanted to go play in it!

sleepyitchy

We walked over to Saber’s house again and then for a walk through the park. We ended up at the tennis courts for some wild and crazy times, just as the sun was making a glorious appearance.

saberMonty

chasingbouncy

bencharoundcorner

happychaseison

benchmancomeon

sabertailcomeonplay

And then, if the sunshine weren’t enough, then Gemma and her dads showed up!

gemmaroughdogs

Monty played, though it took some nagging from me, but he really just wanted to hang out on his bench and look beautiful in the afternoon soon. Heck, we all looked kind of beautiful in the sun!

looking goodthreedogs

allfoursballman

sunrubs

We took Saber home after that then raced to the school to meet up with our student only to find out that our student didn’t have a good day. Bummer. So, home we went and Gretchen tried one more time to take the boys next door out. They were a bit more willing, but not super willing.

pumpkinheadsoshihead

let'sgo

The second she sent them back into their house, the skies opened up one more time and she got soaked just running from their house to ours — and we live right next door!

There are predictions of more flashes and big bangs scheduled for tonight. I am not looking forward to it, though I am looking forward to the weekend. Hope you are, too.

Until Monday,

Rubin

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Posted in: Gemma, Monty, Oshi, Perrito, Quillette, Rosie, Rubin's Buddies, Saber, Tail Waggin' News, Tyson / Tagged: , , , ,

November 5, 2009

November 5, 2009 7:00 pm / Leave a Comment /

mr.unhappyHow Soon We Forget

Seattle, rightfully or wrongly, is known for its rain. When we tell people not from Seattle that we live here, they often ask, “How can you handle all that rain?”

I did research today because I wanted to know…do I live in the rainiest city in the country? This is what I found out…

The 10 rainiest cities in the U.S. by amount of annual rainfall include:

  • Mobile, Alabama–67 inches average annual rainfall; 59 average annual rainy days
  • Pensacola, Florida–65 inches average annual rainfall; 56 average annual rainy days
  • New Orleans, Louisiana–64 inches average annual rainfall; 59 average annual rainy days
  • West Palm Beach, Florida–63 inches average annual rainfall; 58 average annual rainy days
  • Lafayette, Louisiana–62 inches average annual rainfall; 55 average annual rainy days
  • Baton Rouge, Louisiana–62 inches average annual rainfall; 56 average annual rainy days
  • Miami, Florida–62 inches average annual rainfall; 57 average annual rainy days
  • Port Arthur, Texas–61 inches average annual rainfall; 51 average annual rainy days
  • Tallahassee, Florida–61 inches average annual rainfall; 56 average annual rainy days
  • Lake Charles, Louisiana–58 inches average annual rainfall; 50 average annual rainy days

Do you see Seattle on that list? Me either. We only get 32 inches a year, but still people think that Seattle is sokind of wet depressing because of all the rain. The rain doesn’t really get to you. It’s the gray. It’s the cloudy, overcast days that never end. True, we get rain, but it’s rarely that hard rain like you find in the Midwest or that thunderstorm rain of Mobile, Alabama or Miami, Florida. It’s just a steady rain that sometimes blows around when the wind kicks up, but it’s only 32 inches in a year.

Of course, we got that 32 inches today. Or so it felt like it. We started our work at 10:30 this morning and five hours later, three raincoats, two pairs of rain pants, three pairs of shoes, three hats, and a complete change of clothes later, we came home to towel off. It was so bad today I had to wear my dreaded red coat.

shakeThat means it was a wet day. But I’m maturing and only raised a ruckus for about 30 minutes. After that, I was resigned to the fact that I had to wear the coat and just about everyone else we walked today wore one, too.

I’d forgotten how wet these months can be. And now, with the prediction of El Nino, it looks like that red raincoat might be something I’ll have to wear until next July when the sun decides to stick around for longer than 15 minutes.

That’s what happened today. 15 minutes of no rain followed by two hours of rain and then 10 minutes of sprinkles followed by sideways rain. Good thing Gretchen only brushed me out last night and didn’t give me a bath. Heck, she could have bathed me today. Just add a little soap to all those showers falling from the sky and I’d have been a clean man in no time at all.

So while we took some photographs, they were often taken under cover or between raindrops. We were actually looking through the photographs tonight and some were kind of blurry. “Why is that?” I asked Gretchen.

“I think it’s raindrops on the lens,” she sighed.

I think she’s right.

Our day started with Ollie and surprisingly when we set out, it wasn’t raining. Of course, that didn’t last long so Gretchen pulled out my red coat to put on the little boy. Unfortunately (and I mean this in so many ways) the red coat in her backpack was my newer, larger one and well, it looked a bit big on little Mr. Ollie. He didn’t seem to mind too much, though he wasn’t really in the mood for playing in the downpour. Not me, I was all for it because HE was wearing the raincoat and not me!

nocoatnotsomuch

playinghomenow?

We walked back to our house so I could be left to eat my breakfast and he could get the right coat for their walk back to Ollie’s house.

After Ollie came Rosie. Rosie has a coat, but for the life of her, Gretchen always chooses the wrong one to put on her. Whose coat is Rosie’s? Oops, it’s the yellow one, not the green. Actually, the green coat is a little longer in the back and with the skies opening up today, it covered her tail and protected it from the rain.

They walked up the Bradner Gardens where Rosie took cover under the shelter while Gretchen stood outside to get a photo of the wrong-coated girl.

undercoverkindawet

closeup

After Rosie got dried off and taken home, Gretchen swung by Gemma’s house, strapped her into her green coat, and then headed through the park back to our house. I knew I was doomed when I saw hearty Gemma in a raincoat and boy, was I right.

ughmiserable

Gemma and I walked in the rain with me twitching the whole time and Gemma slamming her back end into me wanting to play. It wasn’t playing weather nor was I wearing my play clothes!

We took Gemma home, toweled her off, and then walked up to Alice’s house. Guess what? Yep, she’s got a raincoat too. By then the rain was really coming down so we made our way up to Woobie’s house doing our best to get our business done and not getting too wet. It was hard to do, let me tell you.

Gretchen had the zoom lens on the camera, so she couldn’t get a photo of all three of us taking shelter on Woobie’s porch, but as you can see, Alice was fine just sitting under the roof and not going for any more of a walk.

stay here?let's go

I'm fine

But walk we did and Woobie and I led the way, searching for those squirrels in the park. Can I just say, those little pipsqueaks like to torment me. Just look at him, trying to hide with his gray fuzzy body against a gray rainy sky!

pestgrayman

We took Alice home, toweled her off, too and then Woobie, Gretchen and I headed south to pick up Saber. Woobie gets to go coatless, might I point out, though Gretchen says she lives in a permanent coat under all that hair so we should give her a break.

And Saber? No coat for him, either, but he didn’t seem to mind that it was raining, that I was wearing a coat, or that Woobie had long hair. Nope. Nothing bothers that kid. So we played at the tennis courts and surprisingly, got our 15 minutes of no rain right in the middle.

wetshadowswetwoobie

runningrainchase

new friendspounce

hairgirlget her

tagturning

wetmugstraightup

can'tgetmechaseison

upoffgroundgotya

windy

We walked through the park after that and stopped by the school to see if our student had had a good day. Unfortunately, he had not, but I was kind of glad because our 15 minutes of no rain turned into a downpour more fierce than anything we’d seen that day.

We took Saber home, toweled him off, and then we thought about walking Woobie home. Since she’d been with us for almost two hours, we decided to all pile into the car and drive her back home. I think Woobie really appreciated that. I know I did because my very wet red raincoat got taken off me and I could once again breathe again.

Woobie got toweled off twice, though we’re not sure how much good it did and when I got home, I was toweled off so vigorously I thought we were playing tug of war and got all crazy for a few minutes.

But the one who really needed toweling off was Gretchen. Soaked to the skin, she jumped into the shower then toweled off and put on her favorite sweats and wool sweater so as not to catch a cold. We both ate a filling dinner (thanks Rosie and Tyson’s parents for the delicious salmon!) and are ready to curl up for our nightly massage session. Oh, how I’m looking forward to that!

How soon we forget how much these wet days can take it out of us! Good thing we don’t live and work in Mobile, Alabama!

Until Tomorrow,

Rubin

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Posted in: Alice, Gemma, Ollie, Rosie, Rubin's Buddies, Saber, Tail Waggin' News, Woobie / Tagged: , , , ,

November 4, 2009

November 4, 2009 7:19 pm / Leave a Comment /

posingDance of the Three Leashes

Gretchen says she can walk four dogs at once as long as the dogs are good on the leash. I’ve seen her do it, but when I’m one of the dogs at the end of the leash, I like for there to only be three leashes involved. Why? Because otherwise I have to watch Gretchen do the Dance of the Four Leashes, which means we don’t walk as far as fast. When it’s the Dance of the Three Leashes, a dance she’s pretty good at, then our progress is much more satisfying.

We walked a lot of dogs today — again, two of them twice — and I had to remind Gretchen on numerous occasions that three leashes is enough. Thankfully, she listened.

I stayed at home this morning to rest up after a busy day yesterday and an athletic agility class last night. The rest was much appreciated. When Gretchen got home, though, our work began again. First, we walked up to Monty’s house and with a loud WOOF, he announced his pleasure of seeing us. We then walked through the park and over to Saber’s house who, though he didn’t bark, was very excited to see us — especially Uncle Monty. We made our way over to the tennis courts because we all needed to stretch our legs.

attackchase

slowmoracing

yeehawunder

big doghappy dog

benchbenchman

Well, Monty stretched them a little and then he did his bench trick, which Saber and I found fascinating.

fascinating

After our romp, we went for a nice walk to take care of our business and then took Saber home. But we reminded him that we’d be back in the afternoon. He was very happy about that.

Gretchen dropped Monty and me off for a brief rest while she went to Rosie’s house. Now Rosie has the Dance of the Tail down perfectly. When she hears Gretchen coming up the stairs, she spins and spins and spins in delight. After enthusiastic greetings where Gretchen rubs Rosie all over and Rosie snorts her delight, they went for a nice walk.

As I’ve mentioned, Rosie is very shy when it comes to the camera and today, since the weather was so nice, Rosie was all about checking out the last of the fall colors. Finally, Gretchen got her to look at the camera and Gretchen tried to get as close as possible to that beautiful face.

niceviewbeauty

closeupsweetie

Of course, in the middle of their beauty photo shoot, Rosie shook her head and slobber went flying. Still, she’s a sweet-faced pup, isn’t she?

slobbersweetface

Once Rosie went home, Gretchen made her way over to Gemma’s house– another dog we got to see twice today. Gemma was very excited to see Gretchen and after their walk through the park, they came by the house so Gretchen could Monty lunch and Gemma and I could play in the backyard. That was super fun since Gemma and I play a lot alike. We make lots of noise, show our teeth, but never bite each other.

boxingtwoheads

goingunderattacking

crazedteeth

trailingstalking

That Gemma. She’s very persistent and eventually, Gretchen had to leash us up and take us for a walk. Monty rested and digested at home.

We took Gemma home with another promise of seeing her later.

Next, we walked back to our neighborhood and picked up the boys next door. We were going to play at the tennis courts, but the weather was so nice today, there were tennis players who beat us to it. Oh well. We walked through the park and Gretchen did her best to get a photo of the three of us.

3 of us

The problem with the boys, which really isn’t a problem unless you’re trying to take photos of them, is that they don’t like to sit in one spot. Well, Perrito will especially if he’s next to me, but Oshi is always looking for a way down and back to Gretchen.

nexttomeeyesclosed

Finally, I had to tell Oshi to sit politely, stop trying to jump down, and behave. He looked at me with the utmost respect and did exactly what he was told. Good Oshi.

goodoshi

Once the boys went home, Monty and I hung out in the sunshine of the back porch until Gretchen had to go back to Saber’s house for one last walk. On the way there, she ran into Jessica and Quillette and once they picked up Saber, all four of them went on a walk. Boo hoo. I wanted to walked with my Auntie Jessica.

Jessica was very surprised by how big Saber had become. He is almost as tall as Quillette and pretty close to weighing as much. But unlike Quillette, he hasn’t quite figured out how to get his body moving in the same direction.  Well, that is until Quillette shakes her head. Saber think she moves pretty funny, too!

twodogsshaking

Gretchen and Saber walked Quillette and Jessica home and then they came by our house and picked us up so we could walk Saber home. Three big dogs, three long leashes — yes, the dance got a bit more athletic!

Once Saber went home, Monty and I headed over to the school to meet up with our student. This was our second day in a row and we were very excited to play with him. Actually, Monty got to play with him and I had to practice my being patient trick.

I haven’t really mastered that trick very well.

fetchpatient?

So the student and Monty played a little fetch and then the student decided to take as many photographs of us as he could — especially of Monty. That kid is turning into a pretty good photographer, don’t ya think?

Uncle Montyrollaround

treats

Once we sent the student back to class, Monty and I rested for a bit before we walked Monty home. I think we tuckered him out pretty well today, but you never know with that Monty. He’s a pretty energetic fellow when he wants to be.

Finally, in the cover of darkness, we walked Ms. Gemma one last time. Gemma was surprised to see us, but after our walk, she got to hang out at the house for a bit because her family would not be home until later and well, we didn’t want her to be lonely.

So while we had a lot of dogs today, Gretchen never walked more than three at a time. She took my advice, thank dogness, and so hopefully tonight, she won’t be too tired or sore.

Oh wait. Maybe I want her to be too tired and sore. I think I heard a rumor about a grooming and a bath. A Gretchen, can we talk about this? All that stuff I said about you not dancing the Dance of Four Leashes very well…I was just kidding.

Really. Ha ha?

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

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Posted in: Gemma, Monty, Oshi, Perrito, Quillette, Rosie, Rubin's Buddies, Saber, Tail Waggin' News / Tagged: , , , ,

November 3, 2009

November 3, 2009 8:51 pm / Leave a Comment /

What’s Expected

I shouldn’t grumble, but some days there’s a lot expected of me. Today, for instance, drive to the airport to send Ann off to Arizona, then high tail it back to school to teach a bit, then play with Ollie, then rest a smidge, while Gemma and Saber played and Gretchen walked Rosie, then I got to play with Saber, and then, amazingly, play with Gemma. It’s like I was seeing double!

But my day was not over. Next up was agility class, which is a lot of fun, but let me tell you, it’s work, too. I have to focus, I have hit my contacts, I have to watch carefully for directions and I have to learn all this new stuff like “out” and “right” and “left” and make that scary teeter-totter bang on the ground.

For a dog, there is a lot expected of me and this is partly why, despite the amazingly yummy things Gretchen has put into my dinner, I’m refusing to eat it. I’m just too pooped! Which also means I’m too pooped to do too much on this blog. My apologies, but I think if you look at the photos below, you’ll understand my decision not to eat and not to blog. I am one tired dog and it’s only Tuesday.

Now I shall rest.

Until tomorrow,

Rubin (Photos of the day below!)

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Posted in: Gemma, Ollie, Rosie, Rubin's Buddies, Saber, Tail Waggin' News / Tagged: , , , ,

November 2, 2009

November 2, 2009 5:26 pm / Leave a Comment /

candy?Hey, Where’s My Candy?

We had quite a night on Saturday. Strange creatures rang our doorbell and demanded candy.

Say what?

It was disturbing, so disturbing I ended up doing a lot of barking that night and being sent to my mat to wait and watch as all sorts of candy went out the door in the hands of the little, strange creatures.

I tell you, if I had the time, I could write quite a book on humans. They have the oddest rituals none of which involve giving candy to dogs.

Bummer, though Gretchen tells me I wouldn’t like the results. There are so many times when I have to trust her. It’s a good thing I do.

In addition to the candy-thieving munchkins, somehow we gained an extra hour and boy, do I ever feel fat (tee hee!). Actually, it threw me off my game. Normally I sleep and then rise when the sun peeks through the windows, but I swear, it peeked earlier than usual. And all day, well, I felt out of sorts and kind of sleepy.

But there was work today, starting with a morning of teaching young students how to write a scene for a movie. Wow, talk about excitement. Those students were like wasps in the summer, buzzing around the room with such purpose, it made my head spin. That’s why Gretchen dropped me off at the house for a brief rest while she picked up Tyson and Rosie for a nice walk through the park.

at the parkshadows

Gretchen is still working hard to get them to stop following her whenever she takes pictures, but they are so intent on the treats in her backpack, pockets, and hands, they follow her like little lambs after their mother. They’re not exactly little lambs, though are they?

little lambcute lamb

treats?

Once she dropped them off at home, she picked up Gemma and headed back to the house to get me. I was happy to see Gemma who seemed unfazed by any of the weird happenings of the weekend. She was into hunting squirrels and while Gretchen tried to take pictures of us, we sat patiently and watched the squirrels off in the distance.

squirrel?I think so

see that?

Did you see that?

what's that?defsquirrel

Once we dropped Gemma off at home, we picked up Oshi and Perrito and headed over the tennis courts for a game of fetch. Well, I fetched, as usual, and Perrito chased after me or begged treats from Gretchen while Oshi rolled in the crumbs Perrito left on the ground. How silly is that?

play timefetch

cookie?I'm coming

See how differently we beg? Perrito is like white on rice giving that pleading look up from his Cone of Shame. I do what I’m told (most of the time) and lie down until the treat is delivered. Oshi looks excited, but never eats the treats. Never. What’s with that?

treats here?rolling

After dropping the boys off back at home, we wandered over to Saber’s house where, once again, the boy has grown. He’s bigger than me! See! How’d that happen? They do grow up so fast, don’t they?

looking overbig boy

We played at the tennis courts too because, unlike the boys next door, Saber really likes to play fetch. He’s getting better at it every day, but isn’t quite as good as it as I am. But he’s still young.

almostracing

goingup

My job, as his older friend, is to torment him, which I enjoy doing very much — teasing him with the ball while he tries to ignore me. It’s hard to do!

teasetorment

torment2turnaround

We walked over to the school to see if we could visit our student-friend, but apparently, it wasn’t a good day. We were both very sad about that. Then we headed back through the park to Saber’s house where he raced into his kennel to await his treat.

When we left his house, I turned to the right, but Gretchen surprised me and pulled me to the left — back to the park — where we played a game of fetch all alone. That was really nice of her. She knew the weekend had thrown me off and she wanted to ground me in the NOW with one of my favorite activities! And it was really nice because as much as I like her photographs, we just played — no pictures taken.

Now we’re cooking something yummy for dinner because I smell bacon and chicken and lots of garlic. I know that Gretchen likes to give me some of the juices in my kibble from her cooking and tonight, I think my dinner will be particularly delicious.

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

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Posted in: Gemma, Oshi, Perrito, Rosie, Rubin's Buddies, Saber, Tail Waggin' News, Tyson / Tagged: , , , ,