A Friday in Poem

Fridays come but once a week

The end of something, though not its peak

While Mondays are slow to go and to start

Fridays take extra effort and more heart

Our feet are tired and our legs are sore

And the weekend is something we long for

But first the Friday must we traverse

And though it’s hard, it could be worse

There could be no Saturday so we could sleep in

Or long, slow Sunday where we wash our sins

While Friday’s hard, I’m glad for the day

And ours was quite nice, it went this way:

First was Monty all bouncy with glee

He knew he was walking over to see me

Then Oshi and Perrito joined our group

We all walked around until we pooped

We smiled and smelled and posed on a rock

Pleased there was no rain, oh what a shock

The boys looked good in their fancy new dos

And on our walk, they sure did cruise

But home they went to a warm retreat

While Monty and I were served something to eat

Gretchen walked Rosie down through the park

And she sniffed and she smelled, but she never did bark

She wagged her tail at each smell she found

But it’s so little it doesn’t quite go round

It wiggles a bit and sticks right out

Making her look like she’s got some clout

She scrunched up her face after a tasty snack

And trotted along on their way back

Once in the house her belly was scratched

While treats were left for her to snatch

Gemma was next and yes, in a hurrry

She raced to Saber’s with his coat of gray furry

They walked and they cuddled at the end of their tethers

And talked about love, and not about the weather

The courts where they played were busy indeed

Where two people rode a rolling flat-like steed

Well that’s what I’d call it though skateboard’s the name

And for Gemma, good grief, oh what a game

She chased those boards but kept her distance

Not trusting the wheels, not for an instant

Saber chased Gemma because he could not understand

Her fixation so great, her focus so grand

“Play with me,” he cried in the drops of rain

But Gemma was gone like a mighty fast train

She raced and she raced around in a circle

That she didn’t get dizzy is sure quite a miracle

Saber raced too but he didn’t know why

Though he had fun slobbering up Gemma’s red thigh

They went for a walk up on the ridge

And through the gardens, across the bridge

They posed together after a stop at the fountain

While staring at the distant snow covered mountains

Then back to their homes they each did go

While Monty and I waited to go

And go we went once Gretchen returned

To the small little park where we each took a turn

Chasing the ball and bringing it back

Then dropping the ball in return for a snack

We huffed and we puffed our way back home

Where I sat down and wrote this poem

Friday, you see, is quite fun to end

And I’m very thankful I have all these friends.

Have a great weekend!

Rubin

An Education

Being a Dog Teacher (escorting Gretchen to her classroom each day), I have learned a great deal from our students. I know, I know, teachers say that all the time, but in my case, it’s quite true. Today I learned this.

Student One: Why do dogs lick themselves like that? (I happened to be licking myself in what humans consider to be a private area.)

Student Two: Because they don’t make doggie toilet paper!

Brilliant, yes? They don’t make doggie toilet paper and though that’s not really the reason I lick myself, I thought it was a brilliant and thoughtful response.

But I’ve learned far more than this. Mostly what I’ve learned is that there are a million different types of students and each of the requires a certain kind of education. Like dogs, children are all unique and what works for one may not always work for the other.

That makes my job as a Dog Teacher particularly difficult and though I’m still young, I’m trying my best to master the art of education.

These thoughts swirled in my head today and for fun, I decided to picture our dog clients (and my friends) as students in our classroom.

First up was Ollie. If Ollie were a human student he would be the kind of nerdy kid who likes to play with Legos and knows the circumference of the tallest tree in the world, weird stuff like that. His favorite subject would be science and he’d get giddy if he got to run his own experiment with Bunsen burners and bubbling chemicals.

Oh, and he’d be the kid who can’t stay in his seat. He’d squirm and twist all day long, popping up every few minutes to sharpen his pencil or get a drink of water. He’d fidget with paper clips and sit on his knees, but he’d do it all with this winning smile that would melt the heart of even the meanest of teachers.

Gemma, on the other hand, would be the kid who always poked you when you were trying to work. “Hey,” she’d say and then ask you endless questions like, “When’s recess? What’s for lunch? You wanna play with me?” Gemma would be the student who never heard the instructions the first time and had to ask for the teacher to repeat them or even worse, ignore the instructions altogether and then halfway through the class ask, “What are we supposed to do?”

Gemma would be the kid who was loved by some and annoyed by others. She’d have her favorite friends (like Saber), but she wouldn’t ignore those who weren’t her friends. Instead, she’d try to get under their last nerve and with great persistence , tease them until she got a rise out of them.

Whereas Ollie would be the science geek, Gemma would excel at theater, the star of the play, and president of the Drama Club. She’d win awards for her acting skills and her willingness to sacrifice her body for her art.

Saber would be the hunky football player though prone to spats of klutziness. He’d be a linebacker who always wore his jersey even when it wasn’t game day. When he moved through the hallways, everyone would step aside, but that wouldn’t stop him from saying hello to everyone by giving them a slightly too rough of a punch in the arm.

While teachers might at first stereotype him as the dumb jock, he’d wow them with his adroit math skills and his love of history. While handsome and athletic, he’d wear glasses when he studied and send Valentine’s to everyone in class. Of course, everyone would know he was sweet on Gemma though his friends would caution against dating an older (and wilder) upper classmate. Still, he’d have a hard time controlling his feelings for her and faithfully attend every play she performed in.

Rosie would be the shy, studious girl with her nose in a book and a fear of taking risks (though today she climbed through the tractor to get the treats…way to go Rosie!).

The most misunderstood, Rosie would appear to despise the world, but then melt under the loving attention of those who took the time to know her.

Her favorite subject would be psychology. Though she wouldn’t be the girl to always have her hand up in class with the right answer, when called upon she’d correctly answer any question posed as well as provide detailed examples to explain her thinking.

Alice would be friends with Rosie, if they’d only emerge from their shy selves long enough to actually meet. Like Rosie, Alice would enjoy a good book, but would rather spend her time sniffing out the correct answer on complicated calculus problems. A rather short temper, Alice would struggle during recess and often might find herself in the principal’s office, but because of her intelligence, she’s learned to avoid these confrontations by steering clear of trouble (or growling at it if it threatens to come near).

Alice would also be a risk taker. Case in point, she got distracted by a bee today and wanted to eat it. Now that’s daring!

Woobie, on the other hand, would be very popular, not just because of her long, flowing locks, but also because of her genuinely sincere and friendly personality. While not overly effusive, Woobie would be a leader among her peers, not in a bold and brash manner, but in more of a subtle and refined way.

Woobie would be good at all subjects though she’d never boast about her success or her winning SAT score. Humble and secure with herself, she’d know when to play and when to be quiet, when to offer a smile and when to just sit back and observe. And though she has all the potential in the world to be a doctor or a lawyer or a CEO, she’d choose to become a teacher unconcerned with money and fame.

Oh, and let me not forget Henry (because we ran into him today at the tennis courts). He’d be the newest kid in the class, but also the youngest having skipped a couple of grades because he was so smart. In short order, he’d be considered the class mascot and take the oath of his office quite seriously.

Me? Well, when I was first adopted, my moms were told that I’d be the kid with my hand always up in the air, the one who thought he knew the answer, but may in fact not. I’d be the class clown, they were told, and would need firm boundaries to rein in my overly enthusiastic tendencies.

Knowing this is perhaps why my moms give me lots and lots of exercise and have channeled my energy into writing. They knew I’d need to find many ways to express myself as well as a cadre of friends to keep my entertained.

Now, if we were all in the same classroom together, I’d feel sorry for the teacher, but luckily we’re all sort of home schooled and allowed to go on many wondrous field trips so that no one teacher has to endure us all at the same time!

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

PS — More photos from today below!

Better You Than Me!

I heard rumblings yesterday evening about the groomer. Even though I was tired from agility class, my ears perked up immediately. I looked at myself in the mirror and mumbled, “I don’t need no stinking haircut!”

But it wasn’t me they were talking about. It was Oshi, Perrito, and Blackie. Whew!

That’s why we drove the car to school today, too, so Gretchen could pick up the boys and escort them to the groomer without crimping our schedule. So while I didn’t have to visit Liliana (said groomer), I did have to share the car with 3 small dogs. Jeez!

It’s a good thing I’m such a nice fellow. I mean, I like my space and generally don’t like sharing it with others, especially the car, but hey, they were heading to the groomer so I needed to be nice!

Once they got dropped off, we headed back home but only for a blink of a second. Monty was waiting for us at his house so we hiked up there, picked him up, and went for a nice long walk. Gretchen didn’t take many pictures of us today, which was fine with me, but we don’t have evidence of our walk. Too bad because it was kind of foggy and everything around us looked really cool.

When we got home, Gretchen fed us and herself before she raced off to pick up Rosie — an addition to our schedule. Rosie got to walk in the fog, too, but slowly it started to lift. While it just looks like white lights behind her in these photos, it’s actually fog enshrouding Mt. Rainier. Gretchen says it was kind of surreal — the Mountain looked like it was floating on the clouds.

But it was so white, everything just gets drowned out in the background. Oh well, at least Rosie is cute!

By the time Rosie made her way home, the fog lifted, which made Gemma and Saber very happy. They got to play for a bit at the small field — Gemma chasing Saber who fetched the ball…

…and then Gemma chasing Saber who gave up the ball for a stick…

…and then Saber chasing Gemma who stole the stick, but he stole it right back…

…and finally smiling because they like each other so much!

After their small romp they walked up the hill and down the hill where Gretchen made an attempt to pose them with the fog-lifted cityscape in the background. Saber was a good boy, but Gemma struggled staying in one place.

Gemma got dropped off first, then Saber and that’s when Gretchen’s phone rang. The boys at the groomer were ready.

Did I say whew?  Well let me say it again… Whew! Better you than me!

She hiked back up the hill, picked up the newly cleaned and shaven pups and then walked two of them home. Oh, with a stop along the way for the “after” photo!

Oshi and Perrito were happy to race into their house and even though Blackie wanted to go inside their house, too, he came to our house to pick Monty and me up for a walk. We escorted Blackie home and visited for a short minute with his very happy mom. Blackie seemed as happy about his new hairdo as his mom. Did I say whew?

That’s when Monty and I got to go the little field and play fetch! Yahoo!

Again, no photos because well, it was too much fun playing fetch to worry about the right shot. Of course, the fog moved back in so by the time we finished and headed out on a walk, the sun was gone again. Still, there was a glow in the air. Can you see it?

We’ve been resting since we got home though Monty reminded me I needed to write my blog. What a good friend! Of course then he asked, “Do you think we’ll have to go to the groomer soon?”

Dog, I hope not, but every day holds a new surprise, doesn’t it?

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

Staying Focused

When Gretchen and I are in agility class, Sandra (the instructor) is often heard yelling, “Get you hand out of your pockets!” Since I don’t have pockets, this is obviously an instruction for Gretchen who keeps dog treats in her pockets always. Always!

If Gretchen reaches into her pockets too soon to pull out a reward for me, I lose my focus. Since I’m such a smart dog, I know what a hand in a pocket means and I stop dead in my tracks waiting to be rewarded. This isn’t good if I’m on the top of the A frame (a wooden structure shaped like an “A” that i must run up, then down, and then stop at the bottom and wait for the next instruction). If Gretchen’s hand goes into her pocket, I’m sure to stop a the top of the A frame and well, that defeats the purpose of being a fast and obedient dog on the agility course.

But I’m not the only one focused on Gretchen’s pockets. Ollie, our first walk of the day, always sniffs at Gretchen’s pockets when we first arrived. He knows that goodness flows from those pockets and he stares at them with as much attention as his wiggly self can muster.

Gemma, on the other hand, knows all about the pockets, but if something else is more interesting – a squirrel, another dog, god forbid a cat — she loses any focus she’d mustered for the pockets. But when she focuses on the pockets, she focuses as only a terrier can do.

As you can see, these two got to walk together today. I was at home NOT eating my breakfast while these two checked out the foggy view of the city.

The fog cleared, though, revealing a nice day. Not completely cloud free, but still, no rain and lots of blue skies.  Ollie and Gemma had every intention of playing at the tennis courts, but they were being used so instead, they hiked up the hill and visited Dog Mania (pet store) for a bit and then walked along the ridge back to Ollie’s house where Ollie received a treat from one of those anointed pockets he so diligently watches!

Gemma then made her way back to her house, but her eyes and nose were more fixed on squirrels than pockets.

Rosie was up next and for some reason, the pocket of joy are a sign for Rosie to get a bit worried. This is a new phenomenon, so Gretchen’s to changing the treat pocket and working on giving Rosie treats with her right hand instead of the left. And she’s also put them on top of things and encouraging Rosie to climb up to get them. It’s working. Even when another dog walks by, it’s working. Of course, the dog who walked by was Quillette with Jessica and let me tell you, Quillette knows how to focus on a pocket! She was little miffed she couldn’t come visit Gretchen, but Rosie’s shy that way, so Quillette had to begrudgingly make her way home.

After Rosie came Saber. Since Saber is so young, he’s still learning about the pockets of hope and love. And he’s still learning about focus.

Today he was solely focused on stealing my ball. It’s his new trick, but I’m patient. I know he’ll eventually drop it and when he does, that ball is mine!

Still, when he’s good and tired he completely understands what happens next when Gretchen puts her hand in her pocket! Even from far away!

Tonight is another agility class. I missed last week because Gretchen wasn’t feeling well, but today she’ll be in top form, I’m sure. So top, I hope, that Sandra won’t have to remind her to reward me AFTER I do the course, not during. Darn it!

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

Flummox

When I go to school with Gretchen, we start each class out with a Word of the Day. Today’s word was flummox. I almost barked when I heard Gretchen say it because I thought she’d sneezed, but then, as we got underway with our dog walking day, I understood how flummox might be used.

Flummox is a verb and it means to bewilder, confuse, perplex.

After teaching this morning, we headed home so I could get my breakfast, but when I arrived I was flummoxed by the presence of Jessica. I was confused and asked, “Why are you here?” She jumped because she’d been vacuuming and hadn’t heard us come in. I guess she was a bit flummoxed herself.

Gretchen headed over to Rosie and Tyson’s house while I helped Jessica clean the house as well as eat my breakfast. Gretchen is still bewildered by Rosie who still won’t take a treat from her hand unless all the right factors are in place — Gretchen’s hand is flat, she’s kneeling next to Rosie, and the treat is in Gretchen’s right hand not left.

Flummoxed indeed.

But they enjoyed their walk up to the gardens where Tyson tried convince Rosie that the treats — no matter hands, kneeling or what have you — taste wonderful!

Gretchen swung back home after she dropped the siblings off and then we went next door to pick up the boys — Oshi and Perrito. There’s no “flummoxing” about these two. Not sure that’s the correct use of the word, but the point is, these boys are creatures of habit. We’d planned on heading to the tennis courts, but since they were in use, we headed over to the other park where we walked and sniffed and too care of all those personal needs (wink, wink!).

But soon, the three of us were perplexed. While we posed for a photo on the bench, about 3 dogs raced and romped in the open field behind us. “Why not us?” Perrito asked me.

“Not sure, Perrito. I’m flummoxed,” was my response.

“Impressive vocabulary,” Oshi commented.

“Thanks. I’m working on building my vocabulary!”

We continued our walk through the park and finally dropped the boys back at home where they raced around the house trying out the new word — flummoxed, flummoxing, unflommoxed, flommoxation.

Our final walk of the day was with Saber. I thought we’d walk right over there, but Gretchen got the car keys and we drove to Saber’s house. Now that was confusing since he lives really close, but then I asked, “Hey, are we driving because we might go somewhere else?” I asked Gretchen.

“Perhaps,” Gretchen smiled.

But when we got out of the car, we ran into Gemma walking with her Dad and all plans changed. First, to the tennis courts so Gemma and Saber could burn off some LOVE ENERGY (since they love each other) and I could play some fetch.

We were going to head to Luther Burbank park, but since Saber and Gemma wanted to play together, we headed over to the dog park where only a few calm dogs were playing. Well, it was calm for awhile. That’s when I flummoxed Gretchen with my wild behavior.

“Why must you dig in the mud puddle?” she asked, bewildered, and I had no response. It’s my nature, I guess. Wild bad boy of the park.

Of course, Saber held his own, too. That’s him right next to me and he had a great time running around after all the dogs while I got super dirty!

Saber and I both got hosed down at the park and then we headed back to the tennis courts for a bit more play time so we could dry off. Of course, I still got a bath when I got home! Darn it! That was very flummoxing. Why take me to the muddy park if you don’t want me to get dirty!

I bet Saber is sound asleep right now. I should be too, but I have responsibilities that I must attend to — mainly this blog.

I’m still not quite certain how to use the word “flummox” every day, but tomorrow they’ll be another Word of the Day so I can spend the day working with that new word, too.

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

Quirky Worky = Freaky Friday

Our job is pretty routine. We teach in the morning and then we walk dogs the rest of the day. Not a bad gig, if you ask me, but then again, I’m a dog so teaching and walking are activities I’m good at. But today we had to be crime fighters and that threw some quirks into our work making this kind of a freaky Friday.

Everything started out okay. We work with our students in the morning, scurried out as soon as we could since we had to pick up Saber first. It’s not normal to walk Saber first but his parents have flown off to London and they left very early this morning. To make certain Saber wasn’t crossing his legs, we walked quickly to his house to check on him.

He was surprised though excited to see us so early and once he was leashed up, we headed through the park to Monty’s house. Monty is who we usually walk first on Fridays, but since Saber had a special need, Monty had to wait and be second today.

Oh my. Something just occurred to me, but I’ll tell the story first.

So, as we headed up the street from the park to Monty’s house, who do we see standing in the middle of the road? Monty. What? “Is his mom home?” I wondered quickly. “No, she wouldn’t let him out in the road.” And then it dawned on me — something’s wrong.

Boy was I ever right though I didn’t want to be. Someone had kicked in his door. Monty’s house had been robbed! We called the police. We called Monty’s mom at work. We waited for the police, but they didn’t show up before Monty’s mom arrived. She went inside and nothing was stolen.

What? Nothing? When the police did arrive (much later), they said that the current thefts have been about laptops and flat screen TVs. Monty has neither so they grabbed what they could — some cash — and raced out the door. After much deduction, we figured out that the thieves broke in sometime between 10 and 10:30. Here’s the thing I just thought about — IF we’d been on our normal schedule and walked Monty first, we would have run into those thieves maybe even preventing the break in.

I sure would have shown my police dog colors if that had happened!  Monty is one of my best friends and I would have bitten those nasty robbers where it hurts if I’d a seen ‘em.

Thankfully, though, they didn’t get much and the real cost is the new door they’ll have to have put in. Monty is safe, which makes me particularly happy, and though we didn’t stop a robbery in progress, we were right there to report the crime.

Of course, the whole thing set our timing off. I mean there we were, waiting for the police and Monty’s mom — all three of us (Saber, Monty, and me) and when no one came, we had to call Jessica and Quillette (who live on the next block) and ask them to wait since we had to get Saber home.

Very active morning, eh? Sorry…no pictures. We were too worried about everything to whip out the camera. Oh well. Saber was on the docket later as was Monty so we decided to get photos later. Happier photos.

Saber headed back home and Monty and I waited at our house while Gretchen walked Rosie. And if you remember, Gretchen needed to test her orange hand theory. Rosie has been a bit timid about taking treats from Gretchen. She assumed it was because she’d just peeled an orange right before walking Rosie, but that theory didn’t pan out. No orange and Rosie was still timid. Weird.

So on their walk, Gretchen worked on building trust again with Rosie who, by the end of the walk, wasn’t nearly as timid. Who knows why Rosie all of the sudden finds Gretchen’s hands kind of freaky.

After Rosie, Gretchen swung by Gemma’s house and then over the Oshi and Perrito’s so the three of them could play at the tennis courts.

They play kind of funny. Oshi hangs out as close as he can get to Gretchen…

Gemma and Perrito wait for Gretchen to throw the ball…

They chase the ball and each other, but neither one of them brings it back…go figure!

Still, everyone ran around a bit and that seemed to make them all happy.

What made me happy was when Gretchen swung by the house to pick us up to walk Gemma home and then we got to play fetch at the little field!

Because of the quirky day, Gretchen hadn’t eaten yet so we stopped by the house for a drink of water while she ate some leftovers. Just as we were heading out the door, Jessica came by with Quillette. They were going to walk to the library so we swung by Saber’s house again (our last walk of the day) and then made our way up to the library. Gretchen REALLY wanted to get a photo of the four of us outside the big glass windows of the library, but no one wanted to cooperate…well, accept me.

Saber wanted to roll around in the grass…

Monty wanted to play with me (yes, I’m right there behind him)…

And Quillette wanted treats and kept looking on the ground for droppings…Saber joined her!

This was the closest photo we could get and even though it looks like Saber is choking, he’s just trying to figure out a way to get his collar off. He hates that thing, but we love it because it keeps him from pulling too much.

On our way back to Saber’s house, I realized that the day had calmed down a bit. While our routine was interrupted in the morning, we got back on track and ended on a good note. Monty was happy to be home with his Mom this afternoon, Saber was ready for a long nap until the house sitters arrived, and I am ready to eat my dinner, curl up on my bed, and sleep until the sun comes up tomorrow morning.

Have a great weekend,

Rubin

PS — The skull photo was taken this afternoon…after the day was coming to a close. Gretchen thought it was the perfect punctuation mark to a very freaky Friday!

Cautionary Tails

Often, when I’m left home alone, the radio is on. Today’s topic (since it’s talk radio that I listen to) was driving while talking on a cell phone. They were asking for people to call in and give their opinions.

Oh, if only I had opposable thumbs! I would have picked up that phone and given the radio host an earful! I would have said, “Do you know how many times we’ve almost been hit while crossing the street IN THE CROSSWALK by people driving and talking or texting on their phones?”

Well, I can’t begin to tell you how many times, but it only takes once doesn’t it! Luckily, Gretchen’s been very alert and while she may shout or yell or sometimes even scream at the driver, I don’t think there’s any apology big enough to appease her anger.

Or mine.

So, my friends, this is a cautionary tail — PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don’t talk and drive, don’t text and drive. There are dog walkers out there (among many others) and they deserve…WE deserve to be seen and safe.

Okay, enough of my rant…down to business!

What a long, long day it’s been, but I still seem to be filled with untapped energy (much to Gretchen’s dismay). It started with school, as it always does, and there I got to lie around (under a desk or two) while the students read and then wrote in their writing journals. They all want me to sleep under their desk, but I choose the desk of the quietest, most studious student because Gretchen tells me this is good reinforcement! Whatever. I do it because I most likely won’t get kicked by the kid who can stay in their seat!

Gretchen hemmed and hawed all morning about how to schedule all the dogs we had to walk today. She eventually settled on the following — I’d walk with Ollie then Ollie with Gemma then Gemma with Saber then Rosie by herself then Alice with Woobie (and me) and Woobie with Saber (and me) to end the day.

Yes, it was like a relay race and you’d think after all that walking, I’d be ready for bed. Only, I’m not. I’m ready for action, but no one around here seems to want to play.

Ollie and Gemma got to play. After seeing the photos, I was a little jealous because they got to play with Baker, a 6 month old puppy who was playing fetch at the little field. Boy, is he cute!

Gemma thought so too…

And Ollie? Well, he just got happy about the sun and the friends and running free!

They played a bunch at the park and everyone looks like they had a great time!

Gemma walked Ollie home and then on the way back toward her house, they picked up Saber. It’s all Gretchen can do to keep those dogs apart as they walk over to the tennis courts. These two know how to mix it up, let me tell you, and mix up they did!

Saber walked Gemma home and then Gretchen returned Saber back to his kennel, though he was on the docket for later in the afternoon as well. Next up was Rosie.

Rosie has her own cautionary tail to tell. Rosie LOVES treats. Absolutely. But for the past few days, she’s refused to take any from Gretchen. Gretchen hasn’t been able to figure it out, though today she THINKS she put two and two together.

Here’s her theory (which she’ll test tomorrow): With such full days, Gretchen doesn’t have a ton of time for a full lunch so she snacks and nibbles throughout the day. Her favorite nibble treats are these power bars she makes herself and an orange. She thinks that peeling the orange leaves a smell on her hands that Rosie cannot stand. In fact, Rosie scrunches up her face, squints her eyes, and looks as if something disgusting is about to happen.

Could it be the smell of citrus? We’ll test the theory tomorrow. No oranges for a snack!

When Rosie got home, her mom was there and even though I’ve only met the mom from far away, I love her. She gave me one of the best treats I’ve ever eaten (sent it home with Gretchen) and so I’ve put Gretchen in charge of finding those treats again. Yum Yum Yum– Thank you Rosie’s mom!

Gretchen ate a little something (I did too) before we headed up the block to pick up Alice. Alice usually gives a little woof from her kennel when we arrive, but since her mom was home, too, Alice woofed it up but good. Talk about a cautionary tail! Still she was happy to see us and really happy when we made our way to Woobie’s house.

Oh, and Woobie was thrilled too. We walked down through the park where Gretchen wanted to get a photo with the foothills of Mt. Rainier in the background only I wasn’t cooperating. I sat down for a moment, but then when Alice moved, I rolled around on the cool grass (much to everyone’s dismay) and then did my best to get Alice to play with me!

Woobie wasn’t interested in my antics at all!

Then Gretchen tried to get all three of us in another photo, but Woobie still wasn’t interested and while Alice and I posed, Alice started munching on something. You’ll never ever guess what it was…

…and orange peel! And yes, I’m barking in this picture, much to Gretchen’s frustration. Hey, what can I say? I really really wanted to play!

We walked Alice home after that and then Woobie and I walked down to Saber’s house again. Since I was in need of a good romp, we headed to the tennis courts where Saber and I played smashing heads — our favorite game of all time!

Woobie still wasn’t really interested in playing, but stood around and looked beautiful nonetheless.

Then Henry showed up with three little girls in tow and Saber thought for sure that Henry was his very own personal play toy and Woobie thought being petted by a 4 year old was the best way to spend the afternoon. I just played fetch!

When Henry had to leave, Saber decided to try finding Woobie’s ON switch, but it’s well hidden under all that fur.

Eventually, Saber gave up and just rested while Woobie continued practicing her beautiful look!

So Gretchen leashed us up and Saber and I walked Woobie back up to her house (through the parks) and then back down to his house (down through the neighborhoods). That boy should be tired…I should be tired…we both got a lot of play and walking in. But if Saber’s anything like me, he’s ready to rumble!

Anyone game?

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

One Spot; Many Dogs

Just when I’ve vowed NOT to talk about the weather, everything changes. Warm, sunny, and glorious — those are all words to describe our morning.

But I made a promise to write about something else so I’ll let the above pictures speak for themselves.

Everyone got to go to the same spot today. Well, almost everyone. Since the sun was out (oops did it again)…since it was such a glorious day for walking, we called up Jessica and Quillette after our morning of teaching, picked up Monty and headed up to the ridge. Gretchen insisted on a photo and as much as the shadows challenged her, we eventually got some cheery, almost shadowless photos!

Gretchen liked the spot so much, she marched Rosie up there, too!

Everyone was patient during the photo shoot. Even Saber and Gemma sat and posed with some semblance of patience and maturity!

Of course, unlike the rest of us, they had a chance to romp before they visited THE SPOT and I’m certain that took out some of their friskiness. I mean, just look at how they played.

As you can see, they kind of ran themselves silly. That’s why, when the headed up to THE SPOT for their photo, Saber was ready for a rest, though Gemma wasn’t at all!

They only dogs who didn’t get to go to THE SPOT today were Oshi and Perrito. Not because Gretchen didn’t want to, but she was walking four of us at once and well, managing us all up the hill and stairs is a challenge. Besides by then, the weather I’m not supposed to talk about had changed…dramatically!

So we headed over to the tennis courts and played and played and played!

Gretchen thought we’d get tired out, but we kept going and going and going…

At one point, Monty lost his ball to Perrito and I saw this as my time to attack. Monty took the bait and chased me with vigor!

Eventually, Monty stopped playing and begged for a snack. I kept nagging him to play some more, but then Oshi chimed in and agreed, it was time to go. Boo hoo.

As you can tell from Oshi’s photo, the wind was really picking up by then and all those blue skies we’d seen in the morning, were chased away by flat, gray clouds. Instead of hiking up to the spot, Gretchen decided we needed to head home so we walked through the park, around the school, and then back up the little hill to home.

Despite the change in the thing I’m not supposed to talk about (weather!), it was fun to visit THE SPOT with my friends today.

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

Spring-a-ling-a-ling?

Okay, I promised I wasn’t going to write about the weather and while technically I’m not actually writing about the weather, it may sound like it in this post.

I’m going to write about Spring, which is a season that contains a particular kind of weather, but is not weather in and of itself.

I know it’s spring when I start panting more than usual. This means I’m getting warm. Like today. I panted much more than usual and while at first I thought it was because of my hair getting longer, once I compiled all of today’s data (keep reading), I realized my long hair was not the cause.

I know it’s spring when I get, as Gretchen calls it, a need to sow my wild oats. I get frisky. Today I was particularly frisky feeling the need to run and bark and chase things. In my oat sowing, I had a lot of company. Gemma had more wild oats to sow than anyone today and once she got started, Ollie jumped right in.

We walked some, but when we got the the tennis courts and found a stick there, well, the oats just started flying all over the place. I was the first to start in with the stick and then, when I wasn’t looking, Ollie took it from me. That upset me so I barked at him, but he didn’t budge. He held onto that stick with all his might. Only his oats found their way all over the ground.

Gemma could care less about the sticks. She just wanted to chase and bug and nudge us. Let me tell you, that girl really knows how to get a party started. After a great deal of pestering we were all running into each other on that court today.

I know it’s spring when I can’t stop smiling. Rosie understands this since she was all smiles today, and frisky, too. Gretchen said she let her oats out a bit as well, running and prancing alongside Gretchen as they made their way through the park. She got particularly happy when Gretchen accidentally sprinkled some of Rosie’s treats on the ground and it was all Rosie could do to hold herself back from sucking them all up!

I know it’s spring when the air smells warm. Not like temperature warm, but like the kind of fresh warm smell when Gretchen bakes bread or the clean warm smell of the lake when I get to go swimming. The kind of warm that lingers for awhile and slides right up to you while you’re walking making you say “Ahhhhh!” That kind of smell was in the air today and everyone knew it. The dogs knew it, I knew it, the birds knew, the kids at recess knew it.

I know it’s spring when you just can’t avoid it and today, I couldn’t avoid it.

But wait…it’s only the middle of January. Did I just get fooled? Apparently so. Gretchen says it’s El Nino but I can’t talk about that because it’s talking about the weather. I just get to talk about the seasons and even though it’s technically winter, it feels like spring.

Even Saber agreed today. All those signs of spring that I just listed — the panting, the friskiness, the oats and stuff — Saber felt them today too. He even got to indulge in them. Lately, because of his recent surgery, we’ve only been allowed to walk, but today, we walked Saber and then took him to the vet so he could get his stitches checked out. I didn’t have to go into the vet (thankfully), but Gretchen came back out with a happy Saber quoting the doctor, “He’s good to go!” So off we went back to Saber’s neighborhood and over to the tennis courts where he got to run free and play and wrestle with me. He also got to show that he, too, felt every single sign of spring!

Panting…

Frisky Oats…

Smiling…

…and in the warm and fragrant air!

Until tomorrow…when I may have to talk about Summer!!!!

Rubin

What a Difference

Last week Noah was gathering wood to build another ark. Today, who needs an ark! It was beautiful today — warm and sunny with amazingly blue skies. I guess that’s the benefit of all the rain. It washes the skies clean and makes everything smell like fresh laundry.

When we first got up, we were worried that rain was on its way as some seriously gray clouds sat on the southern horizon threatening to send Noah out for more wood. While it did spit on us a bit, the clouds passed and the sun shone and we were all the happier for it…as you can tell from Tyson’s smile.  (Yes, that’s a smile!)

Rosie and Tyson were the first walk of the day, which occurred earlier than usual. Since Gretchen had a dentist appointment in the middle of the day, we had to make a few adjustments to our schedule. She went to walk Rosie and Tyson first thing in the morning while I stayed at home with Ann who had the day off. Rosie and Tyson were as thrilled to be out in the warm sunshine as much as the rest of us today and they wandered around the park just basking in the warm rays.

See how the sun glimmered off Tyson’s coat? How his large body casts a dark shadow on the bushes behind him? These are the little things we’ve missed since our rainy excursions these past months. Even Rosie gave a lick (yes, that’ her tongue) of approval!

Next up was Saber. Gretchen picked him up though he was fast asleep in his kennel surprised by Gretchen’s early arrival. Of course, Gretchen says he wasn’t surprised at all. She, in fact, had to call his name and tap on his crate to wake up the sleepy giant, but once awake, Saber was ready to rumble. Unfortunately, since he’s still recovering from his snip snip snip surgery, there was no rumbling on the agenda, but he tried…let me tell you!

They walked over to our house where we were leashed up and ready to go. We didn’t go too far, though, as Oshi and Perrito were going to head out with us too, so we headed next door and got everyone ready to roll.

Saber and the boys have never met, and it took everyone a bit of adjusting to get ready for the outing. But once we got halfway through Judkins Park, Saber was no longer that interested in smelling Oshi and Oshi had stopped scurrying away from the big guy. In fact, after much wrangling, we even got this photo! (Thanks Ann!)

As you can see, Oshi wanted to be as close to Gretchen as he could get in fear that Saber might eat him. But Saber’s not interested in eating anyone. Nope, the big, silly puppy would rather jump on me or take off his gentle leader or romp the big grassy field he’s staring at in the photo. No, that guy only wants to love the world, but unfortunately Oshi didn’t trust him yet! Still, we all made it home safely and soundly. No one got eaten and no one really romped.

Gretchen headed off to the dentist, I stayed home where I was supposed to eat my breakfast, but I wasn’t interested. I was only interested after Gretchen came home so she waited for me to chow down before we headed back to Saber’s house for one more outing.

The weather was still magnificent with the temperature almost reaching 60 degrees! My word! It’s the middle of January and it’s almost 60 degrees! And everyone around here thinks that makes it almost summer time or at least, that’s how they dressed. We picked up Saber and decided to go for a long walk down the by lake. There were so many people wearing shorts, riding their bikes, running, and yes, walking their dogs it was amazing. Where were all these people the past few months?

Fair-weather walkers!

But I shouldn’t complain. January is Walk Your Dog Month so it was good to see everyone out enjoying the sun, though both Saber and I got tired pretty quickly since it’s a lot warmer than it’s been of late.

As much as Saber wanted to jump into the lake, (me too) Gretchen had to keep reminding him that he’s still recovering from his surgery. As you can tell, he was kind of bummed about it all, but he rallied and we headed back to his house so he could get a nap before his parents came home.

While I’ve never intended this blog to be all about the weather, it appears that the weather of the past few months has determined the direction of my writing. With more inclement weather predicted for the rest of the week, I’ll do my best to write about something else for a change. Maybe that will keep Noah happy and he can forget about the two by two thingy he once had to do!

Until tomorrow,

Rubin