Oh My Dog!

So, I’m sitting at the computer (yes, sitting), my paws clicking away at the keyboard when all of the sudden I hear this sound. “Meow!”

Uh, what? Gretchen was in the kitchen and the back door was open to let in the last of the warm fall air. I jumped from the chair, headed to the kitchen at the same time Gretchen raced from the sink to slide the back door closed.

But in that split second between my arrival at the back door and the sound of the lock clicking into place, I saw a white butt and gray tail.

IT WAS A CAT!!!!! IN OUR HOUSE!!

It took quite awhile for Gretchen to settle me down, but after much cajoling, I came back to the computer. “I’m going to write about it in my blog today!” I announced with quivering glee.

“You do that, buddy,” Gretchen called from the kitchen. And now that I’ve written it down, I’m not sure what else to do. I mean, how can anything else top a stray cat in your house?

Okay, nothing can, but still I worked today and though we had a much calmer schedule than yesterday, I would be doing a disservice to my canine pals if I let a cat take precedence. So…

The day started later than usual, which was fine because I was kind of tired from the eight dogs we walked yesterday. Our first dog was Ollie and while we usually pick him up earlier than we did today, he wasn’t disappointed by our late arrival. “I’m so glad you’re here!” he squealed and then we piled into the car and drove to Gertie’s house.

It was kind of a doodle morning, you could say since Ollie and I are both Labradoodles and Gertie is a Whoodle — a Wheaten Terrier and Poodle mix. I knew Ollie and Gertie would get along fabulously because they both have the same dog-a-nality — bouncy and silly.

We went for a walk down to Genessee Park where we posed in the colorful leaves. Of course, it’s hard to see Gertie’s black face against the reds and golds, so Gretchen took close ups of us to demonstrate that we each have faces under all of those curls.

I even asked Gertie to look up so you could see that she does, in fact, have eyes.

We walked along the lake, back to Gertie’s house, and I watched as Ollie and Gertie bounced and giggled  happy to have met each other!

After we dropped Ollie back at his house, we took a wee break so I could eat my breakfast. Of course, it was now lunchtime, but it still tasted pretty darn good because today was sardine day. Twice a week, I get half a can of sardines though I have to train Gretchen to give it to me at dinner time because I think that’s why breakfast looked/smelled so unappetizing. Fish for breakfast? Not this boy.

Next we picked up Gemma and headed over to Saber’s house. Since they got a big romp yesterday, we just went for a walk, but it’s never as simple as it sounds when we’re walking those two together. We headed through the tunnel and for Gemma, this is an invitation to poke her nose into Saber’s neck and beg for a rowdy wrestling match. On leashes, it’s a bit dangerous so Gretchen did her best to get Gemma to behave, which included barking at her to get her attention.

It worked beautifully because the echo in the tunnel amplified the bark making Gemma worried that there was a HUGE dog scolding her.

That huge dog was none other than Gretchen who smiled at the genius of her new training technique!

We posed above the tunnel with the beautiful red trees behind us. Of course, it took a bit of work on Gretchen’s part to get this shot…

…because Saber wanted to chew on a stick and Gemma wanted to jump into the bushes after whatever was rustling in there.

And then Gemma decided chewing on a stick was a good idea, too.

Meanwhile, I’m behaving. It seems I’m almost always behaving.

But I was rewarded later when Gretchen took me back down to the lake after we dropped off Saber and Gemma and I got to go for swim!!! The wind was picking up and the waves were rolling in, but I didn’t care. Yahoo!

Of course, the cat in the house tops it all! Oh, if only I’d been faster to the door than Gretchen! Catching a cat in my house would have made this the best day ever!

Until tomorrow,

Rubin