Soaking it up

I thought I was dreaming when I woke up with a bit of sun in my eyes. Well, it was actually the second time I woke up. The first time it was dark out, but I made my way downstairs, went outside in a bit of a sleepy stupor, and then headed back into the house to curl up on my bed in the living room (yes, I have lots of beds to choose from). That’s where I woke up the second time and that’s when the sun tickled my eyes. I rubbed them with my paws, stretched a bit (I was having a really nice dream about swimming in a big, blue lake), blinked a few times, and then opened my eyes again to once more see sunshine.

“This could be a great day,” I told myself and with that, rose from my bed, ate my breakfast, and prepared for the day.

And the day (nor the sunshine) did not disappoint. Everywhere, everyone was soaking up the last of the summer sun, especially the spiders. Remember how a few weeks back I commented on how the webs were everywhere, but we couldn’t see them because of the lack of proper lighting. Well, today we had proper lighting and we found those webs everywhere.

The web to the right was found at Seward Park where Ollie and I went for a walk. Even though we walked in the sun for a majority of the time, we did head up to the trails and found little pockets of sun (along with spider webs) along the way.

While the trails were fun, it was even better to walk out in the open where the sun warmed us and we soaked it up while taking turns posing in the crux of a tree. Yep, it was Ollie’s idea. Gretchen walked over to the tree and up he leapt, like a rabbit with kangaroo legs. He thought it was the most fun ever, but when it was my turn, I wasn’t so thrilled. Sure, I put a smile on my face, but it was a nervous grimace, let me tell you.

Even the ducks were soaking up the rays and though I wanted to bark at them, I bit my tongue so as not to disturb their slumber.

If the day had ended there I would have been very content. I love going to Seward Park, especially when the sun is out. But the day didn’t end there and boy, was I in for a surprise when Gretchen and I walked over to Rosie’s house. “Okay, Rubin,” she told me, “Remember that Rosie is a tad bit nervous so it’s really important for you to be a calm boy and on your best behavior.”

“Got it,” I reassured her and into Rosie’s house we went. Rosie’s mom was there and was very excited to see me. Like everyone, she wanted to pet my head, but I backed away and said, “Sorry, but I’m working here and must be on my best behavior.” She understood.

Rosie was very excited to see me. I was kind of surprised. In fact, as we walked (Rosie on one side of Gretchen, me on the other) she kept leaping and galloping and asking me to play with her. “Sorry, Rosie,” I informed her. “I’ve been given direct orders to stay calm.”

She had a hard time understanding. Especially when Gretchen posed us next to each other. I was put in a down/stay and the second I went down, Rosie thought I was going into a play bow and she got very excited. It kind of freaked me out, but as promised, I stayed calm. But as you can see from the photos, Rosie was a bit confused as to why I didn’t want to play with her.

“Next time,” I told Gretchen, “You need to inform Rosie that she needs to remain calm!”

Of course, walking Rosie meant that I didn’t get to have a mid-morning nap because next up was Gemma and Dog knows, I need a nap before I play with her! And doubly strenuous is that we went to Saber’s house to pick him up, too! And then, if that wasn’t enough, we went down to the lake for a swim.

Yes, I was happy we got to swim, but when Saber stole my ball and Gemma decided to wander off down the shore, even Gretchen had to laugh with the overwhelming exhaustion of it all. Y

es, even she needed a mid-day nap!

But no naps for us. We had work to do.

Luckily, it was a beautiful day and the sun made us happy from the inside out and the outside in.

I got my ball back eventually, Gemma stopped wandering, and Saber, while a bit disappointed, was happy to continue on with the walk.

Up from the lake, there’s a secret passage way up the hill. It involves going through a series of tunnels until we arrive at the pea patch. But just below the pea patch is a rather medieval looking archway with moss-covered concrete benches.

“This is kind of creepy,” observed Saber.

“Ya think so?” asked Gemma.

“It makes me feel like a Knight!” I said.

“A night?” Saber pondered. “How can you be a night?”

“Not a night without a ‘k,’” Gemma explained.

“What?” Saber was still uncertain.

I took a moment to explain. “Human English is very confusing. Knight is a defender of the castle and kingdom in ancient times. Night is a time of day. One has a ‘k’ the other doesn’t.”

“There’s just so much to learn!” Saber said, exasperatedly.

“Luckily,” Gemma offered, “You have us to help you out!

And with that, we headed back to their respective houses, while Gretchen and I headed home. And what did we find there? Another spider basking in the warmth of the afternoon sun. Sweet.

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

You can’t always get what you want…

With humans in charge of the world, it’s hard, as a dog, to always get your way. You must be manipulative while still maintaining that cute, adorable quality. You must make the human think that they are in charge all the while ending up with your desired outcome. As the years pass, I’m developing quite a knack for wrapping humans around my paw, but when it comes to manipulating dogs, it’s a whole different story.

Canines are not so easy to manipulate. Okay, if they’re younger than you (like puppies) you can sometimes get your way, but if you don’t know them very well or if they are older, it requires a lot more finesse.

For instance, today we walked Ollie first thing in the morning. Since I’ve known Ollie for quite some time and since Ollie is younger than I am (and since he LOVES and ADORES me), I can pretty much get Ollie to do the things I ask of him. Today we went to the dog park, which is about a twenty minute walk from his house. Of course, it’s all downhill so the walk back up is a thigh burner. We rarely go to dog parks, but today the dog park was relatively empty and everyone seemed like they were friendly so we made the trek down the hill for a romp.

Anyway, when we got there, Gretchen pulled out a ball for me to fetch. She knows that playing fetch keeps me out of trouble. Unfortunately, Ollie isn’t as interested in the ball as I am. Instead, he likes the treats that Gretchen always carries so he sticks close to her. Therefore, I had to use my manipulative powers to pull Ollie away from Gretchen’s side.

Unfortunately, my charming good looks and powers of persuasion weren’t enough. Instead, I had to employ some of the other dogs at the dog park…namely a white, fluff ball about Ollie’s size to entice him to race around and have some fun.

It took some time, but eventually, Ollie found that running around was a blast and while I chased after the ball, he entertained himself in various ways.

That took a lot of work and energy on my part so much so that the hike back up the hill was a bit slower than normal. Good thing I got to rest at home after that while Gretchen took Rosie out for a walk and her own game of  fetch.

Gretchen’s learned a lot from me about how to get dogs to do what you want. Rosie, for instance, can be kind of stubborn. While she’s good at using her nose to find treats in the grass, she’s not so sure she likes obeying the commands Gretchen’s been trying to teach her. For instance, down/stay and come.  It’s gotten better — especially the come, but while Rosie is happy to do the down, she’s not so keen on the stay. But after months of practice, Rosie is getting it and seems pretty happy with her success.

Perhaps my toughest dog challenge is Saber. You’d think it would be Gemma, but actually, she’s pretty easy to figure out. Gemma is all about the chase and using her mouth and body to move us in the direction she thinks she wants us to go. Saber is all about stealing whatever I have in my mouth (usually my orange and blue ball though today it was a tennis ball we found at the courts) and if he gets that thing in my mouth, I must use my “death stare” to retrieve it or chase him down until he drops it.

Yesterday was a classic example. Gemma was waiting for us to run, chased after us when we did, and then during our wrestling matches, she refereed by biting our ankles and ears. But when Saber stole my ball, she wasn’t much help. Nope, I had to call upon my inner reserve of patience to wait for Saber to accidentally drop my ball so I could retrieve it — well, that and getting Gretchen to employ and liberally distribute the treats in her pocket to entice him.

And once the ball is retrieved, we play — hard and fast and with big smiles on our faces.

It’s not an easy job, but as the years pass, I feel I am perfecting my skills. In the process I’m learning that you can’t always get what you want, but you can sure as heck try!

Until tomorrow,

Rubin