These past two years, as a dog dog walker, I’ve learned a lot, but perhaps the biggest thing I’ve learned is how to pose for a photo. Gretchen takes way too many photographs during the day and when she uploads them onto the computer, I laugh because there are a lot of funny photos. Lots of them.

Today was no exception. We started with a morning walk at Seward Park with Ollie and Gretchen tried desperately to get us sit patiently in front of the lake with Mt. Rainier in the background. I sat patiently, but she had to snap quite a few before she got Ollie behaving.

And then later, as we wandered through the trails at Seward Park, she tried again to get us posing in the woods. We kept hearing noises in the trees, so both of us had a hard time focusing on the posing.

Gretchen walked Rosie after that and they played treat fetch at the little, little field — the place where I first learned to play fetch — and Rosie struck a pose numerous times for Gretchen’s camera.

Before I go on, though, I want to stop and make sure everyone sends out special thoughts for Rosie tomorrow as she goes to the vet to get something checked out as well as to have some lumps removed (and her teeth cleaned). We want to make sure everything comes out well for her, so keep her in mind tomorrow, okay? We’re thinking of you Rosie!

Gemma was next and she’s not very good at striking a pose though when she does, she’s pretty cute. Same with Woobie and when the three of us behave, we’re all three pretty cute!

Saber came over to our house after a walk with Woobie. Saber and I love to play, but Woobie is pretty reserved. So reserved, in fact, I bet you can’t see her in this photo…

…trust me, she’s there!

Meanwhile, Saber and I played tug and wrestled and he barked at me a lot, especially when I had the tug toy, but I wasn’t about to give it up!

The day ended where it began — on a walk at Seward Park — but this time with Paige! We went swimming and then struck a pose by the lake…

…and then went hunting walking on the trails. When Gretchen posed us on the log for our last photos, both Paige and I were very distracted by the sounds in the woods! “What’s that?” “Did you see that?” “What’s that sound, Paige!”

And then Paige and I hung out in the backyard where we practiced our poses and Gretchen took photos of the finally ripening tomatoes!

Before I sign off, a heads up to everyone that we’re going to post our Friday blog on Monday. Sorry about the delay, but there’ll be no time to spin a yarn tomorrow =-)

Until then,

Rubin

And just like that, it’s September. Another month gone by, another month arrived. And our work here at Wags n’ Words keeps moving forward. New billing statements to create, photos to print, billing to send out, deposits to make, schedules to update and tweak, and an accounting of all the miles traveled and the stories told. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up. I’m lucky because while I get to tell all the stories, Gretchen does most of the business work.

Well, that’s partially true. I do the business of walking and making certain our canine clients are entertained. And trust me, sometimes it’s hard to keep up with my end of the job. Today I am particularly tired after a full schedule and while I didn’t work on all the walks, my paws are tired and my bones are heavy.

This Wednesday started, as they always do, with my friend, Monty. We went for a nice long walk up along the ridge and checked out all the scents and sights we hadn’t seen for awhile. That’s because Gretchen took a different route, which is fine by me because frankly I sometimes get bored with the same old, same old.

Not Monty! He’s just happy to be out in the open air, greeting canine and human alike. Of course, about halfway through the day, he gets tired, too and has an equally hard time keeping up. But before he got to the tired part, Gretchen had other dogs to walk while Monty and I ate brunch and lounged a bit before the afternoon walks.

First for Gretchen were Oshi and Perrito. She had to laugh when I told that my topic for the day was “Keeping Up” because walking Oshi and Perrito is all about Oshi keeping up and all of them making forward progress. These photos were, in fact, taken on the other side of the block (they went around the block on the start of their walk) at the house just behind theirs. Ironically, it took them 13 minutes to make it around the block! Why? Oshi dawdles and Perrito zig-zags sniffing and smelling every spot that looks even remotely curious. They’ve been around that block hundreds of times, but each time is as unique as can be!

As you can see, on a 30 minute walk, it’s hard to make any forward progress with these two.

The same can be said, I suppose, for Rosie. Some days she’s raring to go and can extend their route significantly. Other days she gets distracted. Today she was distracted by other dogs at the park, but look at her! She did a great job “staying” while the dogs passed. Good girl, Rosie!

Gemma is all about forward progress and half the time, Gretchen and I are just trying to keep up with her. So it was today. She came by to pick up Monty and me and over to the tennis courts we walked to play some fetch. She kept us busy, stealing our balls and biting at our legs. Plus the courts were rather warm and so Monty and I found little spots of shade in which to rest.

Then it was time for Saber and since Monty was pooped by this point, I said I’d take care of wearing the big guy out! So we played tug and body slam in the backyard while Monty watched from inside the cool house.

And then we went for a nice long walk back to Saber’s house. The last quarter-mile home from Saber’s was a struggle for me. I was as pooped as Monty and so we rested on the cool bamboo floors while Gretchen cleaned up the house a bit, changed the sheets, and encouraged me to finish my blog.

“Hey, Gretchen! It’s done!”

Until tomorrow…hope you can all keep up!

Rubin

We stood before the closet for the longest time this morning.

“What are you doing?” I asked Gretchen.

“Trying to figure out which coat to wear,” she said.

I laughed. You see, the closet is filled with coats. I will go so far as to make a confession for Gretchen — she has a coat obsession.

“Why are you laughing, Rubin?”

“Well,” I said as tactfully as I could, “You have a lot of coats to choose from.”

“Yeah, I know,” she confessed (on her own), “But it’s important to have options.”

She then went on to explain how the weather in Seattle requires two raincoats — one for the light and occasional rain and one more sturdy for the endless cascading rain (the kind we had today). But a raincoat, she tried to explain, doesn’t keep you warm in the winter nor does one always need a raincoat. So apparently that explained all the other coats lined up in the closet.

“Do I wear a lightweight vest under the raincoat today?” she asked, “Or something a tad bit warmer?”

Now, if we just focused on the vests, the decision is still not very easy because there are lightweight vests, heavy fleece vests, and even a down vest. “I don’t think it’s too cold out there,” I suggested.

“Then maybe I’ll just wear a long-sleeved shirt over my t-shirt,” she said.

“Sounds like a plan,” I snickered.

If the weather were colder and something more than a vest were required, there are a plethora of long-sleeve coats to choose from as well. Many are fleece (the Seattle staple), but some are lightweight and some are down. A couple are even boiled wool.

I, on the other hand, have one coat — which I hate — and when we finally got ready to go (Gretchen wearing her sturdy, bright-green raincoat with a long sleeve shirt underneath), she pulled out my red coat (which acts as both a raincoat and a fleece coat). “Noooooooo!” I screamed and ran up the stairs to hide in the bedroom.

“Oh, Rubin,” Gretchen said, “It’s pouring down rain! You’ll get soaked.”

“Why is it,” I asked from my perch under the bed, “I’m allowed to go swimming and get soaked, but when it rains, I have to wear a coat?”

There was silence in response to my question, then finally, “Rubin, I don’t really have time for this. We have dogs to walk — Ollie, Rosie, Zoe, Gemma and Saber — we’re on a tight schedule buddy.” (You can tell how gray and rainy it was today by the dark nature of the photographs and the fact that most photos were taken under some kind of cover so we didn’t get super wet!)

I held my ground. “That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Because when you swim, it’s warm and you dry off fast,” she finally said with a bit of a huff.

“Today isn’t that cold,” I pointed out.

“True, but once you get wet — and today you’ll get soaked it’s raining so hard — you won’t dry out as fast since it’s cooler out and you’ll get cold,” was her explanation.

“Have you ever seen me get cold?” I asked.

“Only after you’ve been swimming for a long time,” she admitted.

“Can we just try it without the coat today?” I pleaded.

“Sorry buddy, but I think you must wear the coat.” And with that, I crawled out from my hiding spot and donned the unbearably awful coat. “Think of it this way, Rubin,” Gretchen tried to console me, “Ollie has to wear one, too, so you’re really helping him feel more comfortable by wearing yours.”

I didn’t respond, but thought to myself Why do I want to help him adjust to this awful coat-wearing experience?

Luckily, by the end of the day — after Ollie, Rosie (who didn’t have to wear HER coat), Gemma (who likes to wear a coat), Zoe (who didn’t need to wear one because it hardly rained), and Saber (who never wears a coat) — the rain subsided and I was able to go out in the world sans coat. Gretchen even took off her raincoat (though she kept on her rain pants — too hard to pull them over her rain boots) and we all eventually dried out.

“Gretchen,” I said later that afternoon, “I think you need to winnow out some of your coats.”

“Yeah, buddy,” she confessed, “I think you’re right.” And then she added, “Winnow? Where did you learn words like “winnow?”

I didn’t respond. I just smiled and thought about bringing up the need to winnow out the shoes and backpacks that have collected in the closets just under all the coats!

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

The conversation at the breakfast table this morning was all about September being the official start of a New Year versus the traditional January. I was uncertain as to why September was substituted for January, when I got what can only be described as an educator’s optical reprimand. You see, before Gretchen was a dog walker, she was a teacher and after 24 years of teaching, the beginning of the school year has always marked a beginning of a new year and much like the January New Year’s, many of the same events occur — resolutions, taking stock of the previous year, and hoping that the upcoming year will be a bit better than the last.

Of course, only Ann (my other mother) is a teacher now, but Gretchen says she still feels the September-New-Year pull and has this incredible urge to go shopping for pencils and pens, lined paper and glue sticks. I did my best to walk those urges out of her today!

First up were Oshi and Perrito. While Oshi had some inkling of the school year just beginning, Perrito was oblivious until we stopped by the school and he saw all the people (teachers) milling about. “I wanna go to school!” he squealed.

Oshi just rolled his eyes and said, “I just wanna go home.”

Next up were Rosie and Tyson who earlier in the morning (on a walk with their Mom) spotted a cat across the street. When Gretchen took them out they were both eager to find the cat again, but she did what she could to discourage them. “So, what do you think about the new school year starting up?”

They both just looked at her stymied and then Tyson practiced some yoga.

Gemma, Saber, and I got to walk together and they both had lots to say about the school year. “I wanna go, I wanna go!” wiggled Saber.

“You’re too young,” chided Gemma.

“You’re both too young,” I mumbled so only Gretchen could hear me. Gemma was constantly bumping into Saber, trying to bite his jowls while we walked and Saber, who was trying to be a good boy, kept trying to get out of Gemma’s way. When we stopped for our photo shoot, I riled them both up by rolling around and while these photos look like we’re calm and under control, it was mayhem for the first five minutes (of which Gretchen only captured a millisecond of the chaos!).

After everyone went home, I got to play some fetch, but only for a short bit because Gretchen was off to work at the pool. Funny — school (with two o’s) and pool (with two o’s). Cool!

Oh, before I forget, I met a new dog this weekend. Her name is Eloise and she’s 16 years old! I guess that’s why she curled up on the chair and fell asleep!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Rubin

I was worried the yesterday that I’d missed September. Thursday felt more like October and less like the end of August then I’d ever known in my 3 and a half short years. It was worrisome. But today, all felt right with the world. August’s warmth returned, but with September humming all around its edges. I sighed with relief because if you didn’t know by my post yesterday, I really like September. I like October, too, but September has sort of a special place in my heart. I don’t really know why, but it does.

Our day was full, but not too full, which gave me time to really enjoy the final days of August and contemplate the fun I’ll have in September. Our walks started with Monty and as we strolled through the park, up on the hill, and through the gardens I felt content. That’s when it struck me that September feels like contentment — that all is right in the world because the seasons are shifting and Mother Nature is in control.

I like knowing she’s in charge because sometimes humans need to be reminded. Sometimes humans think they have complete control and they need some subtle (and not so subtle) nudges. September is a nice nudge, letting humans know that all those hot days are in the past, the earth is spinning, and seasons will bring rain and wind, snow (I hope so) and chilly temperatures and then spin back around to bring green and warmth, gentle showers and bluer skies.

But I digress. Monty and I enjoyed our walk and rested (after a nice brunch) while Gretchen walked Rosie and Tyson. The nice thing about cooler weather is that the tennis courts are open and boy, Tyson and Rosie were each pleased about that!

Gemma kind of reminds me of autumn (must be her amber coat) though I’m not sure she pays any attention to the weather. She walked with Oshi and Perrito and as you can see by the photos, Gemma is always scanning the horizon for activity (read trouble) while Perrito is focused on Gemma and Oshi is focused on home. For Oshi, the changing seasons means curling up under the covers for a longer time each morning.

Gemma came by to play a bit with me and Monty. I wasn’t into playing much, but boy Monty was! I let them chase me or at least try to find me to chase me and then Gemma and Monty romped while I watched and laughed.

After we took Gemma home, Monty and I got to play some fetch. We’d played on Wednesday, too, but the weather was a lot warmer then and it was hard to sustain the romp. Mostly we just hung out in the shade. Today we played hard, though mostly Gretchen took photos of us hanging out in the shade, which is equally as fun as chasing after the ball.

It’s great to be off leash!

We picked up Saber then and he helped me walk Monty back to our house. Monty’s slowing down a bit as he gets older so he needs to rest a bit more. So we walked the long way home and while Monty rested, Saber and I played in the pool and wrestled on the lawn.

I took Saber home after that and then Gretchen walked Monty home because she is working tonight at the pool. Me? I’m resting and keeping my nose in the air for the scent of sweet September.

Have a great weekend,

Rubin

Yesterday it was 83 degrees. That was the high and boy, was I hot! Today, it was 63 degrees, barely. That’s 20 degrees difference. Did I miss something here? Usually, as the kids prepare to go back to school and August wanes, September follows with all those children in their new clothes and their new school supplies scurrying across the playground and heading into their new classrooms.

But today, there were ominous clouds in the sky, much much colder temperatures, and rain. Plus there weren’t any kids anywhere and that’s when I turned to Gretchen and asked, “Did I miss September?”

She smiled and said, “No buddy, we’ve just had a huge weather change.”

Huge? I should say so. One minute I can only think about swimming in the lake and the next I just want to curl up on my bed and have a blanket thrown over me. I’m glad, though, that I haven’t missed September because it’s one of the nicest months in Seattle. When I think of September I think of blue…you know that blue sky that burns your eyes it’s so blue? When I think of September I think of cool mornings and warm afternoons. When I think of September, I think of yellowing edges to leaves and the smell of something fruity — apples and grapes and something I can’t quite put my nose on. When I think of September…

Rubin stop! It’s still August. I don’t want to think about September for at least another week.

Oh sorry, Gretchen. I guess I got carried away.

I would say so.

Okay, so let me focus on this day of August…one of the last days until September…

Rubin…

Yeah, right. Today was less vigorous (and less hot!) than yesterday. We had 8 dogs yesterday to today’s 4 and that means it wasn’t as exhausting nor quite as fun.

Really? It was less fun today?

Well, I guess I like to be busy and it wasn’t as busy today.

But you went a nice long walk with Ollie, got bumped around by Gemma and Saber, and if that wasn’t enough, I took you out for a game of fetch.

Does it sound like I’m complaining?

A little bit. I just didn’t want the dogs you we saw today to feel like it wasn’t as fun as yesterday.

Maybe the word for it isn’t “fun” but rather “lively.” Yesterday was more lively than today.

Okay. I suppose that sounds better.

And it was nice to have a break from so many walks.

I have to agree. My feet are tired.

Mine, too.

So on with it?

Okay, on with it. First up was Ollie and as usual, he was thrilled to see us. We walked down by the lake, then up the big stairs…

…and then stopped at a sweet little waterfall where Ollie accidentally dipped his tail in!

Then I got to spend some silly time with Rosie.

It looks like you played cookie fetch again!

Yep, and as you can tell, she LOVED it!

The best part was that later, when you and I played fetch on the same field, I found the cookies she didn’t find!

I’m always surprised when she doesn’t find them…she’s always searching so hard for them!

Maybe she left them for me on purpose.

Maybe.

And then there’s Gemma and Saber.

Those two are a workout!

For both of us!

But you have to admit they’re kind of cute.

Kind of, but sometimes it’s easier if we walk one and then the other. Remember how many times those leashes got tangled?

True, but they enjoy each other so much that it’s hard to keep them separate.

Ain’t that the truth. It was nearly impossible to keep them separate today!

But you had fun, yes?

Yes, I had fun, but I really had fun playing fetch.

And I really had fun walking in the cooler weather.

When IS September coming?

Six more days, Rubin, just six more days.

Make sure I don’t miss it, okay? I love September!

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

Gretchen did some complaining today, which is rare because she usually doesn’t complain. But this morning I heard some grumbling.

“Darn cobwebs!” she snarked. “Seems like everywhere I turn, I’m running into spider webs and cobwebs!”

She thinks she has it bad! She should try being a dog who walks through them all the time and I don’t even have any hands to wipe them from my face! Instead of joining in on her rant, I calmly tried to console her. “Yeah, I know. They seem exceptional abundant this year.”

“And persistent,” she added. “Seems like every morning I walk right into the same spider web at the gate. You’d think I’d learn!”

It’s true. The webs we’ve run into have been sturdy and plentiful and quickly repaired. I don’t mind them that much unless a spider drops out of them and onto my curls. That kind of creeps me out, but generally, the web itself, while irritating, doesn’t send me over the edge like it does Gretchen. Of course, those fine threads seem to really hang on her and hours after she’s walked through a web, she’s still pulling strands from her hair, off her glasses, and trying to fling them from her hands.

It doesn’t help that she can’t tell if it’s her gray hair stuck on the rim of her glasses or a spider’s web. I guess both are annoying. And I guess it doesn’t help that the sun was so bright today it glared out any evidence of cobwebs so we walked through a lot of them. And let me tell you, we did a lot of walking today!

First up was Monty. He was, as usual, happy to see us and particularly pleased that we came for a walk before it got really hot. “I just wilt in the heat!” he told me. I know how he feels.

Together we walked up to get Woobie and after our nice long walk up on the ridge and back down to our house, she hung out with us for awhile. Doubly nice was that the house was still cool and we didn’t have to hoof it out in the unusually warm weather.

Gretchen did though, and her she told me she sweated like a pig.

“I didn’t know pigs sweated?” I said.

“Oh yeah,” said Monty, “It’s amazing!”

“When have you seen a pig sweat?” asked Woobie.

“Uh…well…”

“I thought so,” Woobie smiled.

Meanwhile, Gretchen was out battling the heat and the cobwebs first on a walk with Oshi and Perrito…

…and then on a walk with Gemma and Zoe.

None of them seemed to notice the cobweb issue, though all of them noticed the climbing thermometer! It’s especially tough on Zoe with her black hair, though the two of didn’t seem to mind too much…

…especially when the squirrel raced up the tree right above Gretchen’s head!

Monty and I didn’t have to walk Woobie home either. Saber had the honors and he wasn’t pleased that the photo took place not in the cool shade, but right out in the hot open. Gretchen told him, “Sorry, Saber it’s just that I pass this cool ceramic mural all the time and I’ve always wanted to get a photo of some dogs here.”

“Yeah, but it’s hot!” moaned Saber.

“Just grin, Saber,” Woobie told him, “And we can be on our way.”

“Oh, okay! I can do that!”

Saber swung by our house to pick up Monty and me who were resting quite nicely in the cool breeze of the fan. “Come on, Monty,” I told him. “It’s our turn to walk Saber home.”

“Alrighty!” Monty sprung into action and got particularly happy when he realized that after Saber got dropped off, we’d get to play some fetch!

Not too much, though because it was hot hot hot out there so we’d fetch our balls and then just crash in the shade.

Usually that’s the end of our Wednesday’s activities, but today I got to go with Gretchen over to Paige’s house and pick her up for a visit and a walk! When I brought her home where Monty was waiting, boy was he every happy. He really likes Paige and followed her around until eventually, we all just rested in the shade of the backyard.

Monty went home after that (he was a little sad…he really likes her), but Gretchen said that three big dogs at the lake was just too much for her to handle after 10 miles of walking today!

So Monty went home, while Paige and I walked another 3 miles down to the lake and back with a brief stop to cool ourselves off in the water! No photos of that as Gretchen was in the lake with us and she didn’t want to get her camera wet!

But here we are resting on the bench above the lake and as you can see, I’m a bit wet while Paige looks very dry. She’s not, she just looks that way!

Paige came back to our house and we hung out. Well, actually Paige hung out and I did everything I could to engage her in a game of chase and wrestling. She wasn’t exactly sure what to do with me! Instead, she just hung out with Ann hoping that she would be saved from my craziness!

Eventually, we just rested in the shade and then Paige went back into the house and rested on the cool bamboo floors right where the office window blows in a really nice breeze. She’s one smart dog, that Paige!

On our way out the door to return Paige back to her Mom, Gretchen ran smack dab into another spider web. It was, in fact, the same spider web that set her off to complaining this morning. “Jeez,” she said a bit perturbed and then we both laughed. “Oh well, what can I do, Rubin?”

“Keep your mouth closed?” I winked at her. Even Paige laughed at that.

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

I’ve learned a lot as a Dog Blogger. For one thing, I’ve learned that every day I can check my “stats” to find out how many people have visited our site. While at first the number was around 50 or so, recently the number has skyrocketed. I mean last Friday there 1,015 “hits” on our site and only 46 of them were what are called “uniques” meaning that 46 new people visited the website. In other words, 969 people have visited us before!

Whoa! How can that be? No one ever leaves us a comment on our comment page (well, rarely) and we only have 11 full-time clients. So as I was working today, I asked myself – Who on earth are these people?

I asked our clients today. “Hey Ollie, who do you think is looking at pictures of you and me play?”

“People are looking at me? Where? When? I don’t see them?”

“They’re not here,” I told him, “They’re on the website.”

“There are people on the website? I thought we were just there?” he said.

I tried, really, I tried to make him understand, but my buddy Ollie is all about being a good boy, posing for the photos, so he can earn a treat. He’s such a good dog , but he doesn’t know much about blogging.

So then I had Gretchen ask Rosie. Rosie response?

“Gee, I bet they’re people who like Boxers,” she said, “Or maybe they like flowers because whenever you take me walking, you take as many photos of flowers as you do of me.”

Gretchen’s response, “That’s because you’re as beautiful as a flower, Rosie!”

“And named for one, too!” she smiled.

I was hesitant to ask Gemma because sometimes Gemma never really hears me. She’s too busy scouting out who or what she can pester, but today, on our walk with Zoe, she said, “They’re Irish people who want to look at an Irish dog!”

“Wait just a minute,” Zoe interrupted. “I’m not Irish. I’m Bernese.”

“Where is Bernese?” Gemma snorted.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s close to Ireland,” said Zoe.

“Jeez, you guys,” I said, “Bernese dogs are originally from Switzerland. They a really old breed, sometimes known as “yellow cheeks” and I don’t think that’s why people are clicking on our site.”

“Could be, you never know,” said Zoe.

“But I think they’re Irish not Switzerlandish,” said Gemma.

“That’s Swiss,” I corrected her.

“Swiss? Do you have lisp or something?” she asked.

Oh my.

Sometimes my job is a lot harder than it looks!

As you can see, I wasn’t getting much help and while Saber is young and I didn’t have much hope that he’d know a lot about the internet, we were all out of clients for the day so I thought I’d give it a go.

“So Saber…” but before I even got the question out, he was off fetching a ball in the lake. Boy, that guy likes to swim, but even more, he likes to fetch the ball that I like to fetch, which means that he waits to jump on me as I swim in.

Hard to ask questions when you’re swimming, but on the way home, I asked. “Saber, do you know much about the internet?”

“Sure do, Rubin. What do you want to know?”

I told him about the “uniques” and if it really means that 969 people are revisiting our site. He said, “Well, it could be, but it might also be that people are searching for something like a dog photograph, of which you have many, or perhaps are searching for a certain thing, like a Saber, and they click on the website because those are all things you can find there — Sabers and dog pictures.”

“But are they always the same person?” I wondered?

“Could be, but more than likely they access the site via the same link like Facebook or one of the other websites where your site is mentioned,” he explained. “Still, that’s a lot of hits. You should be proud!”

Wow, what a wealth of information Saber was! Gretchen told me that’s because he’s young and the youth of today are far more technologically savvy then the older generation.

Does that mean I’m older? Wait a minute!

Regardless, if you are visiting the site and you like what you see, drop us a comment. We’d love to hear from you!

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

There are days when the views around here just take my breath away. Today was one of those days. We had rain this weekend and while many moan and groan about rain, it does one thing very well– cleans the air.

Clean air means great views of the mountains, of the city, of the gardens and parks and all the great places where we live.

When this kind of weather rolls around (cool in the mornings, warm in the afternoons), a big smile races across my face. I just know that on our walks, the views will be spectacular. All of our dog walking clients noticed the views as well, so though we don’t have a ton of photos today, you’ll notice that everyone is paying attention to the view.

First up, Rosie and Tyson and while Tyson knew to look at the camera, Rosie kept trying to get him to look over his shoulder at the Cascades, the lake, and Mt. Rainier.

“Hey Tyson,” said Rosie, “If I look this way, all I see is grass!”

“Yeah, but Rosie,” said Tyson, “If we look at the camera, we always, and I mean ALWAYS, get a treat!”

“Good point!”

While it looks like Perrito is the only one looking at the view behind us, Gemma and I are actually scoping out the view over Gretchen’s shoulder. Okay, so it’s not a view of the mountains or of water or even of a garden. Nope, we were watching three dogs playing fetch in the field. Perrito, meanwhile, is checking out the view of the open field behind us — the open field he LOVES to run in — and Oshi, well, he’s doing what Oshi always does — he’s figuring out the shortest route back home!

By the time Saber and I went for a walk, the view of the city was pretty amazing. So amazing, we both had to check it out!

But then, with the promise of snacks, we posed both sitting…

and lying down…

And yes, we got some treats for being so well behaved.

Tomorrow’s weather promises much of the same. Hopefully we’ll actually get shots of all the beautiful things we’re viewing!

Until then,

Rubin

I was sleeping soundly this morning when Gretchen reached over the bed to pet my belly. “Wow, Rubin,” she said, “Your legs look so long.”

I was still half asleep and replied, “That’s because my ears are short.”

She laughed. Then I laughed and for most of the morning, we couldn’t stop laughing.

What I meant to say was — with my ears shorter since my grooming, it makes my legs look longer. In other words, it’s all a matter of perspective and I really haven’t changed in height or leg length. Still, it was fun to laugh this morning and realize that life doesn’t have to be all serious. Not that it has been of late, but laughing first thing in the morning was a great way to start our Friday.

Another great way was to spend the first part of the day with Monty, my best friend in all the world (no offense to any of my other friends, it’s just that he was my first true friend and has been my steadfast buddy ever since!).

I think that’s how Rosie must feel about Tyson — they’re two siblings, but from what Gretchen tells me they’re really best friends. For instance, when I need to feel okay about the world, I turn to Monty. Rosie, Gretchen says, does the same with Tyson. It’s kind of cute, don’t you think?

Oshi and Perrito are buddies as well, but Gemma has kind of adopted them has her special buddies as well. Whenever she walks to their house to pick them up (they live next door to us), she gets really excited, races up the steps, and today, even made herself comfortable on the couch! No one seemed to mind, except Gretchen, so on the walk, they recreated the couch pose on a bulkhead!

The final dog of the day was Saber and Monty and I are both grooming him for buddy status. He’s more than ready for the job, don’t ya think?

Of course, he’s young still and there’s a lot to teach him, but luckily we get to spend a lot of time with Saber so we have lots and lots of teachable moments!

The day began with a laugh and ended with a big yawn. Yep, it’s Friday and I’m one tired pup. We sure hope you all have a great weekend!

Until then…sweet dreams,

Rubin