No rain today. That means photos. And today Gretchen focused on faces. First up, a walk with Gemma and Monty. And boy, did we ever have to face the wind!

Three friends facing the fact that the wind makes our eyes squint.

The Call the Wind Monty...

Yeah, but have you seen my tail?

Pretty cool, yes?

How do you spell the sound a tongue makes?

Then Gemma got to walk with the boys who gave some pretty funny faces on their own accord.

Ar, matey!

Who me?

I can tal, my mouphhh isth fulph...

My words are flying backwards and getting caught in my fur!

You see that? Squirrel ya think, maybe?

I good dog, good dog. I stay. I stay.

Dose tweets make me drool.

I still good dog. Yep, yep, yep!

And finally Saber who would rather play with his friends then go on long walks, but he still was a good boy all the same.

Yes, I’m tired. Long week and I’m ready for the weekend. Hope you are too!

Have a good one,

Rubin

…but unfortunately, it’s not going to happen. At least, not today. It rained. It was windy. It was cold. These are not conducive conditions for photography so the camera stayed dry even if we didn’t.

But I’d like to take this time to thank my other mother, Ann, for helping out today. Gretchen has parent-teacher conferences today and tomorrow. She’s been getting up early and NOT taking me to school with her. Therefore, I get walked by Ann in the morning and then left inside until someone decides to pay me some attention!

Today it was Ann, who had to the day off to take care of some personal issues. She did those in the morning, while I slept, and then she came home, leashed me up and we went for a walk. Boy, was I surprised when we walked right up to Ollie’s house! “We’re going to walk Ollie?” I asked.

“Yep!” replied Ann. “I’m helping out your other overworked mother!”

And off we went for a wonderfully long walk through the park and down by the water. Ollie LOVED it, being such a gregarious fellow, and when Ann left he asked, “Will you come back again?”

“Someday, I hope,” she responded.

I spent most of the day with Ann who worked at home while Gretchen set out to walk Rosie after she finished her first round of conferences (Gretchen, that is…not Rosie). Rosie wasn’t very happy about going out in the rain OR about leaving her Dad who was also working from home. (Hey, why can’t dog walkers work from home?) But once Rosie got her raincoat and leash on, she was happy to go outside even if the rain was unforgiving…and the wind, too!

They walked through one park and over to Judkins Park where both Rosie and Gretchen had a bit of a scare. Racing around the open field of Judkins Park was a large dog in a pink, plastic raincoat. Really. I’m not lying (of course, I wasn’t there, but I believe Gretchen). Once the dog saw Rosie and Gretchen headed her way (sorry, I’m pretty sure the pink meant she was a girl, though I hate to stereotype), she put her head down and sprinted over to them. The closer she got, the more Gretchen could tell that this off-leash dog in a pink coat was a pit bull and even though the owner was madly yelling at his dog, the dog had only one goal — meeting Rosie.

In those quick moments, it’s hard to tell if the dog’s intent is friendly or vicious. Knowing that Rosie was jittery about other dogs, Gretchen stepped in front of Rosie pulling the leash behind her back, stood with her biggest, baddest presence and yelled loudly and deeply, “NO!” The dog in her pink coat skidded to a halt three feet from Rosie. The owner kept yelling, “Maya come!” but still Maya was focused on Rosie though now Gretchen could see a wagging tail under the pink coat. “She’s friendly,” shouted the owner, but Gretchen had to respond, “I’m not sure how Rosie will respond so if you could get your dog, that would help this situation.”

Rosie, Gretchen reports, behaved admirably. She just stood and watched. She was nervous, yes, but not the least bit annoyed or aggressive and Gretchen praised her mightily after Maya was put on her leash. “I have nothing against pit bulls,” Gretchen told the owner, “but even dressed in pink it’s hard to know what a charging dog has in mind.”

The owner apologized and Gretchen continued to praise Rosie for her relatively calm response. Whew!

Rosie was happy to go home to her Papa again — who knows what her version of the story was — while Gretchen moved onto Saber’s house. Saber’s been a bit sick so he had to be walked alone. He wasn’t happy about that and looked for Gemma when he charged out the front door and then for me when he barreled down the stairs.

No one. Still, he and Gretchen had a nice long walk down to Mt. Baker, through the secret trail, up on the hill and down through the tunnel. They even had a bit of time to play some fetch and practice their recall command at the tennis courts (in the pouring down rain!) before Saber finally flopped his immense body down, exhausted. Gretchen reports that she laughed, slapped her hands together, and said, “My work is done here!” and with that, walked the tired puppy home.

Gemma was next and by then the rain was letting up, but just a bit. Gemma walked to our house and I was very happy to know that I got to go with them to pick up Woobie. We made our way up the hill, fetched a happy Woobie from her house, and then walked through the park back to Gemma’s house. Yes, the same park with the pink raincoated Maya, though she wasn’t there when we passed through.

Then Woobie hung out with us for awhile before we headed back to her house where she raced up the steps and happily entered her warm, dry home for a nap before her parents returned from work.

Then I spent quite a bit of time in the car as Gretchen got a massage (in her continued attempts to help her gimpy leg) while Ann went shopping for new plants. Yes, that meant my ride home involved sharing the back of the car with two large bushes. Jeez. What a dog must endure.

Friday is predicted to rain more than today, but I’m holding out hope that photos will be taken. They make my stories so much more interesting, don’t you think?

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

When Gretchen told Ann to take the last homemade brownie for her lunch, she knew she’d regret it later. She was right. About 11:30, when Monty and I were eating brunch, I heard Gretchen say, “Darn it! I should have kept half that brownie for my snack!” But by then it was too late.

I suppose that’s what regrets are, aren’t they — moments when we realize our words or actions are, in essence,  too late or maybe even perhaps too early. Gretchen got me thinking about regrets today and while dogs are not inclined to have them, there are times when we do regret our actions if not always our words.

This then was my interview topic for the day, which started, as I’ve sort of hinted, with Monty. We picked him up on our way home from school and he was in a chipper mood sense the cold weather and the possibility of fun and sun. We went for a wonderful walk up along the ridge whereupon we discussed regrets.

“Hey Monty, do you have any regrets?”

“Just one that I can think of,” he offered, “That I didn’t bite the burglars in the leg when they broke into our house awhile back.”

Yes, that I think counts as a significant regret. But we didn’t dwell on the topic since there were flowers to smell, squirrels to watch, and the enjoyment of our time together.

Oh, and brunch, served to us when we got home from our walk. Monty LOVES looking forward to lunch and today, I was pretty excited about it, too.

While we dined, Gretchen walked Rosie who, from her soulful face you might think is a dog filled with regrets, only had one to share while she and Gretchen strolled through the gardens.

“Rubin wants me to ask if you have any regrets, Rosie?” Gretchen asked.

Rosie is never quick to answer and today she was in a particularly serious mood so after some contemplation she said, “Why yes, yes I do, but only one that feels compelling. I regret that I don’t like cats.”

“How so?” Gretchen probed deeper.

“Well, as you know,” Rosie explained, “When I see a cat I lose all control. It’s as if my mind disengages and I leap and lurch and growl and snarl and snap at anything near me. Sometimes that’s my brother Tyson and sometimes it’s the leash and occasionally I snap at the people I love, but it’s not because I’m mad at them. No, it’s because I am not thinking at all. I’m just reacting and the second I’m done reacting, I feel instantly regretful.”

“It’s okay, Rosie,” Gretchen tried to reassure her, “I bet everyone understands and forgives you your outburst.”

“I sure hope so,” she said. And with that, they played some practice fetch, which brought Rosie out of her serious mood!

Next up was Gemma and I was eager to hear what she might regret, but it took a bit of time to get it out of her. She was too busy checking behind every fence to see if there was a dog she could bark at and pulling on her leash anxious to get wherever she and Gretchen were going.

Where they were going was to Oshi and Perrito’s house and then they all headed over to the tennis courts, which is where Gemma thought of a regret.

“I regret,” she barked, “that day I spun on my back and ripped all the hair off my tail!” As you can see, there’s still a bald patch and while it’s growing back, it’s doing so slowly.

“Regrets?” Oshi asked. “Are we talking about regrets?”

“Yes, we are,” Gretchen said emphatically. “Do you have any?”

“Oh my yes,” Oshi began. “My biggest regret is that I was not born a cat because I think I really am a cat, but for some reason no one believes me.”

“Do you have some trans-species trauma?” Gretchen questioned.

“I most certainly do!” said Oshi and then he proceeded to run happily across the court. (I think he needs to realize that he still acts like a dog most of the time!)

“What about you, Perrito? Any regrets?”

“I haven’t a clue what you all are talking about!” Perrito hummed happily. “I just want to chase Gemma who chases the ball and then steal it from her and grunt at it. What’s there to regret about that?”

He has a point.

Gemma took the boys home and then popped over to our house to check out the action. Monty and I were overwhelmed with her enthusiasm. She spends the first 5 minutes spinning against us and then butting her bottom into our sides trying to get us to play with her. At one point she even tried a new technique on Monty. Good thing he’s patient otherwise she just might have regretted her actions!

I tried to regret her decision to play with my stuffed toy, but she persistently tried to take it from me, even doing an end around in hopes that I wouldn’t see her. Fat chance!

Then we all posed in the sun, which was unexpectedly emerging from behind the chilly clouds.

Monty got the idea to sniff Gemma’s ear, which in turn tickled Gemma, and made me close my eyes with the worry that Monty might regret his actions!

We took Gemma home and then Monty and I went for a long walk down by the lake. We posed distractedly at the edge of the lake where Gretchen got one photo of us being good…

…and one photo of us contemplating our next move…

“Do you see the ducks?” I asked.

“Yeah dude,” said Monty. “Should we charge?”

“No, let’s not do anything we might regret!”

We’re such good dogs! For our reward, we got to play some fetch at the little field, but not too much since Monty is still recovering from a gimpy back leg. Gretchen is too. They both tell me that the older you get, the slower it takes. Gretchen said it’s one thing she regrets about getting older!

I guess I’ll just have to wait and see!

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

We appear to be experiencing a cold snap. Not horrible. Not like the mountains for snow and freezing temperatures everyone on the east coast experienced, but still, for these here parts, it’s chilly. Worst thing about it — it kind of feels like we got fooled. I mean, everything is in bloom and SHAZAM! the temperatures drop below freezing. Not good for the daffodils. Not good for the euphorbia that’s busting out all over the place. Not good for dogs with only a bit of hair.

At least today, we didn’t get any snow flurries…at least not yet…they are predicted for tonight. Sure wish it would stick. I hate the teasing.

I suppose that’s what I find so fascinating about the seasons — each one holds me differently. Summer holds me in soft warmth as if I’m buried in a warm down comforter curled up right next to a glowing fireplace. My muscles relax. My tongue measures the heat by the length it can extend. And my body longs to spread out on the cool kitchen floor — my belly flat, my legs outstretched.

The fall is precisely what the word implies — a slight lean into something less stressful, a slow tumble into quieter days and longer nights. Fall is orange against blue, yellow scattered on the green grass, and this feeling that I must get done whatever I am doing for soon they’ll be no more time left to do it.

Spring, on the other hand, puts a bounce in my step. These past few weeks, as the temperatures climbed in the upper 50s and lower 60s, I felt more alive, more willing to pursue my adventures with a bit more vim, a bit more vigor. Every flower surprises me. Every new scent on the ground requires investigation. There are squirrels popping up everywhere and I must stay forever vigilant lest I miss one crossing my path. Spring makes me feel hopeful.

Which is why this winter has confused me. We never really had winter. We had an endless October in some ways, a November stuck in neutral. There was no snow. There was only one trip to the mountains. Some days, when I’d exercised hard, I even thought about a swim in the lake. I never think about the swim in the lake during the winter months, but not only did I think I about it, I actually did it a couple of times this winter. Yes, it was cold, but it wasn’t anything like what I’d expect for a winter time swim.

So that feeling of hopefulness, that feeling that the grip of cold, of dark days is about to pass and spring about to spread like wild flowers in an empty field has eluded me. Sure, there are squirrels who mock me, but there was never an absence of squirrels, which is what winter is all about. Sure, there are flowers, but the grass never seemed to go dormant, the bulbs never really fell asleep, and so I wasn’t surprised when the forsythia  showed up in February and the daffodils bloomed in early March.

I guess that’s what I miss — the surprise of spring. Winter never really gripped us tightly so I never longed for the brilliance of tulips, the sun’s alarm earlier each day, the smell of warmth on the wind. All those things were kind of all there since the hand of winter was more gentle this year.

Well, until now. I was fooled. So the snow yesterday, the chill this morning — they were like winter grasping at my tender tail one last time and I don’t like it when anyone — winter or human — grabs my tail! I guess that’s why I’m kind of grumpy this week. Not terribly so, but between the seasons thrown into a bit of a reverse, Gretchen’s inability to take me to agility class because of her gimpy leg, and that lack of spring’s anticipation have made me a little less patient, a little more disobedient, a little less willing to do as I’m told 100% of the time.

Much to Gretchen’s chagrin. She tried to get some of my grumpiness out (as you can see from the photos) with a play session with Gemma and Ollie…

A rest at home while Rosie sat by the daffodils and then shook her head to produce a splatter of flattering drool…

Further rest while Saber practiced his patience despite the blade of grass on his nose…

…and his first meeting with Chloe who was rather leery of the big dog wanting to sniff her all over…

And then a walk with Alice who was bored with the posing by the euphorbia, though happy to see me (yes, she’s happy)…

But I’m still feeling a bit miffed — it’s neither a real winter nor the hopefulness of spring. It’s a conundrum, that’s what it is and I’m not very patient with conundrums.

Still, when I look back over the day, I have no regrets. It was a full day — time to play with friends and take a nap — life really doesn’t get much better than that no matter what the season.

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

Yeah, that’s what I just wrote. Flurries. As in snow flurries. Can you believe it? I couldn’t either. I mean, we’ve been having warm, spring-like weather for months now and then all the sudden we woke up this morning to 32 degrees, gray, gray skies, and a forecast that called for snow in the low-lying areas.

What do you know? While it wasn’t anything deep and white and enjoyable, it did snow and as you can see from the backpack to the right, we got caught in the flurries (the white spots on the black…I know, it looks like salt, but it’s snow!).

But not for long. We got caught on the last walk of the day and by that time, we were kind of half hoping it would snow because it was so dang cold out there! And hey, I just got a haircut not too long ago so let me tell you, did I ever feel the brrrrrrr, brrrrrr, brrrrrr of the weather today.

Still, today turned out to be a rather quiet day so I’ve been able to hang out at home with the heat on more than I usually do.

It started with a morning walk, only lately, those walks have been with my other mom, Ann. Gretchen’s still kind of gimpy and in an attempt to save herself from too much walking (only what’s essential) she’s been using the car to travel to school, back home, and then to each walk. She says she feels kind of guilty since she isn’t a big fan of polluting when she doesn’t really have to, but with her slow recovery, driving cuts her walking miles significantly and she’s hoping speeds up her recovery.

I’m hoping so too. I mean, I like walking with Ann in the mornings, but it pains me to watch Gretchen try to get out of the car with her bum leg. I know it pains her too, but as she says, moving (as in walking) feels a whole lot better than sitting so hopefully the recovery will go a bit quicker and soon enough we’ll be back to walking the mileage we normally walk and not driving it.

So after my walk with Ann, Gretchen and I loaded into the car for our teaching job. Today was kind of fun because the students got to watch this video and then participated in an activity that explored the idea of sharing — what we choose to share, what we choose not to share, and what keeps us from sharing our abundance.

Then I got to come home, warm up a bit, and eat my breakfast, which I didn’t eat. I just wasn’t hungry, but don’t worry, I ate some of it for a late lunch. Gretchen bundled up a bit more and headed out to walk Rosie and Tyson. While they walked through the park, Tyson was more interested in heading to the tennis courts for a chilly game of fetch. As you can see, he’s very protective of his ball and Rosie is very happy to run free.

Gretchen’s also playing around with close ups with her camera. She takes lots of photos — 83 today, though we only saved 30 of them. She tells me, “You have to make mistakes and take chances in order to be surprised.” Interesting theory.

So when she came home and we went to fetch Oshi and Perrito, I had a feeling that camera was going to be in our faces. I am a genius dog or what?

The final walk of the day was with Saber. Gretchen’s sort of created a monster because as much as she wants to take a walk first and then play at the courts, Saber has other ideas. He pulls us all over to the court first because frankly, he wants to steal my favorite ball! Let me tell you, this guy is like a shovel. I drop my ball for a second and he swoops in and snatches up so quickly, I often don’t notice at first until he taunts me with it so much, I eventually get the hint!

(I know that last photo is not the best photo of Saber, but if you look closely, you can see the flurries floating by!)

Once Saber is significantly worn out AND I get my ball back, we set out for a walk. Gretchen was going to take a photo of us on the walk, but that’s when the flurries really hit us so the camera stayed dry even if we didn’t.

Oh well, what are you gonna do? I am never one to snub snow, though I sure wish it would stick and get really thick so we could actually play in it! Maybe tomorrow!

Until then,

Rubin

But it’s Friday and to be honest with you, I’m kind of tired. So tired, in fact, I’m going “write” this blog pictorially. Forgive me for what might appear to be laziness, but today the smiles speak volumes and are far more creative than I can be with my words.

Enjoy…

"I'm trying to smile, but this ball is kind of stuck!"

"Spit it out, Rubin. It's easier to smile that way!"

"Hey Oshi. Being up this high makes me uncomfortable. How about you?"

"Well, maybe if we comply with her demands, we can get down from here and get back to business!"

Synchronized running!

"Saber, why must you shovel me around?"

Rock hound!

"Uh, can we go run around some more?"

"I prefer smiling in the shade."

Monty always loses his ball in the tall grass. I have to help him find it!

"Phew! Found the ball! Now back to the shade."

"Now that's better!"

"No Q, smile. That's how you get the treats!"

"Did you say treats, Monty?"

Have a great weekend,

Rubin

Every dog is afraid of something. Really. I’m kind of afraid of tall men who wear hats though I’m slowly getting over it. I’m really scared of new noises and I show my fear by barking hysterically (much to Gretchen’s displeasure). The other night, for instance, I saw something big, round, and brightly white standing by the fence. I threw myself at the sliding glass door making everyone jump out of their skin.

Turns out it was a new wisteria plant Ann bought at the garden shop and the big, round white thingy was the plastic around the root ball.

Oh well. Better to err on the side of caution, I think.

Even Monty, who is the most laid back dog I know, has his jittery moments. Usually, it’s when the vacuum cleaner gets pulled out of the closet. He doesn’t bark, though. He just puts himself in the room farthest from the vacuum and waits.

All dogs do have the jitters, but they also respond in unique ways. I bark. Monty removes himself. Quillette, another friend, runs outside when she sees any cleaning supplies and shakes in the corner of the yard…oh, and drools.

Today started with Ollie and Gemma who both have their jittery moments. Ollie jitters (perhaps with excitement) when he sees any small animal — cat or squirrel — or senses any moment of needed caution — large man in hat. Then he barks, kind of like me. Gemma, she’s not afraid of anything. In fact, she stirs up the jitters in all of us when she decides to spin like a crazy woman at the end of her leash.

All of these jitters can be cured by a good romp with Saber, though. He can wear Gemma out faster than you can say Irish Terrier and that’s what he did today — wear out Gemma and Ollie.

Saber’s jitters? Well, since he’s still a puppy, his fears spring up at random. Once it was an umbrella — scared the pants off him. Another time it was a skateboard. He pulled toward home at the end of his leash. But now that he’s getting older, not much seems to give him the jitters. Of course, he does get jitters of excitement all the time — especially when Gemma comes to play with Ollie in tow.

Rosie has lots of jitters, but slowly they seem to be diminishing. Her biggest fear is loud trucks or even the trolley bus as it whizzes by. Today, Gretchen tells me, it was a truck backing up and rumbling. Rosie jumped out of the way and looked at Gretchen for some reassurance. The good thing is that Rosie is getting over her fears more quickly and always checks in with Gretchen to see if she can earn a treat for staying relatively calm.

The reason I bring all of this up — jitters and fears — was because today we saw a side of Alice we’ve never seen before. We’ve always known that Alice is super jittery, but slowly she’s been getting over it. Where she used to bark and cower in the corner when Gretchen first walked into the house, now she just barks once and then wags her tail and comes over for a treat.

But today, Alice was in her crate. She barked once and then refused to come out. She wouldn’t even take a treat. Okay, so this was going to be interesting. I usually wait outside while Gretchen fetches Alice, but since she was glued to the inside of her kennel and clearly stressed, I was needed. I came into the house, saw Alice in her crate refusing to eat the treats laid on the outside of her kennel, and so I walked up to her, ate the treats, and said, “What’s up, Alice?”

“What are all those noises, Rubin?”

Ah, now it made sense. On our way to Alice’s house, we passed four loud trucks and six guys. Two guys were hoisting themselves up to the tallest branches of some maple trees and with their very loud chainsaws, chopping off some branches. Two other guys were hauling the fallen branches away and throwing into the back of what I later learned are called “chipper” trucks — they make wood chips out of the branches. The other two guys were supervising, making sure no one fell, no one (like us) walked under the falling branches, and everything went okay.

Alice was right. It was really, really loud.

I tried to explain. “There are these guys sawing off branches and buzzing them up in this big, loud truck. We walked by them and yes, they’re loud, but it’s all okay. Really.”

Alice didn’t believe me. She was so jittery she couldn’t hear me. Luckily, after about 10 minutes of waiting for her to come out of her kennel (we sat on the porch with the front door open) the guys with the noisy trucks stopped working and drove off. Sure enough, Alice slinked out of her kennel with her tail between her legs and nuzzled Gretchen’s elbow as she passed on her way to see me.

“I’m so glad you’re still here,” she said. “I don’t know what came over me, but I sure didn’t want to miss my walk.”

“It’s okay. I understand,” I said and with that, we were off on our walk up to Woobie’s house.

Woobie might have jitters, but I haven’t seen any. I think she might get a bit jittery when she’s left alone, but basically, Woobie is happy-go-lucky all the time. It was a good thing, too, because that’s exactly what Alice needed to be around — Ms. Happy-go-lucky!

Of course, Woobie is a bit camera shy. Not sure she gets jittery about it, but she’d rather do something other than have her photo taken…like play in a big grassy field…

…or put her face into the wind (while we look for what caused the loud noise behind us)…

…though eventually, she’ll comply.

We walked both Alice and Woobie home (it’s kind of a big loop) and Alice thanked us for calming her down and we both said, “Not a problem.”

Then it was off for one more walk with Saber. We were hoping to romp it up at the tennis courts, but the weather was so nice and the afternoon upon us faster than expected that the high school tennis players infested the area before we even had a chance to romp. So we went on a nice walk through the park and then headed back to Saber’s house and that’s when Gretchen realized she hadn’t take a photo of us yet. We patiently waited on Saber’s porch while she fetched her camera and snapped a couple of photos.

Okay, Saber has jitters.  The Halti collar he must wear around his nose. He hates that thing. I’m just glad I don’t have to wear it. While Saber tries to claw it off or rub on the rosemary bush outside his house in hopes it will pop off, I’d bark at that silly thing. See, that’s difference in how we each deal with our jitters!

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

Spending time with 5th graders ruins your ability to spell well, let me tell you! Today, it took me quite awhile to figure out what the note sent to me said, “Rubin, you are asium!” I looked at it over and over, but still struggled.

“What word is this?” I asked Gretchen.

She laughed. “That’s awesome.”

It is?

Who am I to question such a compliment?

Here’s another of my favorites written by another 5th grader: I am lacktoes tallerent.

It takes courage to spell this way, don’t ya think? I learn a lot when I go to the classroom and teach with Gretchen every morning and though I didn’t go today (I rested after a particularly strenuous agility class last night), I read some of the papers Gretchen needs to grade, but hasn’t yet found time to do so.

Here’s another wonderful spelling: Shdrange. (That’s supposed to be “strange.”)

Luckily, I don’t spend my whole day with the young ones. Instead, I get to go out with my dog friends who I’ll admit are much better spellers than most 5th graders I know.

Today was a special day in another way and that’s because I got to walk with Gretchen AND with Ann (my other mother!). Gretchen sort of hurt herself last night at agility so Ann decided to help us out today and to take care of Gretchen (like tying her shoes since her injury makes it difficult to bend over) and walk dogs.

We started the day with Monty and because there were two dog walkers, we picked up Oshi and Perrito as well. We were worried that the tennis courts wouldn’t be open today, but lo and behold, we got some play time there!

Perrito loves to play fetch, but he requires a special ball. One I particularly like as well and therefore had to stalk him to get it!

Alas, it was time to go before I could wrest the ball away from his greedy little paws!

Monty and I ate brunch while Oshi and Perrito went home and then Ann and Gretchen headed out to pick up Rosie, who was really excited to have another human on her walk! They went to the park and practiced fetch…

…and sit stay…

…all the things Rosie was happy to show-off to Ann.

Next up was Gemma who pulled Ann all the way to Saber’s house and then Saber pulled them all to the tennis courts at the other end of the park where they played and played and played…

…until Gemma’s tongue hung out…

…and Saber flopped to the ground…

Then it was back home for both of them.

Gretchen said she was a tad bit worried that Saber wasn’t worn out enough since it was a gimpy walk on her part, but later, Saber’s Dad sent us this photo (taken from the webcam they have focused on Saber). I think he was pretty tired.

Surprisingly, I am too, but that doesn’t make me regret any of the “asium” things we did today!

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

Three…

It always starts with one. One dog on a leash, walking patiently and obediently with his human friend. And then, if the day is busy or even if it’s not, there’s generally another dog on our way to three. Two dogs on a leash trying to walk patiently and obediently with their human friend. But there are also squirrels and cats and strange men in hats all of which can cause distractions. And there is business to be accomplished on the tree, near the curb, at the very end of the extended leash.

On some days there’s another dog who joins the two making three dogs walking not so patiently and not so obediently anymore with their human friend. There are more squirrels and more cats and more business to attend to. There are also places to play, but some days adaptation is called for — no tennis courts, but a backyard.

One dog…and his many faces…

Two dogs begging for a treat…

Three dogs ready for more walking…

Two…

Counting backwards, two follows three, but on some days, two follows one even when you’re counting backwards. It’s generally the same — one dog on a leash learning to walk obediently by his human friend and then the pull as they approach the second dog waiting patiently at home. Then it’s two dogs trying to walk correctly though there’s the excitement of this smell and then that, of the birds flying overhead, and the sound of that little tiny dog from inside her house.

And there are trees the same size as the dogs, and there are smiles ignited by the knowledge they are close to place to play. This wasn’t the preferred place, but some dogs don’t know how to discriminate and they are so big and so strong, you just have to give into their demands (no names mentioned here…wink, wink, wink!).

And there are found toys, which are always better than the real toys, well, until they get taken away and then there’s satisfaction with the real toys. Mostly, though, there’s just happiness and satisfaction of two dogs together.

One…

In the middle of it all, wedged between the two and the three is the foundation of all existence. One dog. One dog by a cherry tree…

One dog feeling the need to shake off all the anxiety…

One dog in the pea patch…

One dog smiling just out of frame…

One, two, three…Tuesday’s dogs by the numbers…and then there’s me — the one and only counting dog!

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

I woke this morning to a fragrance I couldn’t quite put my nose on. It was a sweet smell that filled my nostrils with the memories of spring. When I asked Gretchen about it, she said that we were experiencing an early spring and I was smelling the first blooms.

“Why’s it early?” I asked.

“That’s a great question,” she said, “one that many people are debating all over the world.”

“Really?” was my shocked response. “Aren’t they happy about the beautiful fragrance?”

“Well, here’s the thing,” she tried to explain, “that beautiful fragrance of spring isn’t everywhere today. Some people are waking up to snow!”

“Oh,” I moaned, “I so miss the snow. It smells wonderful, too!”

“Yeah, buddy,” Gretchen lamented with me, “I miss the snow, too, but today we have warm temperatures and trees and flowers in bloom so I guess we just have enjoy it!”

And that we did. It started with a morning of teaching. All the students were surprised by my new haircut. Last week, they thought I was getting fat. This week, they worried that Gretchen wasn’t feeding me enough. Kids! What are you gonna do with them?

After school, I was taken home to eat my brunch (though I didn’t eat it until much later) while Gretchen fetched Rosie and Tyson. It was such a beautiful, spring-like day they headed up to the gardens to try to find some flowers to pose in front of. Instead, they found the city!

Of course, mostly the siblings were interested in what was in Gretchen’s pocket so it was hard to get just the right photo in front of just the right plants. Instead, she got begging!

Next up was Gemma who’d had a lively weekend so she was rather subdued today – if that’s at all possible! She walked over with Gretchen to pick up Oshi and Perrito who were thrilled that it was warm outside and NOT raining! They found a beautiful cherry tree in full bloom, but Gretchen said it was like herding cats to get them to pose nicely in front of the tree.

Once the boys were dropped off back at home, Gemma came over to our house and we had a romp in the backyard for a bit before we headed out on our walk! Can you tell we played keep away?

We dropped Gemma back at her house and then meandered over to Saber’s. The only bad thing about warm weather is that the tennis courts are in use by humans playing tennis (of all things) so Saber and I had to go for a walk first.

So up to the gardens we went where we posed under the honeysuckle…

…then down by the tennis club for a pose with the city behind us…

…and finally, we found an unoccupied tennis court where we could play keep away and chase…

The weather report called for temperatures in the 60s today. I’m not sure we reached that mark, but it was sure a lovely day with the fragrance of spring blooming all around us!

Until tomorrow,

Rubin