There was a time when I went to school, but now that Gretchen is no longer a teacher, I am no longer a school dog. I have mixed feelings about it all, but when I was out with my friends/clients today, I was happy about where my life has landed me. What I miss about school is hearing everyone say, “Good morning, Rubin!” the moment I walked through the door. I think Gretchen felt a little put out since rarely did anyone greet her with such enthusiasm, but it’s something I really miss these days.

I also miss the way I could wander around the classroom and lick up any food droppings on the floor. I usually don’t do this at home, but the food at school was a lot better than what we eat around here (no offense).

I thought that I wouldn’t miss the getting up early, but it seems that’s not going to change. We got up early this morning to make breakfast for Ann’s first day back in the classroom and then we raced home at the end of the day to make dinner for her too. I guess, since we both know what it’s like to be a teacher, we need to support her in every way that we can, but still, it would be nice to sleep in late.

But our day was busy, too. True, Ann has 29 kids in her classroom and we don’t have nearly that many clients, still we walked a lot today and I for one, am as tired as if it were my first day of school.

First up was Monty and I was kind of dreading it. Not because we were going to be with Monty. I LOVE hanging with my BFF. No, what I dreaded was the rain. Gretchen looked out the front door and then looked at me and I knew something awful was about to happen. When she headed to the closet to get my raincoat, I raced upstairs and tried to hide.

I guess it was kind of turning out like the first day of school. “Mom, don’t make me wear that! My friends will all laugh at me!”

But wear the coat I had to and I was none too pleased. Especially when Monty decided he needed to shake off the rain at the pea patch. He didn’t wear a coat and I suffered, as you can see, the consequences!

Rosie and Tyson didn’t have to wear their coats on their walk, but lucky for them, the rain stopped about halfway through their walk. Unfortunately, the clouds were pretty heavy and the light was really dark as they headed down to Leschi and then up through Frink Park. Only one photo turned out okay, but still, you can see they are without raincoats!

By the time Gemma was retrieved from her house, the rain had gone away and the sun actually came out. Oshi and Perrito were happy about that — Gemma could have cared less. She was far more interested in the squirrels that kept racing across the telephone wires behind Gretchen and her camera.

Still, no one got wet and no one had to wear a raincoat.

And I didn’t have to wear one either when Monty and I picked up Saber from his house.

Instead, we got to walk in the sunshine and once again, Gretchen headed down to Leschi for a sweet shot of us by the marina.

Of course, Saber was disappointed that he wasn’t going to go swimming so he refused, at first, to look at the camera, but once Gretchen said the word “treat” he behaved.

Monty, too, who was slowing getting up from his sit/stay to see if Gretchen really was really going to cough up a cookie!

By the time I met up with Paige, there was actual blue skies and man, was I ever happy because that raincoat dogged me all the way to Paige’s house (Gretchen left it in the back of the car RIGHT NEXT TO MY BED!).

When I was a dog teacher, exciting events would happen occasionally, but basically, not much changed from day to day. I liked the predictability of it all, but I also like the variety of my work now. Take, for instance, going on a walk with Paige. We visited Jack Block park and then walked up onto this high tower to view the city.

What Paige and I  saw in the distance over our shoulders(the black spot in the water) was a seal munching on some sweet seafood…

…the Seattle skyline in the distance…

….and the LONG WAY down from the tower to the ground. It might not look like it, but I was totally freaked and when Gretchen asked me to sit, I sat as close to my friend Paige as I could get. Paige, being the good friend that she is, let me lean into her and I really appreciated the support. Finally, she told me just to line down and the world would stop spinning. She’s so smart!

But things got even more exciting on our way home. Paige and I were walking side by side, gently bumping into each other when all of the sudden, with the force of a powerful huntress, Paige stabbed into the bushes and emerged with something big in her mouth.

I jumped. Gretchen jumped and immediately reached for Paige’s mouth to pull out what she thought was going to be a hamburger wrapper or some garbage. But no…the “garbage” had a tail…a really, really long tail and the whole thing wriggled in Paige’s mouth. I ducked behind Gretchen’s legs, my eyes as wide as they could get and Gretchen jumped back realizing that the thing in Paige’s mouth was a LIVE RAT!

Not just any rat, but a huge wharf rat about the size of a small cat. Gretchen yelled, “OUT!” and with a swift shake, Paige shook that ugly thing and then dropped it onto the path.

OH MY DOG! Gretchen checked Paige who, with blood all over her mouth, smiled proudly. I stood by in amazement and just kept saying, “WOW!” over and over again. The blood didn’t really belong to Paige. Nope, it came from the belly of the rat she’d killed (yippee, one less rat in the world!) and a slight cut on her lip.

All the way back to Paige’s house I kept asking her questions, “How did you know it was there?” and “How did you learn to be so fast?” Paige just continued to smile, her ears on alert, and finally said, “Shucks, Rubin, it was easy. I’ll teach you how if you wanna learn?”

Oh my dog! Stuff like this NEVER happened in the classroom.

So, while I’m sad not to be curled up underneath of a student who needs some dog love, I’m really happy to be out in the “wild” spending time with my friends and learning all sorts of cool stuff I never even dreamed of when I was a teacher.

Until tomorrow!

Rubin

This is the time of the year when it’s really easy to be fooled. Take this morning, for instance. I looked out the window and saw gray clouds and rain. By the time we headed out the door on our first walk of the day (with Oshi and Perrito) there was no longer any rain, but the gray clouds looked threatening.

Still, we headed over to the tennis courts because when it rains, they’re usually empty and we get to play!

Well, Oshi doesn’t play…

Gretchen walked Rosie and Tyson both today (not a usual event, but apparently they are on the schedule for the whole week, an hour each day!) and while I rested at home and then ventured through the many trails, even the gray clouds started to part!

Gretchen was so fooled by today’s weather she wore long pants and then, after she’d dropped off Rosie and Tyson and picked up Gemma, she swung by our house to change into her shorts. When I saw that I was pretty excited!

Gemma was really excited because she got to go see her old friend Ollie and by the time we got to his house, there was actual sunshine!! You can kind of see it as we posed in the shade of the trees, yes?

But the best part of the today’s fooling around was by the time we picked up Saber, it was warm enough to GO SWIMMING!

Of course, Saber went swimming after the ducks instead of the ball and while there was a moment of worry (“Will I have to go in after him?” Gretchen asked me) Saber spun around and headed to shore whereupon he dunked his own head. Silly dog!

Then we dried off on the bench before we headed home in the bright sunshine of the day.

As you can tell, neither of us wanted to head home. We wanted to hang out on the beach and play in the unexpected sunshine, but Gretchen had to go to work at the pool tonight so no extended play dates for me!

Still, I guess I should count my blessings because sometimes, as I know to well, the fooling can go in reverse. I could have woken up to sunshine and then been fooled into thinking the weather would be grand and end up in my dreaded raincoat! Let’s hope that doesn’t happen tomorrow.

Until then,

Rubin

I took today off. I’m not supposed to be walking dogs or taking photos of them and technically, I haven’t and I didn’t, but since we went away for the Labor Day weekend and since we flew out of here Friday night like Wendy and the Lost Boys out the window, I didn’t get a chance to post the blog on Friday. So I’m posting it today.

Technically then, I am not working. Right?

Not like anyone is going to pay me overtime now is it? In fact, I need to talk with Gretchen about my “cut” of the profits. She claims I eat them in my food or play with them whenever I get a new toy or bed. Hm, something feels fishy and since it’s Labor Day, I may have to protest about my “free” labor.

But I’ll save that until later because right now I should tell you about Friday.

Surprisingly, it was hot on Friday. Why that’s a surprise is because right now (the Monday following), it’s darn chilly and the rain has washed away pretty much any memory of summer. But I digress. Friday was warm. Warm enough, in fact, that Tyson, the first walk of the day got to go to the lake and swim. Clarification. Tyson doesn’t really swim, but since Gretchen didn’t know that she threw the ring-toy out a bit too far for Tyson who had to use his best problem-solving skills to figure out how to retrieve it.

As you can see, while Tyson used some clever moves, he ended up swimming to get the toy, which pleased Gretchen to no end because if he’d let it float without retrieving it, she’d have to wade in and get it. She was not at all prepared for that!

Gemma got to walk with Oshi and Perrito and while no one really wanted to look at the camera (there were little soccer players everywhere and all of them wanted to run and play with the kids and not pose for photos), eventually they all submitted to the will of the camera…sort of!

Monty was with me the whole day and we’d taken a long walk in the morning, before it got too warm, and then another walk with Saber which lead us first to the tennis courts…

…and then up to the Bradner Gardens where we dined with some children who were celebrating their last weekend of freedom before they were “forced” to go back to school. Only these kids weren’t worried at all about returning.

It was a short day, as you can tell, but still one I didn’t want to miss. And even though it’s taken me until today (technically a day off) to get this post done, I can now wash my paws of the obligation. Whew.

Until tomorrow,

Rubin

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