I love my dogs…actually I adore them. They make me laugh and they love me no matter what I do. How can you not love that? And they aren’t only interested in me when it comes to feeding time. They enjoy the finer things in life with me – mostly television shows and a good walk in the Big Apple.
Yesterday, for instance, I had a good couple of chuckles at my dogs. I took them to the local dog run because they need to be social and to get some exercise. This is usually a mix of happiness and depression for my girls. Foxy LOVES to go out for walks no matter the weather!! And unless it’s in the teens, will go out in any of the elements with only her furriness to keep her warm. Bonnette, on the otherhand, tends to get cold very easily so she needs to be dressed up. She’s not very fond of getting dressed up because she doesn’t quite approve of getting off of her warm couch to walk in the cold. I can’t say I blame her entirely but still, we all need our exercise. Last night was a bit windy although not too chilly. As a precaution, I put Bonnette in her argyle sweater, which is a bit big on her. She got excited when I showed her the leash that she uses but when it came time to put on the sweater, she gave me a look that said ‘Must I?’, and hid her face into the couch so I couldn’t get her harness on. Somehow I got it on though. And we were off.
Bonnette thought it was a particularly nice night for scent sensing at every single corner while Foxy was in a hurry to get to the action of the dog run. When this happens I often find one arm is stretched much longer than the other to try to keep up with the dogs going in opposite directions. About a block into our walk, Bonnette decided to put on the brakes, notifying me that she’d had enough of a walk. I encouraged her that we still had a little more to go and offered her a treat in order to get her to move her romp. It took a little more cajoling and enthusiasm but we were all soon heading in the right direction. When we got to the dog run things were ok or so I thought.
After sniffing all the dogs, Foxy ran around with some of the other dogs for a while. Bonnette did a little bit of her own sniffing and then became my shadow – following me everywhere I went. I inched over to the left a bit, Bonnette trotted over in equal measure. I turned around to see Foxy chasing a Schnauzer and Bonnette spun in unison.
Then out of nowhere a little dog came up to me and threw a ball at my feet. I wasn’t entirely sure why this dog came up to me but I figured a tennis ball can mean only one thing in doggy – fetch. But instead of picking up the ball, I kicked and this dog caught it every single time! I was quite amazed by his/her goalkeeping skills and I continued to play with him as he kept dropping the ball at my feet. While this was happening, Bonnette thought it was an opportune time for her to make a run for the dog run door. She trotted off in her little sweater and when I noticed her making the break for it, I’d call her and tell her to come back. She reluctantly scampered back to my side but continuously made an attempt whenever I was a little too involved in the session of fetch with the other doggie.
Seeing me playing with the other dog bough out the fetchaholic in Foxy (a game she only plays 2-3 rounds of when it’s just her and me). She joined in on the fun with this other dog but Foxy just wasn’t as fast as this other little dog (O.L.D.). After a couple of failed attempts, she finally got the ball and decided to take it to a corner and hid it from the other dog. The other dog wondered where the ball was and then went off to say hello to some other dog owners. When Foxy left the hiding spot to play with the pack, the O.L.D. located the ball and bought it back to me to continue in another round of penalty kicks fetch.
This renewed game caught Foxy’s eye and she joined in again. This time she didn’t bother to fetch the ball. She just wanted to get the ball away from O.L.D. so it wouldn’t play with me. Foxy hid the ball again, this time lying on top of it. The O.L.D. decided to see what was going on with some little kids who entered the dog run. And there was Bonnette making a run for the door again. I gave Bonnette the ‘look’ and she returned to me and sat beside me. She created a ‘mommy’ sandwich with her sister, who was on my other side, still lying on top of leaf-covered tennis ball.
This whole thing continued for a while, Foxy got up and left the ball and the O.L.D. came to play. Foxy hid the ball again. Bonnette was waiting in front of the door again. All of this was a sign to return home. On our way back home, the girls walked in a straight line. Foxy tried to find some random evening squirrels but had no luck and Bonnette had the focus of a bullet hitting the target of ‘couch’.
When we got home, I asked Foxy’s forgiveness for not paying enough attention to her. She kissed me while Bonnette was sprawled out on the couch insisting I find another spot further from where she was.
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