"Fetch" Means Eat Snow

As often as Emme has played fetch with Ken, almost daily for over a year, she still has not figured out the game. In good weather, fetch means run to the ball and sniff the grass. Wait for Ken to go pick up the ball. Watch him throw the ball. Run to the ball and sniff the grass.

Emme also has a cold weather version of the game. When there is snow on the ground, fetch means run to the ball and eat snow. Wait for Ken to go pick up the ball. Watch him throw the ball. Run to the ball and eat snow. What a good game.

Emme is so anxious to go outside as soon as Ken has showered and gotten dressed. She is just beside herself waiting for him to tie his shoes and go outside. So she can play fetch. Or a least her version of fetch.

Emme and the Blow-up Bunny, Continued

Emme is continuing to notice the pink blow-up bunny periodically. Over the course of a few days, the bunny looses air and falls over on its side. When that happens, Emme runs over to the bunny and pushes it with her nose. That makes the bunny emit a high pitched squeak from some kind of squeaker located in its body. Emme has never bitten the bunny so it is holding up to periodic punches with Emme's nose. Every few days, Ken picks up the blow-up bunny and blows it up again. When ever he does this, Emme growls and barks as he is inflating the bunny. I don't know why. Then we continue with the process: ignore the bunny, notice the bunny on its side, punch the bunny to make it squeak, blow up the bunny, wait until it looses enough air to fall on its side, notice the bunny, etc., etc., etc.

Entertain Yourself

I have been fighting a cold for the last week. Ken has been playing Nurse Shirley making me meals and tucking the quilt around me when I nap on the couch. Emme has had to pretty much entertain herself.

I think that we picked up cold germs on the airplane when we flew home from Key West. Ken started with a sore throat and runny nose. I was fine for days and then, wham. Sore throat, runny nose and a never ending cough. I spent most of Tuesday napping on the couch and watching Discovery Channel HD. I did go to National First Ladies Library on Wednesday, led two tours and wiped myself out. Came home Wednesday afternoon and napped and coughed again. Napped and coughed again on Thursday. Poor Emme hasn't had much to entertain her. She naps with me on the couch, watches out the window, and plays by herself with some of her toys. She must think that I am a poor playmate. Maybe today will be different.

Neighborhood Watch

Every morning we follow the same routine. After the dogs have been out, I sit on the floor in front of the couch and play with Emme while Ken starts the coffee. Emme and I pet and wrestle and play for a few minutes. Then when the coffee is done and I go to get a cup of coffee and Emme grabs Big Mamma Gorilla for a bit of loving. Ken and I read the paper in the dining room for a few minutes and then a little bit later we take a break and get the dog food and give Emme and Rudy breakfast and morning medicines. After they eat, Ken and I return to finish the newspapers and both dogs nap on the rug.

When Ken and I are done reading the newspapers and drinking many cups of coffee, I make breakfast. By this time it is light and Emme jumps on the back of the couch and watches the neighborhood. This is one of her favorite spots, tucked between the arm of the couch and the pillows, with her head resting on the back of the couch, and she returns to it many times during the day to keep an eye on things.

When we have an early morning commitment and the routine changes, things are just not right. There is a right way and a wrong way to do things. Emme has this all figured out.

The End of the Snow

Yesterday it got warm, into the 50's, and all our snow melted. I couldn't be more pleased. While we were in Key West, we must have had a good amount of snow and some freezing rain and ice. It created a strange top layer on the snow that was almost crispy. Both the dogs loved it. It must have been their own version of premium ice cream.

Since we have been home, Emme and Rudy have asked to go outside repeatedly, not to take care of business but to eat snow. They would chew off the top crunchy layer of snow and eat and eat it. I don't know why they didn't get ice headaches. I was so tired of going outside for Emme to eat snow and nothing else and then coming inside and going right back out again 45 minutes later.

Now the snow is gone and we can see the grass. The weather is colder today and it will be cold and snowy off and on all week but if we get any coverage, it should be just regular snow. Both dogs like snow, but they LOVED what covered our yard last week. I am glad that is gone.

Blow-up Bunny

Yesterday I took down all the Valentine decorations and replaced them with the Easter decorations. I put out the table runner with the Easter eggs printed on it, the smocked eggs, ceramic Easter eggs that my mother painted 40 years ago, little flocked rabbits and lambs, and the plastic blow-up Easter bunny. Emme did not like the Easter bunny.

As soon as Ken began to blow it up, Emme started to growl and bark. I don't know if it was because the bunny started deflated and grew into a three foot bunny or if she just has good taste and was offended by the bright pink bunny. We have had many decorations on the floor in the house: pumpkins, Christmas trees, the blinking plastic Santa, flower arrangements and she has paid almost no attention to them. Something about the blow-up bunny caught her attention immediately. After the bunny was sitting on the floor in the kitchen for a few minutes, Emme went over to it to investigate. She must have decided that it was no threat and left it alone. This morning Emme is not in the least interested in it.

Dogs Have No Sense of Time

Dogs have no sense of time. If we read this one time in the many dog books, we have read, we read it a dozen times. The books all claimed that dogs can't tell the difference between an hour, a day, or a week. When you are gone and return home, to the dog it could be an hour, a day, or a week. That is why they get so excited on your return. After about the third time we read it, Ken asked, "How do they know dogs have no sense of time? Did they interview a dog?"

I don't know if there is any truth in this statement. I do know that Emme and Rudy have some sense of time in our daily schedule and know when it should be meal times and know when it is time to go to bed. Can they tell the difference in amount of time? I don't know.

When we picked them up from the kennel yesterday, they were wild with excitement to get home. They were much more excited than they usually are if we take them with us to run errands to the post office and library and return home in 30 minutes. Yesterday they seemed to know that they had been gone a while and they were excited to get home again. They spent the day needing to be near us and each other. Rudy couldn't get enough of his lovies. He would lie on the rug for many minutes at a time loving up one lovie, only to be replaced with another one a few minutes later. Emme spent a considerable amount of time chewing on her bone. They were both "Velcro dogs" sticking close to one or the other of us all the time. Emme needed to be close to Rudy and would lie down near him and roll over on her back. I don't know if dogs have a sense of time, but I sure do. I thought of Emme a thousand times while we were on vacation and I was really glad to see her again yesterday morning. It is nice to have all four of us together again.

Key West

Ken and I are back from a week's vacation in Key West. Today it is back to real life. There are dogs to pick up from the kennel, unpacking to do, laundry to be done, and groceries to be bought. But we are rested and the vacation was wonderful. We had a wonderful time.

Danger - Grapes and Raisins

Grapes and raisins are extremely dangerous for dogs. Dogs can be poisoned by eating just a few of them. Emme's breeder, Darlene, sent an email which contained the following which was written by a vet in Danville, Ohio:

"Poison control said as few as 7 raisins or grapes could be toxic. Many people I know give their dogs grapes or raisins as treats including our ex-handler's. Any exposure should give rise to immediate concern."

I routinely give the dogs tastes of fruits and vegetables when I am preparing meals but I never give them grapes or raisins. We had read that grapes and raisins are bad for dogs in one of the many dog books we read before we got Rudy and Emme, but it must not be commonly know. Be careful if you have a dog.

Almost Like Hands

Emme often uses her front paws almost like hands. This morning at breakfast, she was playing with the stuffed squirrel. Emme would lie on her back and hold the toy with both paws. Then she would chew, squeak the toy, growl and wrestle. After she got done playing and chewing, she began to rest. She stayed on her back with the toy clutched in both her paws. Cute!

On chairs

The last few days, Emme has decided that she should be up on a chair rather than on the rug. In the living room, if she isn't on one of our laps, Emme jumps up on the rocker and rests on the chair cushion. In the dining room, instead of lying on the rug, she jumps up on one of the unoccupied chairs and naps there. In the kitchen, she has more of challenge, but she figured out that she can run into the family room and jump up on the little yellow rocking chair or another chair and still be relatively near us. In the bedroom, she jumps up on the waiting chair as we shower and dress. She has decided that her place is on chairs, not on the rug, like some dog.

These Boots Are Made For Walking

Rudy knows when I put on my black boots that something is happening. In the winter, I usually wear clogs or slippers inside the house. This makes it easy to take off my shoes and slide on my Bean boots to take a dog outside in the snow or rain or mud.

When I leave the house to shop or run errands, I usually put on a pair of black boots that lace up the front and tie. Both dogs watch me as I am getting ready and recently Rudy has decided that when I tie the black boots, either he is going for a ride in the car or he is going in the crate while I am out of the house. A few days ago, he just decided to go to his crate when I sat down to tie my boots. How much these dogs know! When I am ready to leave the house, I still have to tell Emme to go to her crate, but Rudy is in his as soon as I start to tie my boots.