Wild Life in the Garage

This morning Ken and I were working in the yard. The garage door was open for about an hour or so while we were planting some perennials that Ken got on a great end-of-the-season sale. He got 26 plants for $10.28 and we wanted to get them in the ground right away. While we were busy working, unknown to us, a little chipmunk ran into the garage and stayed inside. Ken discovered it on the window sill in the garage later in the day. We tried to chase it out of the garage by stomping our feet behind it but we were unsuccessful. We stomped and the chipmunk ran and hid. We left the garage door open when we went out to run errands and hopefully the little creature ran out of the garage and back into the yard while things were quiet.

I wouldn't want Emme or Rudy to go our into the garage and capture the chipmunk. Even worse, I wouldn't want it to run into the laundry room and hid in the house. So for now, I think the wild life is out of the garage and back outside. At lease I hope so.

Seed Collector

Last evening after dinner Ken and I went on a walk around the yard to see what is blooming. We each took a dog on a leash. We looked at all the plants as the dogs sniffed, ate grass, and wandered along with us. When we came inside, Emme got up on my lap and I discovered that in addition to walking around the yard, Emme had been a seed collector. She had about 30 little black seeds sticking to her coat. I had to take her into the laundry room, wipe her off and comb the seeds out of her hair.

She usually spends her time in the house, on a sidewalk, or on the grass to take care of business or play her version of fetch. She seldom walks among the plants in the gardens. I don't think she will do that again. She collected every weed and flower seed that was available. The next time we check out the plants in the yard, I think I will leave Emme on porch to watch.

Hit Me On the Head

We have some little kibble sized treats that we use to put inside the Kong toys with peanut butter. Ken decided that he would use those treats to teach the dogs a trick. He was trying to get Emme and Rudy to catch a treat when he tossed it to them. Both dogs sit about three feet in front of Ken. He tosses one treat to each of them so they can catch it. Rudy is pretty good. He catches the treat almost every time. Emme doesn't seem to understand the game. I think she thinks the game is: you toss a treat; it hits me on the head; it falls on the floor, and I bend over and eat it. She isn't any better at catching the treat than she is playing fetch. She has other talents. Like just being cute.

Like a Cat

Emme is as agile as a cat. She loves to get up on the back of the couch and walk along the top of the cushions. She also loves to look out to monitor the activity in the neighborhood. She spends a good amount of time during the day watching, with an occasional rolling growl or bark to ward off intruders. This usually includes anyone walking on the sidewalk or the street. Anyone working in the yard across the street. Anyone in any yard she can see. And anyone on the golf course. This keeps her busy.

I usually draw the drapes after dinner and with these long summer days, it is still light when I do this. I think sunset tonight is at 8:59 PM so there is still plenty of light and lots of things still to see when I close the drapes. Emme is not deterred. She hops up on the back of the couch and knows just where to insert her head between the two sides of the drapes. Then she sits and watches the sidewalk and the street. She does stop after dark, but she is on duty again the next morning, early.

Private Bathroom

I have three giant Sagae hostas growing at the corner of the back porch. They are lush and lovely and Emme has decided that they are her own private bathroom. When she goes outside, she loves to go down the steps and under the Sagae leaves to take care of business. She disappears under the leaves. It is kind of like having the key to the executive restroom. It is all hers and private.

Dirty Mouth

I never knew it would be so hard to keep a white dog, white. Emme is like a little dirt magnet. She sniffs the deck and comes up with smudges of dirt, twigs, little pieces of leaf, and assorted messes all around her mouth. She picks up dirt, pollen and dust on her paws. She goes to the lake house white and within a few hours she is grey in places. I wouldn't trade her for the world but it is challenge keeping her clean.

First Swim of the Season

This weekend Rudy went swimming for the first time of this season. He absolutely loves to dive off the dock and play fetch with his orange toss toy. On Friday, we went down to the dock for a first boat ride of the season and Rudy had to bring his toy and play a little fetch. Ken threw the toy a few times and Rudy was in heaven. You can see then that he is really a water dog. You wouldn't know it when it is time for a bath or to go outside in the rain. Then he can't stand water and will do anything to avoid getting wet. If he misbehaves, we spray him with the plant mister and he hates it. Only in the lake is water good and there it is very good.

His coat is so thick that it takes hours for him to dry. After our ride, we all stayed out on the deck for some time so Rudy could begin to dry in the sun. When he is wet and goes inside immediately he uses the rug and all the furniture to dry himself off. Drying in the sun is better.

Emme has never gone swimming. She is fascinated by the water and loves to be out on the boat. I keep her on the leash because I am not sure that she wouldn't just go over the side. She stands on her back legs and sniffs the water over the side of the boat. The water by our dock is deep and the only way to get in is to jump off the side or the end of the dock. We don't have a gradual slope so you can wade in. We just have deep water. Later this summer we are going to take Emme to one of the beaches at the lake some week day when no one else is there. We will let her get her feet wet and see what she does in the water. I wonder what she will think of that.

Wild Life at the Lake

We just got back from a few days at the lake house. While we were there, a rather large deer strolled across the yard. Ken got out the camera and was able to get its picture before it disappeared into the woods next door. This is why I always want to have Emme and Rudy on the leash at the lake. I am never sure when we are going to have a visitor that they would like to chase. I am sure that if either dog were outside when the deer went through the yard, they would have taken after it in a heartbeat.

The house on the other side of ours had its own version of "Wild Life at the Lake" yesterday. In the afternoon cars began to pull in and a group of loud young men began a party. As we were sitting on the deck before dinner, we could hear them playing loud music, hanging out on their dock, getting into a boat, and yelling at the top of their lungs. We decided that if they got too loud, that we would play Steve Halpern or Yanni really loud to annoy them. Actually, they settled down early in the evening and didn't disturb us in the least. That was good. I am not sure you can play Yanni loud enough to even hear next door, let alone annoy a loud group of partiers. So much for Wild Life at the Lake.

Like a Fruit Bat

Emme loves fruit. She and Rudy both come to the kitchen when I am preparing a meal or snack hoping for a handout. We never give them food from the table, but I often will give them a treat when I am cutting up fruit or vegetables. Rudy is a little pickier, but Emme will eat a bite of almost any fruit or vegetable I give her. She eats many vegetables: green peppers, cherry tomatoes, celery, and baby carrots but her favorites are fruit. I never give her grapes because they are toxic to dogs, but she gets bites of apple, peach, watermelon, cantaloupe, bananas, and her all time favorite: oranges. Who knew that dogs would love citrus fruit. When we peel an orange or Clementine, Emme actually whines to be given a bite. Maybe she is part fruit bat.

Doggy Day Care

Yesterday morning, we took Emme and Rudy for a first time visit to Doggy Day Care here in town. My son and daughter-in-law take Lolly to a day care center in DC and they are very pleased with it. Ken and I decided to look into it with the idea that we would plan to leave the dogs there for day care and boarding when we went back to John Campbell at the end of the summer. We were planning to do a few short visits over the summer to assess how they handled being with other days.

I called the vet to schedule boarding for our New Jersey shore vacation and they were filled up. So we went to plan B: Doggy Day Care.

I called the day care center and scheduled Emme and Rudy to stay there for our vacation week and we took them on Monday morning to see how they would do. Neither Emme nor Rudy have had a lot of experience playing with other dogs. There are just the occasional visits from relatives with dogs.

On Monday, there were five other dogs when we went to the center at 9 AM. Every one of them started barking as soon as we brought our dogs through the door. Both Emme and Rudy seemed overwhelmed by the noise and confusion. The owner took Emme in her arms and walked into the middle of the dogs while we waited by the counter. They sniffed Emme and she seemed okay in the woman's arms. Then she put Emme on the floor. Emme started sniffing the other dogs. So far so good.

Next it was Rudy's turn. Holding on to Rudy's collar, she took him into the group. Every one barked and sniffed but seemed to get along. Then Ken and I went into the room to look around. There is one large room, a smaller area to separate small dogs if necessary, several small rooms about 6 feet by 8 feet that are used for boarding, a back hall, an always open door, and a small fenced in back yard where the dogs take care of business. Everything seemed clean and Rudy and Emme sniffed until I thought they would pass out. We watched the dogs for a few minutes and then left. As we backed out of the parking lot, Emme and Rudy were standing at the window watching us leave.

We came back to pick them up about noon. Both dogs seemed to be okay. The owner told us that Emme spent the morning glued to Rudy's side. Where ever he went, she followed. Rudy didn't play for a while but later in the morning picked up a blue ball and played fetch. I think he played fetch a lot. They both were worn out and plopped onto the back seat for the ride home. Emme was asleep before we hit our street and both dogs spent most of the afternoon napping. Later in the evening, Rudy was having a hard time getting up and moving around. He refused to climb the stairs to go to bed so Ken grabbed his pillow and slept on the family room couch with Rudy on the rug beside him. This morning, Rudy seems okay. I think he just over did at day care and next time, we will need to tell her to slow him down, not throw the ball too many times and to put him in a separate room to rest periodically.

We will try another short day before the actual boarding. I think we all survived our first experience with doggy day care.

Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed

I love Emme's new hair cut. There is nothing different on her body or legs. The biggest difference is in her face. Her ears are much shorter than they have been and she is clipped more around her eyes. She looks so bright eyed. Actually I always think she looks cute but with the new do, she is cuter than ever.