Permission to Go

Emme has decided recently that she is big enough to take herself outside to do her business. When one dog has to go outside, usually both dogs need to go. It is like they have a physic connection between their bladders. Ken sometimes will put both dogs on their leashes and take both outside at the same time. This feels to me like driving the eight horse hitch Anheuser Busch beer wagon. I usually take the dogs out one at a time. I put a collar on the most needy dog (usually Rudy) and let him go outside while I stand on the back steps or just inside the porch door. With a 26 foot retractable leash, the dogs can sniff around to find the perfect blade of grass and take care of business. If it is cold or rainy, I can stay dry and relatively warm by standing inside the porch.

Usually which ever dog is second waits until the first is done and then it is their turn. Emme has decided that this waiting is a waste of her time and that she is much too grown up to need a collar and leash to go outside. Although she sometimes will sneak out while Rudy is taking care of business, usually she waits patiently on the porch until I bring Rudy inside and take off his collar. As soon as I pick up Emme's collar and leash, she dashes outside. She is really good. She finds her spot, takes care of business, and comes immediately back inside. But she usually waits until I have the collar and leash in my hand. It is like a signal that she has permission to go. Race cars have a starting flag. Emme has her collar and leash.

The Leaf Game

Although autumn in Ohio is always beautiful, it is a mixed blessing. The beautifully colored leaves are lovely to look at but they make a lot of work to clean up. Ken and I sometimes look at the leaves and instead of thinking "Look how beautiful those leaves are," we think, "Every one of these leaves will need to be raked up."

Emme on the other hand has discovered that fallen leaves make a wonderful game. She loves to take her little tennis ball outside and bury it in the leaves. Then she pounces on it, just like Rudy pounces on his ball in the snow. Emme grabs the ball in her mouth and then drops it again in another pile of leaves just so she can pounce again. Emme loves fallen autumn leaves. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Two in One

Last weekend Ken and I went to Washington, DC, to visit our son and very pregnant daughter-in-law. Our grandson, TBD (To Be Determined) Nuzum, is due December 22 and we wanted to make a visit to them before he arrived.

We only went for a long weekend so we decided to try something different with Emme and Rudy. Usually when we board the dogs, we put them in separate crates/runs at the kennel. Emme gets a small one and, because of his size, Rudy gets a much larger one. The techs keep telling us that Emme is so unhappy being separated from Rudy. They take both dogs out to walk at the same time so they can spend time together, but when it is time to go back to their spaces, Emme runs into Rudy's crate and doesn't want to leave. We have been reluctant to board them together because we thought that Emme might make Rudy crazy. But we tried it this time, knowing that they had an available run they could move Emme to if things didn't work out. So we put both dogs in one space for the weekend. When we picked the dogs up yesterday afternoon, the report was glowing. Both dogs did fine. I guess we will do this again in the future.