Do Fence Me In

It’s mid-way through my second summer and it looks like this is going to be my best one ever! My people parents fenced in the backyard of our home, which has eased my access to the outdoors. Before the fence, when I went out I was tethered to the deck so I would not get lost. While it was a 30-foot line, it still prevented me from smelling and digging in parts of my yard, and only one dog at a time could go out. I wasn’t always so good at taking turns.

My parents are glad the tether is gone, as sometimes I would run around and get all tangled around trees and make them come out in the rain to untangle me (big laughing dog smile). But most important, in retrospect it prevented Murray and me from being outside at the same time. The paw-full of you that follow this blog know that my biggest gripe about Murray was his steadfast refusal to play with me. But the fence has changed that! We now almost always go out at the same time and things are OK. We pee along the fence, standing next to each other like boys do. What started as exploring the backyard together has turned into running around together. Murray has gotten a little quicker despite his years and is back in shape. I have become more lithe and muscled as I have been running laps around the crepe myrtle tree, and up and down the hill to the woods. I’ve also been known to take a flying leap onto the hammock. We play Frisbee, too, and have figured out how to haul around large chunks of firewood from the woodpile.

And get this: Murray and I treed a big gray and white cat together! The marauding cat had the nerve to get into our backyard, so we ran after him all the way up the hill into the woods at the back of the yard, where he climbed a tall tree with his claws and sat there swishing his puffed-up tail at us. (Who knew they could do THAT?!?) We stood our ground and barked and bayed and wagged—he wasn’t coming down that tree anytime soon. Well, except that the tree was close enough to the fence that he just hopped over it after awhile and ran away . . . But this was a success by dog standards. He hasn’t been back, so nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah.

While I still have my doggy wading pool from last year, I now get to play in the water stream when mom waters the flowers with the hose. Any time the hose is on, I come running. And I had a bath in my pool the other day, which I enjoyed immensely since it has been so hot.

All in all, a totally AWESOME summer and still 2 months to go! Hope you’re enjoying yours.
Hawkeye

Too busy to blog . . .

I know it’s been 3 months since my last blog posting, but I have been very busy. First I was going to elementary dog obedience school, graduating in mid-May. (Insert scanned picture of my graduation). While my class only met once a week, I had homework assignments that took up a lot of time. Like practicing with my parents: stay, sit, down, come and drop it! I also worked on extra credit like: find mommy, find your bone, and crate. Can you believe they signed me up for the intermediate course? What more could I possibly learn!?!

A week after I graduated, I was collaterally affected by my human sister Jordan’s wedding on 24 May. She and her fiancé Mike brought both of their dogs, my BFF Cori and his sister Luna, to my house 1 week before the wedding. (Insert scanned picture of me playing with my dog cousins). Luna likes to play rough. But unfortunately for her I had been watching the Capitals vs the Penguins hockey playoff games. So if Luna was giving me a tough time I just body slammed her against the cabinets in the kitchen.

I also had to spend time in my new, blue wading pool. Even though I’m originally from Georgia, I didn’t recall it being HOT. (Maybe because I lived there in November?) Anyway, it is HOT here, and that has particular meaning for a very black dog like me—we heat up faster! We need to be cooled off in a wading pool. I learned right away to check the water with one front paw, then add one more, and then hop in with both back feet. That’s why us Labs have webbed feet—we were made for water. Within a few seconds of going out the back door I sit in the water, stick my nose under and blow bubbles, and then stand up and dig at the bottom of the pool so the water flies out! Pools are lots of fun, and you can shake water all over the deck if you really try.

Now you know why I have not been blogging.