annie

I've finally (finally!) started cleaning out the garden. Really, I should have cleaned it out earlier, and planted a winter garden, but, well, I didn't.

Although I was pretty much done with the garden, the garden wasn't really done. It continued to produce well after I finished harvesting. Whenever that happens, well, the easiest way to harvest is to let the dogs in.

Oooooo, boy, was that a brilliant idea. After about an hour (an hour of careful observation to make sure neither of the dogs pooed or peed in the garden), the edibles were gone from the garden. Another thiry minutes later, and neither dog would eat another tomato. They willingly left the garden.

Like I thought THAT would every happen.

Andy IM'd this morning and asked if we were interested in taking the dogs to the park. Go outside and play? Uh, yes? Kris had plans at noon, so wanted only to go to the local park. We went off to the park, three people, four dogs in tow.

I expected each dog to do his usual thing: Bella would sniff everything along the perimeter; Annie would run run run, then sniff along the perimeter, waiting for a lapse in our awareness to make her escape; Blue would chase the disc as long as Andy threw it; and Shadow would alternate between playing defense on Blue and hovering near one of the people for a quick snuggle.

To my surprise, Bella came out to play with us, chasing one of us when someone was running around, and dodging us when one of us was chasing her. She artfully zipped among the three of us, swerving in and out, juking one way and dashing the other when we made to cut her off. Bella pretended to be a 2 year old dog, and endeared her little heart to us.

Shadow also surprised me by chasing me down, nipping at my legs and herding me back to the pack when I tried to run down Annie, who had "wandered" away. When I turned on him and started chasing him, Andy and Kris joined in, turning the herder into the herdee.

When we were done, Andy asked if I was interested in heading to Ft. Funston, confuse the dogs by giving them not one, but TWO outings. I was up for it, so off we went. Although the trip was billed as a "fool the dogs and go on a hike," in reality it was, "display how inaccurate Kitt's timing is with her new camera."

Andy asked if I could take a picture of Blue mid-air. Sure! So, throughout the hike, I took pictures of Blue. Note, I didn't say I "took pictures of Blue mid-air." No, that would have required good timing on my part. instead, I managed an off-frame picture of Blue:

A distant shot of Blue:

A close shot of Blue:

Blue chasing birds in the surf:

Blue eating sand:

Way after a catch:

Just a little after the catch:

Waaaaaay before the catch to compensate:

And so far before the catch, Blue was still spinning:

But, you know, you take enough pictures, ONE of them is bound to be good, right?

Of course, there's the shot of Andy, to prove he was there, too:

Of my dogs, well, I have a lot of pictures of their butts:

Bella hates Annie. Annie tolerates Bella. That's pretty much the way it's been for the last four years. Bella was first, and thinks she's the alpha dog. Annie was second, but knows how to use her size and weight on Bella. They don't really play together, and usually each does her own thing.

Recently, the frost between the two of them has started chilling. Not really warm yet, but warming.

Took Bella for a walk today after my pilates/yoga class this morning. When I arrived home after class, she was jumping and barking and generally excited, so a walk was in order. Clearly.

We walked up to the school, where she ran once and walked around the perimeter, cataloging each and every smell on each and every tree and ivy leaf from the corner to the street before I stopped her. I leashed her up and off we ran for a while, the wind blowing back her ears, and breathless smile on her face.

Instead of heading back home immediately, we walked a few blocks away from the school before heading back around home. We walked along a new street, to give Bella a chance to catalog some new smells.

As we turned the corner to head back home, Bella crouched, and entered her slinky, I'm-sneaking-up-on-prey pose, moving slowly towards a parked truck.

My first reaction was, "Come on, leave it alone!" I tugged on her leash for a bit, dragging her away from the truck, before I thought, "Eh, why not?" If she wants the cat under the truck so much, let her have it. She'll get a swipe on the nose and be less likely to attack the next cat. Yes, I like this idea. I let up on the leach and unlatched the lock.

Bella immediately crouched back down and started slinking towards the cat again. She stepped closer and closer. Closer... Closer...

The cat didn't move. When Bella was about two feet from it, it turned to her and meowed.

It didn't hiss. It didn't arch. It didn't even stand up. It lay there and meowed a "hey, how about scratching behind my ear, will ya?" meow.

Bella jumped and rushed away, stopping behind a truck tire and peering back around at the cat. I chuckled, unwrapped the leash from the various truck underbody parts and started to pull Bella away, to continue on our walk.

Bella wasn't quite done, however. She resisted, and, when the cat stood up and started walking towards us, pulled her way back to the cat.

Holding Bella back, I reached down and started petting the cat. After a few moments, I stopped holding Bella back, and let her sniff the cat while I petted it. True to dog form, she went straight for the butt, sniffing it for a moment, then jumping back, sniffing it for a moment, then jumping back. It was almost as if she knew she was supposed to attack this smell, but the smell wasn't threatening, or even interesting (which sounds wrong, given Bella's a dog and ALL smells are interesting to a dog. Except alcohol. Yeah).

After freaking out at the cat for a few minutes, Bella stopped and just stood there as I continued to pet the cat. It was a great cat, very friendly.

Kris thinks Annie would have eaten it.

And, speaking of Annie, Kris sent me a note this morning about Annie's new adventure today on her weekly off-leash, all-day hike.

There is a new girl walking Annie today. It's her first day. She is with an experienced person, who is her trainer, but I have a feeling that having to walk Annie is going to be trial by fire. If she comes through this, she'll do great. If she breaks down into tears by the end of the day, well, so be it. Maybe they want to see what she's got by giving her Annie! If only she knew what she was in for. The funny part is, though, that I handed the leash to the new girl and the trainer said "Go ahead and load her into a crate." Before the new girl could do anything, Annie jumped into the van then jumped into her crate and scarfed the treat. Amber was used to this behavior, and closed the crate door before Annie could continue the hunt for more treats, but new girl wasn't. Annie jumped out of the crate and went sniffing at another crate trying to get at the treat inside. I just smiled and walked away. Trial by fire...

Should have interesting stories tonight.