Poodle belles

We start the morning with a windy, wet walk. The dogs have their blue raincoats on, covering legs and most of their tummy with plastic. It doesn't seem to keep the heat in though. Spike shivers as we walk, so we make it a quick 1.5 miles.

It's hard to believe that it was snowing last week. W and I took the dogs walking with boots on. Bella's were a stiff neoprene. She kept losing one, though the others stayed on. I put a silly, puffy bug costume under her regular coat to keep her warm. (No way would I put it on her without a cover coat!)

The second day of snow, I put Spike's black shoes on Bella, and those worked great. Spike seems less sensitive to cold feet than she.

I had to teach a university course this afternoon, so the dogs waited, wrapped in coats, in the conservatory. They were happy to see me. But they were even happier when W came home and gave them bread crusts to chew. Bella ran up to the office dog bed to crunch on hers beside me. Spike devoured his and stayed in the kitchen in case more was coming his way. They seem happy to be back together as a pack.

Meanwhile, Missy the Havanese threw up 4X at her new place today. Green. Spike hauled an avocado skin out of the garbage yesterday, and I'll bet she got some. Not the best introduction to her new home. But with Kaos, the big Great Dane/Coonhound mix on one side of Alexis, and Missy on the other side, they snuggled on the couch and kept each other good company.

Good doggies!

Another dog day

The rain is pelting down. We take a quick one-mile stroll through the school yard and neighborhood. The dogs do their business in a hurry, eager to get off the dripping streets. Today it's dry dog food day, which they gulp before a snooze in the crates.

I have to finish editing my conference paper, so I pull sweaters on their little bodies and put them on the sun porch, along with some toys. When I come back, they're ready to come in. They refuse to play without me in the room, though they tussled plenty in the office earlier.

I blame the poop left in my office after lunch on Spike since I've never caught Bella in an accident. They both look innocent. Argh, I didn't see it happen, though I was in the room. I had just let them back from outside, too! Spike doesn't seem to be able to predict when he has to go, and doesn't know how to tell me when he needs out.

Spike steps on the treadmill for the first afternoon trot. (Maybe he needs a diversion.) He maintains a steady pace, the tags clinking on his collar. Bella lies down beside me on a fleecy rug, waiting her turn. Good doggies.

First wrestling match

It's been a cool wet week.  Ugh to Seattle winters. We get caught in a downpour on a bike ride yesterday. Both dogs have the animal print fleecies on under raincoats, but their legs are soaked.

I put Bella in the wicker basket after 2 miles. She isn't even panting, but the weather helps. Plus, we go a slow 4-7 mph for her. After she's up and out of harm's way, the pace picks up so Spike can run his mile at 8-10mph. He's a running monster for his size! When he stops tugging, we slow down to a gentlemanly 6mph trot.

He is happy all day long and she rests most the day. Bella walks off with Spike's toy in the afternoon. He's surprised and tries halfheartedly to tug it back. No giving in. She hangs on and keeps dragging it behind her (big long squeaky animal). He gives up in astonishment. Go Bella! He's always playing with her stuff, so I'm happy to see that she knows she can share his.

This morning when we get in from a short, cold walk (1.75 miles), the dogs have their first growling and wrestling match. No one is seriously dominating, so no one comes out on top. It's good fun, bouncing, tail wagging, "hey, buddy!" kind of play. Bella does her typical stomach-up surrender a few times, but Spike's sitting and lying down beside her most of the time, snarling wickedly as she barks at him. They don't even nip. Just bounce over one another, trot around the entry, and have fun. (like the photo below - not of them)

I am SO glad. They walked closer together today on a 20" coupler rather than the usual 40". I was too lazy to get the regular leash from the car. Yes, we walked by the car on our way up the driveway, but I would have had to take those keys, unlock the car, get the leash, relock the car, put the car keys back, etc. You get the picture. We walked past with our homemade solution.

I cobbled together my bicycling leg wraps (velcros that keep trousers out of the chain) and attached them to the dog collars and my leash; worked just fine. They trotted like ponies pulling a cart--me. And they walked beside me carefully on "Let's go for a walk."

They felt free to play around when we got back in. Now they're sleeping together in the next room. My office is very quiet with both of them snuggled on the sofa next door. There's a big smile on my face. Peace at last? Good doggies!