As I was taking their picture, SanFranMan called. He is VERY fond of the dogs, so he called to wish them a Happy Valentine's. Hee! Okay, he didn't call THEM specifically, but when he signs off most of our conversations, he says "Give the dogs a hug and a kiss from me". True story. I know 'some' of us might find that hard to believe.
I was gone for 8 hours today, working for the Wicker Lady. When I got home, the dogs wanted out immediately. Muttin/Jeff dance and jump and run when we get outside, but they won't do their business until I've acknowledged each of them by petting them, or saying their name, or they 'high-five' me with their nose on my hand. Duke grabs his tennis ball when he knows we're going out, and trudges about the courtyard ignoring the rest of us while he goes about his business. As we walked down the courtyard, I contemplated the fact that Duke has never really come to me like the little ones do for petting or attention. He'll come to me when he wants to go outside, do the tennis ball, or eat. But just as I was thinking that he's just not as happy or friendly or bonded or yippy skippy as the littles, Duke put his tennis ball down, stared at me until I got a little un-nerved, which made me say "What?" as in what the hell, dog. Then he walked over to me, wagging his tail so hard that he was wiggling back and forth and I had a hard time petting the proper end of the dog. Such a happy big puppy!
Usually, when I've reached out to pet him or hug him, he ducks and is stand-offish. As if he just can't be bothered. SonOne says he and SweetieGirl have never hit him. Not knowing that, I've swatted him 3 different times, for barking (and not quitting), and once when all three were at my feet and he snapped and snarled at the little dogs. That was more of a sudden shoving him out of the way. The other time was when he didn't come when he was called, running down the alleyway. I went after him, stood over him and pointed the way to go and said "get back home". At the same time, we were standing on some ice underneath the snow and I started to slip. He thought I was going to hit him as I fell with my arms flailing - halfway reaching for him to steady me. All three times, he snapped, snarled and growled at me. So I've be soundly trained to not hit him in any way, shape or form. Smartass dog.
As I was contemplating the above, prior to his happy dance, I had also been thinking about calling SonOne and telling him to come get his dog. Then he did his happy dance and wanted petting and hugging - it just figures. Cause I got all melty and mushy inside and think I love this dog.
Great. Just great.
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Jacob Poems
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