The Canine Chronicles. I have been dog sitting. Here are my thoughts about it.

Yesterday I went home and Kenai the dog was waiting for me on all 4's.

I have been waiting to say that all week.

Actually when I got home yesterday she was particularly HYPER. She immediately wanted to go out. Once I got her leash & treats, I opened the door and she stopped short at the pile of recycling.
poke her nose at the bins - look at me
poke her nose at the bins - look at me
Finally I looked at the pile and realized that she was directing me to get her Frisbee that was wedged behind the recycling bin.
I grabbed the Frisbee and she snatched it out of my hands, and ran down the stairs to the front door!
Once outside she continued to drag me to the park.
As I attempted to drag her to our usual spot - she fought me the whole way. I finally gave up, and she led me through the park.
After about 4 minutes of being led by a dog, I looked up and discovered that we were in a small fenced-in field behind the reservoir path. She dropped the Frisbee and looked at me. I then removed her leash in astonishment.

We played Frisbee for a while, and then I sat on the rocks while she sniffed out random trails of random.

**

I was writing clips for my portfolio. Good music was playing and there was slight breeze through the open windows. I had already taken Kenai for a walk that afternoon, but at about 8pm she started pacing - so I put down my work and took her on another walk. As we were out walking I couldn't help but take in deep gulps of the new September air, and realize that this is what I envisioned when I thought about moving to New York. Slipping on your top-siders to mosey through the park on your writing break, with your yellow dog.

**

Sometimes the presence of a dog makes you realize just how quiet your life is. I talk to her and get no response. The other day as we were going outside, she would take two steps and then look back at me ~ I would look at her and so on.
In that silent exchange - both of us feeling helpless in our communication barriers not knowing what the other wanted - is when I realized how quiet life is sometimes.

**

Again, the dog is smart. I can take her off her leash when we get to her block, and she will go straight to her stoop, and wait for me at the door. She knows her stoop! Gets me every time.

**

Every time an ambulance would turn on its sirens, she would start howling this low gutteral howl. Luckily there weren't many ambulances around (I could see getting tired of that) so I would start howling with her for fun. We would be sitting on the couch watching TV, and howling at the sirens. Thats what I call five minutes of fun.