Working-K9: May 2010 Posts

Friday, May 28, 2010
Brush the Dogs

Who doesn't love a good brushing? It's soothing, relaxing, gets all the itchy spots and pulls out the lose fur. When my human goes for the brush both Atlantis and I spring to our feet and line up. Naturally we both want to be first in line which often leads to a little pushing and shoving until my human stops us.

At first letting Atlantis go first was no big deal. She'd tip over and wiggle around on the ground as soon as the brushing started. My human can not bend down that much so she'd simply leave Atlantis on the ground and move over to me. After brushing me awhile Atlantis would stand up and my human would go back to brush her, only to have her fall over again and then return to brushing yours truly.

Eventually Atlantis figured the brushing routine out and has learned to stand still like a good pup.

After brushing our backs and sides we venture over to the little bench on the patio for our under sides to be brushed out. Once again the pushing and shoving resumes for a few moments until my human again puts a stop to our antics. This whole process can take awhile if my human is giving us a thorough brushing. Naturally we don't mind; heck if it took all day we wouldn't complain.

Sometimes, well usually, ok nearly every time my human is finished brushing us we go out and roll around in the dirt and dry grass then trot inside to show my human what we've done. This usually results in her grumbling a bit then retrieving the brush once again so she can get the grass and dirt out of our fur.

If you haven't figured it out yet, we make such a mess of our selves simply to get more brushing. We be evil dogs. Hee Hee Hee.

If the dirt and grass doesn't work we'll go over to the water bowl, lap some up then drool all over each other. This is a sure fire way to get extra brushing because my human doesn't want our fur to get matted or snarled.

We may be well trained and mostly obedient service dogs but we also know how to get what we want.

Monday, May 17, 2010
Amber

Several days ago now my human's friend Amber came over to visit for the day. The two humans like to venture out for lunch then chill around the house and chat or work on the computer. I'm always excited to have company at the house. Only have my human and Atlantis for company is good but the routine gets a bit dull unless my human has errands to run.

At first my human was worried that Atlantis would be too rough with Amber due to the fact she's still got a lot of puppy craziness in her. However, much to her surprise Atlantis has always been very gentile around Amber; despite the endless licking. It's almost as if Atlantis is mesmerized by Amber. She hovers around Amber, watches her, licks her every chance she gets and simply wont leave her side. It amazes both my human and I just how patient, calm and attentive the former Demon Child can be.

I wonder how the next visit will go. Can Atlantis continue on this path to maturity or will her puppy exuberance kick in and she'll be bouncing off the walls again. Only time will tell....

Saturday, May 08, 2010
This and that fly

Ok so I was sitting in the bathroom one while my human prepped herself for the day to come and I noticed a fly bouncing off the mirrors. When I was a pup this would have been too much to bear and I would have chased after it, likely leaving total devastation in my wake given the small confines of the bathroom. I'd like to think I've matured a bit since then and now leave most the bug chasing to Atlantis.

So I just sat there and watched the fly dart over to one mirror and bounce off, then turn around and head for the other mirror only to have the same end result. It's almost like watching the ball at a ping pong tournament, or watching the wiper blades on the van during rainy day of errands. The fly just kept bouncing off one mirror, than the other; back and forth over and over again.

This got me to thinking, as the astute intellectual that I am, just what must that fly be thinking? Does it not feel the pain of impact, repeatedly? Does it think that this time it's gonna get somewhere new?

I know you are thinking I've lost my mind but bear with me a moment. Could it be that this fly sees the mirror as a new place to go to, another room, possibly one with a force field up which prevents entry? Ok that's just silly, I'll admit to that. Perhaps in the mere second is takes for the fly to travel between mirrors it forgets the previous failed attempt to get through and resulting thud. Can a fly's attention span really be that short? If so, how do they survive?

Maybe it's just panicking and trying desperately to get out without realizing the error in the flight plan. Acting on instinct could be plausible. However with instincts like that I'm sure glad they aren't any bigger than they are or they'd do lots more damage than I ever could.

As I sat there and watched I also started to wonder, how many more times can it hit face first in to the mirror before it passes out or just drops dead? I was starting to keep count, and then suddenly I was jolted from my daze as my human whacked the fly with a fly swatter. So now the world may never know the answer to that little mystery. Gee thanks mom.