Better light to fill Buzz’s beautiful brown eyes.
Birds that chirp all day.
The ability to feel my face after walking the dog.
Good stuff.
In the winter, letting the dog out and playing with him a bit each evening can feel very choresome (that is probably not a word, but I don’t care). In the spring, going in the yard with the dog is awesome.
Because I take a beer with me.
And sit in the sunshine.
And Buzz just plays with his soccer ball and his sticks.
And then he comes over and sits by me and smiles.
He gets muddy maybe, but it is worth it.
For the sun and the beer and the birds.
Sometimes, we even have company for the evening unwinding. Tessa loves to come and play with Buzz.
Hi Tessa!
Can you wear my dog out for me?
Brilliant!
Tessa seems to learn a lot by watching other dogs. Like that you can jump to catch a ball! Or, that Nylabones are fun to chew on. She has yet to figure out how to play Buzz’s favorite game, but she’s been watching closely.
Maybe someday she’ll learn this extra-stupid, ever-so-funny hiking game. It’s Buzz’s favorite. It should go on his tombstone when he dies in one million years: “Here lies Buzz / He liked to hike things between his legs.”
Sometimes Buzz pauses from this hiking game to play fetch or sit on his table.
This particular day was the first really warm day and Buzz hadn’t even begun to blow his winter coat. And he hiked the ball a hundred times, played a lot of fetch, and wrestled like a madman with Tessa.
Both dog were getting a bit hot. But especially Buzz. Frequent trips to the water bucket were made.
Eventually, Buzz just lay down in the dirt by the water bucket, taking occasional sips.
Then I noticed that Buzz was using his nose to push the edge of the bucket over. Before I even had time to shoot a picture or grab the dog, he had dumped a gallon of cold water into the dirt, scratched the dirt up to make mud, and started to roll in it.
ARE YOU SEEING THIS???
Are you laughing? Because I was.
The aforementioned beer probably help me find the funny.
But seriously, the freakin’ dog made mud to roll around in and then went to town on it before I could say boo.
It is actually kind of genius of him. If a dog is in danger of overheating my dog book recommends applying cool (not COLD) water to the head, neck, chest and abdomen--either in a dunk tank or by using wet towels.
Notice that Buzz got most of his nice, cool mud on his abdomen.
Yep, now he’s even doing his own first aid.
Also notice, that he wanted to play some more after this hot episode...not such a genius after all!
I ended up taking him inside and giving him a nice tepid bath. Yes, Buzz got a bath. Which he almost never gets, but he ground in that mud really well, so the usual plan--waiting for it to dry and then brushing it out—wasn’t going to work. Plus, I wanted to make sure he was cooled off and the water was a good way to accomplish that.
Right Buzz?
Uh-oh, looks like Buzz has been reading the adventures of the canine mafia!
2 comments:
Buzz is adorable :) Great pictures!
OH, I like this post - especially the "take my stink" part. Celeste is all over that, and gads, sometimes she stinks a LOT. then she jumps on my bed and leaves that stink there, too.
And sometimes, there's nothing more comforting to me than the smell of a dog, clean or not.
Celeste gets aa bath twtice a year, whether she needs it or not, when we leave her with the sitter. Lily doesn't feel comforted by the smell of a dog, for some reason. I don't get it.
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