Before the walk - smart dog

A day off is such a precious thing.

I woke up to do morning chores before the walk today. A child (YC) is home. I am waiting a bit before waking her. DH prepared the dogs' breakfast and let Scruff out of the crate (He stays inside at night as he will bark all night if left in the yard. He loves his crate. Go figure.) and, instead of heading out the back door he came into the living room to find me.

This is NOT the way this animal usually behaves. He is always ready for breakfast. He always heads to the back door and then to the yard, no leash needed.

But he had seen me in my "dog walking" clothes. He had heard my "clomp, clomp, clomp" down the stairs in tennis shoes. He knew a walk was in the offing. So he stood at the living room door and waited. "Aren't we going for a walk?" was the expression on his face.

Finally, DH called him and they went outside.

Scruff is such a good dog. He is smart and sweet and so happy to have a home. Yes, I guess this is a little commercial for pound puppies - for mutts. We are all mutts in this family. Scruffy fits right in.


One hour later:

The dogs were so anxious to walk that they wouldn't settle down for a few blocks.

It was really too late to be walking, the sun too high and threatening to overheat dark coated animals.

We walked the dirt road and I showed all our small delights to YC, the still blooming wildflowers, the wafer ash, the purple leatherflower buds...[I ran into a big spiderweb and used some inappropriate language as I tried to make sure the spider wasn't crawling on me].

No deer appeared in either meadow, but we heard things in the woods and both dogs acted as if they would run after "something" given half a chance.

Then we turned for home.

I was watching the growing cracks in the road, concerned about a trip, when YC called, "deer."

Yes, there they were, the herd. We counted five. I struggled to get the camera out of my pocket. Then one more deer ran across the road and stopped by the edge of the woods. This herd of six made the day.

We were all excited and hurried down the road to see if we would spot them crossing one of the clearings deeper in the woods. No, we had our sighting and were happy for it.

The walk home was sunny and hot and interrupted by one loose dog. We talked to him and he stayed in his yard - barking a warning, but getting no closer than 20 feet or so.

Yes, a day off is a precious thing.

Wasp between the window and screen in kitchen...need a new screen...

 

Deer seen just over the grass in the first meadow - one of 6.

 

Scruffy F. - such a smart dog

NOTE: Sorry, these are "old camera" photos. New camera was left in my purse at work...trying to get outta there at 8 p.m. last night caused some haste and forgotten items.