day off

Monday we took a short trip to Owatonna, stopped again at "Uncle Tom's Antique Mall" so that I could get a copy of an old book: "How to Take care of your Puppy" written in the 1940's. (It cost $1.00.) Now my dog is no longer a puppy (although people tell me she "looks younger" than 2). Possibly she is not well-behaved. If that is the case, the fault is more with us, and our lack of patience, than it is with her. She's a smart dog. She's always thinking of something to do. Monday afternoon when we came home we let her out in the backyard. She immediately went over to one of the downspouts to see if there were any chipmunks in there. There weren't. But she proceeded to disengage the downspout and drag it all over the yard.

This morning I didn't want to take her for her walk, due to severe lower back/leg pain. So I tried just letting her out in the back yard. At one point she found a ball and we played a few rounds of "fetch." Then I went in to sit down for just a minute or two. When I came back, she was digging a hole in one corner of the backyard. Her paws were BLACK. I was so mad I started to yell "Leave it" and ran toward her (which hurt). She thought that was a pretty fun game.

The other fun game is digging the hole, putting the ball in the hole, and then taking the ball back out of the hole. She'd do that forever. I personally don't get the appeal.

I sense that this dog has a lot more potential than our limited training time allows. But maybe that is just "Mom's pride"? No matter how frustratingly "doglike" she is, I still love her. All I have to do is look her in the eyes. She's always smiling, like she's saying, "Wasn't that fun?" She has no ulterior motives. She's not trying to make us mad, or late for work. She's just trying to have fun. A short trip to "Homestead Pickin' Parlor" is just as much fun as a trip to Duluth, or a trip to the dog park. And of course, for her, every day is a "day off."