Category: Dogs

animal day journal #5

whbeebe


Annie has developed into a fully-fledged traveling Doodle, with all rights due that lofty position. She guards the car when we’re parked, and when traveling provides navigation services. I need to stress, again, that I don’t leave Annie alone in the car. The entire back seat is her special place, and she will move from side to side to look out the windows as the world flows by. On this particular morning Annie and I provided taxi services for mom’s trip to see one of her doctors. As usual we waited outside in the car for mom. When mom came back out I needed to put mom’s rolator into the back of the car. That’s when Annie decided to stand up and yawn out of her middle seat.

Annie is living the absolute best time of her life right now. That’s not to say she wasn’t living well before, but there’s nothing like being the only dog in the family. She gets all the attention. She gets two healthy walks per day when I’m not sick or the weather is good. She goes out into the back yard to watch while I work, then comes back into the house when I come back in. She is a living garden gnome.

She is a sweet little creature.

first animal day of 2025

whbeebe
Zoë claiming a new box

I’m making some changes for 2025 with regards to reporting about my menagerie of animals. I’ve always had a mix of cats and dogs, and before the cats, it was two (and rarely, three) dogs in this household. So instead of writing about caturdays, I’m now just calling it an animal day, and writing about every little creature that has a story to tell for that particular day. In this case, it’s Zoë and Annie.

Zoë decided to claim yet another cardboard box as her own. I’m always dropping empty boxes on the floor for the cats to explore and play in, and almost always it’s Zoë who leaps in (yes, leaps) and starts to make a racket playing in “her” box. That, of course, is a siren call to all the other cats within earshot, and they come over to watch Zoë or, in the case of Danï, drive her out for their own amusement. Never a dull moment with cardboard boxes in this household.

“Hey…”

Annie and I chauffeured mom to an orthopedic clinic on Friday. We waited in the car (they don’t allow Doodles in the premises). After a time I began to sense someone looking at me. I turned around to look and sure enough Annie was giving me that side-eyed look. After a few moments of silent communication, dumb dad finally figured out she needed to go outside of the car and do her business. So we both got out and walked around a bit, during which she sniffed and tinkled in a few spots to leave her calling card. After a time we moseyed on back to the car to climb back in and continued to wait. Eventually mom exited the facility and we all drove home to lunch. Annie loves going on car rides with her people, even if she sits and waits in the car when we stop at places. She knows she’ll eventually get to check out the surroundings.