Grandpuppery...

Caitlin spent last weekend with the new loves of her life...


The Big Boys of Riverview Clydesdales were on show at the Evergreen State Fair, and she went down to help them look their best, and be comfortable there.

So the Grandpup came to spend the weekend with us.

Olive had been a little nervous when she saw Caitlin loading more than the usual amount of stuff in the car, but she was excited to see The Boss, and greeted Daisie with the usual flying leap and face bite. Soon she was running around and bringing us toys to tug, and chewing frantically on the various rawhides she has stashed around the place.

But when it gets late, she starts looking for Girl...Where is Girl? She checks the windows, and barks at the slightest noises, thinking it MUST be Girl...As the evening wound down, I was ensconced in my bed watching the latest Dateline. The Farmer was downstairs watching CSPAN. (Two TV's is a secret of our successful marriage, just so ya know...CSPAN? Really!) Daisie was sacked out on her bed in the living room, and Olive was running up and down the stairs -- first snuggling by me in the bed, then crawling up on the couch next to The Farmer...She was getting the idea that Girl just might not show up...What to do? What to do?

When The Farmer finally crawled into bed, he decided we should let Olive sleep with us, as she is accustomed to sharing the bed with Caitlin. (This is the same guy who didn't think we should get a house dog as it would be inconvenient...He is SO whipped!) But Olive seemed to think that Girl might just show up yet, and kept running off to check downstairs; then back up to bed, where The Farmer would say, "Lay down, Olive...it's okay. Lay down." And he said it many times...

Totally restless, she just wouldn't snuggle in for more than a minute.Then, as luck would have it, our neighbors decided it was a good Friday night to use up the rest of their fireworks.

Oh boy.

Booms, flashes, bangs, pops...for about an hour. Olive became a guard dog, barking at the noise, running to put her paws on the window sill to see the flashes and try to identify the perpetrators. She was up and down off the bed over, and over, and over...

And when the show was finally over, she still didn't trust that it was...We would begin to doze off -- she was laying next to The Farmer by then, but on high alert, no relaxing -- and a noise would set her off, and we would jump violently at the rude awakening...and try to get everyone to relax and sleep all over again.

At 12:30, Olive went off on a barking jag...a continuous stream of ear splitting barks, while flinging herself off the bed again. I jumped like I was convulsing and in an adrelanine fit, I grabbed the little black & white ferocity and put her in the crate, where she continued to growl, and bark -- a little... Then she finally decided we were safe and went to sleep.

Ah, blessed quietness.

The next day, she decided she would rather have the big bed, Daisie's...
 
Daisie, being the non-confrontational sort, said, "Take it, just don't bite my face anymore, okay?"
 
No deal...
 
We know that the secret of a successful Olive weekend includes a lot of exercise. Saturday, we took walks around The Farm. On Sunday, we ventured out to Berthusen Park for exercise.
 
Both dogs were so excited when we put them in the car, and when we unloaded at the park. We took the first trail we saw, and Olive was off -- but not off-leash, heaven forbid!-- as if she was about to show us the place. Daisie and I followed behind The Farmer and Olive, and had to stay at a pretty good clip to keep up --which Daisie was determined to do!
 
It looked like this:
 
 At times it felt like that too...
 
Then, there were the abrupt stops:
 
 
For some serious investigation of marvelous and mysterious scents...
 
 
Most of the time, Olive was ahead, in the distance, with the rest of us gamely marching along behind.
 
Best Day of Her Life...
 
Though it's always the Best Day of Her Life,
unless it isn't.
 
After this lovely walk through the woods primeval, we all took long naps at home.
 
Best Day of My Weekend...
 
And then a joyous -- excuse me -- JOYOUS reunion with Girl! After some de-briefing about her fun weekend, Girl says, "Ready to go home, Olive?" Whereupon Olive leaps from her spot, and runs directly to the back door, waiting there for Girl to go to the car...
 
And I thought she had a good time...
 
Even for Olive, there's no place like home.

 
 


Comments

Tami said…
Ohhhh Olive! So it is true that you have more patience with grands than with your own children.

BTW I've always wondered who watches CSPAN. Now I know!

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