Henry and me redux

It's ridiculous how humans fawn over their dogs. What must the canines be thinking when these perfectly sane otherwise individuals hug them tightly and whisper sweet nothings in their ears?

 

 

 

You'd think their animals were beyond compare! That their dog excels at love like no other, is smarter than the latest Nobel laureate (they just can't communicate all their wisdom to us), deserving of treat after treat after treat. People, what are you thinking?!

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I found my thrill, on this Squirrel Hill (sorry, Fats Domino, for playing around with the lyrics),

The moon stood still, on this Squirrel Hill, And lingered til, My dream came true...

Why do I even take Henry to this spot of exciting scents and scurrying critters? He is completely transfixed by them.

 

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Henry tested my willingness to get up and out at 4:30 a.m. this morning. I thought about it briefly then rolled over and ignored him. He accepted my dismissal and wet back to sleep for another hour and 25 minutes. So, up at around 6 and judging by his behavior outside, he really was serious about needing to pull me out of bed. Good boy, Henry.

And then we went through the usual routines and they are lovely, with the added benefit that on the weekend I don't turn on the news for my morning hours. I go straight to music. Of the Sarah Vaughn kind.

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This was to be a completely "Henry and me" day. No others in it. But I changed my mind at the last minute and decided to take half of last night's home made soup over to the farmhouse. Henry and I stayed outside because I did not want him to freak out the snoozing cats. So instead, he freaked out the chickens.

He was pulling hard to sniff everything and anticipating this, I put him in the stronger harness that wont create sores from all that heaving.  

 

 

 

We canvassed the farmette lands.

While evil Pancake followed with his gaze, waiting for the right moment to claw Henry's eyes out.

 

 

 

(This poor trusting pooch, who just wants to be friends with all the animals. Well, maybe not the squirrels. I do not know what his intentions are with the squirrels.)

 

 

And then I asked Ed to join us on our favorite loop in the local park.

(always the sandhill cranes in this area...)

I've not done it with Henry yet and I feel the pooch needs to be as familiar with our beloved path as we are, if he's going to be a full fledged member of the gang. Our gang.

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Did you know that our favorite local hiking park is very, very close to a dog park? We always pass it and comment on the number of cars in the lot (sometimes many, sometimes few). After our park walk (which has to be on leash), I suggest we test this doggie world. The place is for off leash exercise and it's moderately busy today. Henry runs like the wind!

(Next to a Bernese Mountain Dog, Henry looks... small.)

Okay, so Henry has snuggled with me, hiked with both of us, and explored the farmette lands under the evil gaze of Pancake. What's missing? Stranger contact in a new indoor setting! I take Henry and Ed over to Tati's -- the one coffee shop that I know of that actually allows dogs. 

Tati's is a ten minute walk (or 2 minute drive) from the farmette and I've surely been there often enough, but never with Ed. We talk about why that is the case. (He says I never asked!) 

The coffee shop is crowded with a millennial birthday celebration. Or maybe it's a Gen Z group? (They're both rowdy cohorts, don't you think? Ha! I guess this is the 72 year old in me speaking!) It's all rather terrifying to Henry, who sits down stubbornly by the door. No prob! I have the treats! Oh, do I have the treats! Slowly but surely I coax him over to the cafe couch. 

 

 

 

Ed gets us a cinnamon roll and the pooch chews happily on a chew stick I had for him.

(Not sure having him join us on the couch is acceptable doggie behavior, but no one said anything, so there Henry stayed. I took selfies of the two guys to my side -- Henry to the left, Ed to my right.)

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One more walk, this one in the late afternoon,  and just with Henry. In a new to me dog park! Eleven minute drive from the Edge to the Middleton Dog Park (MDP). It's important to do this today because we are getting a blast of very cold, very wet, very Novemberish weather tonight. Who knows where that will land us.

It's nearly dusk and I feel the first drops of drizzle. 

 

 

 

And yet, despite the dreary cold, I'm not the only one at the park. And unfortunately, at least two of the dog owners (Gen Z again!) have absolutely no control over their horrible pooches -- a Corgie and a husky short legged barker.  You'd think Henry could easily outrun those two, but they were relentless and they didn't just bother my sweet boy, they bothered me, with their stubby muddy paws leaving paw prints all over me.

 

 

Henry and I have now visited five dog parks in our three weeks together. We've met terrific dogs and dog owners. And now one or two awful ones. I hope the good ones stay with Henry and the not so good ones are already just a distant memory. Perhaps revisited in those seemingly vivid dreams that dogs have sometimes, but then quickly forgotten again.

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The goal is to move up dinner, move up couch time, move up everything, and perhaps rethink the habit of munching on dark chocolate just before bedtime, all with the goal of giving me a good night's sleep. This is easy to do today, as I haven't kid duty and I have a simple dinner to prepare. And yet, that evening linger on the couch, with this pooch...

 

 

 

... is so very irresistible!

 Oh, Henry -- you do make me smile, again and again and again.

with so much love...