Get that Dog!

Aren't those purty? Linda brought those over for me right before we went on a walk. I know, it sounds like I'm bragging because so many of y'all would love to get the chance to go for a walk with Linda (not to mention, have her bring you pretty flowers!). I'm hoping she feels the same way I did that our brisk adventure in the outdoors, chatting it up, was awesome therapy for both of us.

We debated bringing the dogs - she would have taken Bogey (Wednesday playdate day), and I would have taken Syd, but since we walked a ways along a country road, I chose to pass. While we were in the house, I took off Bogey's bark collar, you could hear him baying two houses down due to his displeasure of being left behind.

When we got back, just as Linda was trying to squeeze out the door without the dogs, I warned, "Be careful, she'll bolt" - and sure enough, Syd bullied her way through the door, and Bogey promptly followed. Combine freedom with a bit of an attitude for being left behind and I've got a problem on my hands. To his credit, Bogey isn't that hard to catch, but Sydney is a nightmare. It's all a big game to her, this delightful game of chase which usually ends (at her choosing) with some treat to lure her back into the house. The "game" makes me feel like the worst kind of dog owner, where she calls all the shots. But, I have yet to come up with a better way. If you put a shock collar on her, she's perfect. But, without it, she's a handful.

So, this picture was taken around the corner from our house, where she and Bogey had wandered. I had decided I'd just open the car door and have them both hop in. I had a few errands that I'd planned to do sans dogs, but it seemed an acceptable sacrifice to take them with me to be able to capture them. But, oh no, Syd wasn't ready - she was still having fun. This picture is taken with my cell phone (as was the above shot), sitting in the back seat of the van, waiting for Syd to hop in and eat the last of the granola bar I'd tried to tempt her with that was sitting on the way back seat. I was back there trying to hold on to Bogey who wanted to bolt again, or eat the granola bar himself. Notice Syd's expression - the power is all hers!!!

It eventually worked, we ran our errands, and I drug Sydney by her collar all the way to the front door when we returned. Good thing our kids don't run over me as bad as our dog does!