Penne tails

Penne continues to delight, and sometimes surprise me.

Most often when we leave our home for the first early morning walk we turn left at the end of my short driveway and head east.

After some three hundred yards when we get to an intersection we have a choice.  We can turn left again, for a shorter walk.  Or we can turn right for a longer walk.

Penne gives me many glances as we approach the intersection. For you see, she loves to take the longer walk. If I begin to move right Penne’s pace picks up, she shows excitement, and she starts to pull me hard.

I am not sure that Penne is happy cos it’s a longer walk. I tend to believe that there is something about the section of Circus Boulevard which we take on the long walk which intrigues and delights her.

Tropical Storm Andrea passed by last week.  There was no major damage but our streets and grassy areas were littered with broken tree branches, fallen Spanish moss, and dead palm leaves.  Penne was in heaven. Each bit of debris drew her attention -  it was something new -  and therefore had to be sniffed and christened.  (She does this even if no more than a few leafy twigs have dropped from a tree).

She still has her wimpy moments.  She freezes at the sight of any other dog and when I continue to walk she pulls me into a large arc so that we can avoid the other beast.

That’s all except for Basil, the Shar-pei. Penne adores him, and he is very sweet to her.  I’ll soon have to break the news to Penne that her “boyfriend” is moving away.  He and his owner have sold their local home.

On one of our routes we have to cross a bit of a road where there is no sidewalk.  This road has a lot of crushed sea shells as part of its surface -  Penne finds this to be unkind to her feet.  So I hold her leash at arm’s length (a la dogshow) and let her walk on some grass.  Then she trots with great elegance.  It is a lovely sight.

She has some odd new behaviours which started three or four weeks ago.  When Penne and I are at the end of a walk and are about fifty yards from home she now stops at least three times, and then turns to look at me. She refuses to move until I have tickled her ears or nuzzled her muzzle.

Last evening (June 12^th) my friends Ben, Bob, Ron and Charlotte came to my home for drinks and nibbles.  At about ten minutes before their e.t.a. I told Penne that her friends Ben, Bob, Ron and Charlotte were on their way.  She started yipping for joy. As it happened my guests arrived at the same time, so I allowed Penne to run out into the driveway to greet them.

She whooped and hollered with sheer glee – running from one to another in a frenzy of excitement.  Penne likes these folks enormously, and I am delighted that they adore her.