Un-shaggy dog tales (with a feline coda)

My sweet and dear dog Penne (pronounced "Penny") is not at all shaggy as you can see
 
 
 
But here are some un-shaggy dog tales.
 
1.  When we take our first walk at about 6:15 a.m. I have to take a detour of about 100 yards so that I can get a copy of our local paper the "Sarasota Herald-Tribune" from a vending box.  (Of course I could subscribe to the paper, but I have a semi-perverse delight in dropping my 75 cents in the box). For reasons which I do not understand and cannot explain,  Penne is reluctant to take this detour. I have to tug her along.  But once I have gotten the paper and begin to re-trace our steps, Penne perks up and resumes her normal pace.
 
2. We frequently walk around a local pond. From time to time Penne will stop in her tracks and gaze across the other side of the pond, maybe 150 yards away.  Here is the sequence:
 
jmp "Penne, what are you looking at?"
 
No response. Penne continues to stare.
 
jmp  "Penne, that's another dog"
 
No response. Penne continues to stare
 
jmp  "Penne, you have seen dogs before"
 
No response. Penne continues to stare
 
jmp  "In fact, you are a dog"
 
No response. Penne continues to stare
 
jmp  "Let's stop lolly-gagging"
 
Penne moves on with me, but all the while she does that thing which is common to dogs.  She trots alongside me, even as her head and eyes are still looking across the pond.
 
Dogs can walk forward whilst looking sideways!
 
3. We get back to our home.  I am careful to say "this is Penne and Daddy's house". 
 
I have been carrying a filled poop bag,
 
I say "wait here Penne until Poppa puts your poopy bag into the trash".  Penne, sans leash (god bless her), stays rooted to the spot, and will not move an inch until I walk back and tickle her chin.
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
My good dog is such a source of joy that I am sometimes (often?) less than active in showing affection to the cats.
 
Junior cat Adelaide is the talker. She is incessant in her "demands", so much so that she must think that her name is "oh shut up", my frequent cry when she mioaws without ceasing.
 
Senior cat Ada longs for attention. Every time I walk by her perch she moves towards me, "asking" for a caress.
 
In all too rare displays of affection I have, within the last hour, cradled both cats,  and showered them with  strokes and caresses. 
 
They liked it.
 
But do not tell Penne. Let my affection t'wards the cats be our secret.
 
 
 
,

 

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