It took a few days for the dogs to settle in to their new environment. I knew the corner had been turned when Jasper didn’t growl or bark at the fella sweeping the sidewalk in front of the hotel on our morning walk. People can now get into and out of their cars right outside our window (we’re on the first floor) and he looks at me before he does anything. This afternoon when housekeeping knocked on the door, he looked at me and when I didn’t say “quiet”, Jasper let ‘er rip. Just a few barks, but enough to let the person on the other side of the door know there was a dog in the room. With so many learning situations presented, he got the hang of it. I am so proud of him! Knowing when to bark and when not to is an invaluable skill. For dogs, too.
Onyx, on the other hand, has become quite the little pistol. Since Jasper is not barking at every noise and everyone, she’s taken up the torch. Not consistently, you understand. Just when she feels like it. The Princess of the Known World can’t be bothered with such nonsense as remembering stuff.
And she has become quite naughty. This morning she chewed up the corner of the blanket on the bed. Why, I asked, would she do that when she owns all the toys in the room? There is no answer other than she can. So she did.
We went for a ride this afternoon and she stretched out full length in the back seat leaving no room for Jasper. I tried to scooch her over to one side and it was like she was velcroed to the seat. Right now she is coyly trotting back and forth across the room with her prized chew bone in her mouth, waiting for Jasper to take the bait. He swings his head from side to side following her every move, lays down, trying to look nonchalant. Here’s a photo of Herself.
It’s hard to get past her beauty, her elegance to see the little devil that lives inside.
I am delighted to say that the three of us have become quite the synchronized team when we’re taking a walk. For the first few days we looked like a sledding team without the sled. Onyx would stand under Jasper to see what he was doing when he was marking the plants, then he would see something of interest and jump over her back, step on her leash and she’d stumble. He wanted to charge ahead just when Onyx wanted to stop to pee. The leashes would get all tangled up with me in them. Oh, and remember that the first few days Jasper was barking and growling at anything that moved. I’m sure we were quite the sight. Now we look like we’ve been doing this all our lives. Extraordinary walkers, that’s us.
0 Responses to “Understanding the bigger picture”