Emberville in July

 

Labrador retrievers are known for their odd sleeping positions, but it is rare that I get a photo before she magically flips over and is ready to GO!

Overnight from Friday to Saturday, I was alerted by a bark at about 2 a.m.  Yes, a bark!  My silent dog voiced a concern.  When that happens, I get up and go down to investigate.  Sure enough, she needed to go out.  I found out when I went on poo patrol later in the morning when I discovered the resulting pile, about twice the normal size.  She had demurred on going during last call Friday night... guess there are side effects to shifting meal times?  I had overslept Friday morning, so she got fed late.

I skipped out on Tai Chi Saturday morning the 11th because I've been overpeopling the past couple of weeks.  Ember took me 'round the neighborhood in the cool of the morning, then we went on our coffee run.

Deck time of a Summer evening.  

I have noticed that in the summertime our dog walks are getting longer on average.  We're up to over a mile and a half, sometimes 2 miles.

I "slept in" three mornings over the weekend.  Saturday to Sunday we had a repeat of the 2 a.m. "middle of the night" play time.  Sunday poo patrol showed another similar need that drove the 2 a.m. barking.  Oh, yeah, I had given her a bone on Saturday, that explained that "extra helping".

Sunday night to Monday, Ember did not wake me up.  

Tuesday morning, she was very happy to be back in day care where they have a doggy pool for the hot weather days.  I was feeling lazy and did not vacuum, but I did human laundry and recharged the front doorbell battery (which is a bit of a "process").  

Wednesday morning, Ember decided a bunny was vastly more interesting than keeping Mommy on the sidewalk and dragged me well into "somebody else's yard".  I lectured her the whole way that this was "not our yard" (by then the bunny had completely disappeared).  She was unconvinced and went so close to their house before she found... some other animal's poo.  And yes, sorry to say, she ate it!  Yuck!  At this point, she was willing to be persuaded to take Mommy back to the sidewalk.  She was pretty tuckered out by the conflict, and the rest of the walk was calm.  Sigh.

I survived Thursday.  A breakfast with the financial group.  Followed by my semi-annual dental cleaning.  Ember, thank goodness, was having her usual time with her puppy friends in day care.  I renewed my library book that I haven't been getting to and am about halfway through.  And I took a wee nap!  What got missed?  I did not vacuum and dust.  The x-pen remained cluttered with toys.

Ember came home wet from being out playing in the water in day care's "back yard".  I'm going to have to consider getting the pool out for her at home over the weekend, too, because it's July and the weather is doing what it does this time of year.

Friday morning walk

We got out about 7:30 a.m. as all the commuters are leaving for work.  I was very proud of Ember as we crossed the street in front of oncoming vehicles, not once, but three times, and walked all business straight across, without dawdling in the street.  I was proud of her showing off her pretty, polite sit while waiting for traffic to resolve itself, for people to walk by, or for other dogs and their walkers to decide on their own paths.  She was such a good walker for such a long while.

Then she found something intriguing.  A dead snake on the grass right near the quiet residential street.  Not a big one, but one certainly ripe for rolling in.  She could not resist and rolled to her heart's content to hide her scent from any potential prey.  When she was ready, she led Mom back to the sidewalk, confident and happy.

Oh, well.  It's in the dog prey instinct.  Hard to fight that when the "back brain" takes over.  We walked on, again being the well-behaved girl I know and love.  Until about a block from home when she encountered this:

Can you see it?  Center of the frame, small and pink.  It's a tiny naked baby squirrel that has fallen from its nest.  

What did my young adult female lab do with a baby of another species?  Again, instinct kicks in... she licks it to keep it warm.  She tries to stay right with it.

I'm concerned.  I should not touch the little thing (it's still moving) to avoid having its mother reject it.  I managed to distract Ember into a game of "search for the treat" which I tossed ahead of us on the sidewalk, and we made it safely home.  I'll probably never know what happened to that baby squirrel, but at least my dog did not kill or eat the poor little thing.

Life goes on at the slow heat-driven summer pace.  Life is good.  Keep Sparking!