Hiking

Last Thursday, Mickey and I were invited to go hiking with my co-worker and her dog, Precious. Precious is a Vizla and loves to run around Rock Creek Park. Precious zooms into the woods and when Lindsay calls her she comes tearing out and appears on the trail 40 feet ahead of us as if saying, "Come on! Lets go!!!!" She romped around in the creek, trying to catch insects and floating sticks, dragging them for a while before tearing off after the next adventure. I don't have a picture of Precious on the hike because she wouldn't stay still long enough to snap a shot.

In contrast, here is Mickey enjoying the trail. He trotted along behind Lindsay and my feet. Stopping when we would stop to allow joggers to pass. Pausing at large steps/roots/rocks to muster his energy/courage to make the leap (or to wait for me to lift him over, which I only did once I swear).

I think he enjoyed his time in nature. The best part was the 45 minutes completely exhausted him and we had a nice relaxing evening at home afterwards.

I'm being taken back to their mother ship...

I laughed out loud when I saw this product sold at Target.

It is an upside-down clear umbrella with a leash attachment. So your dog doesn't get wet on rainy walks! Perfect for the dog that can't wait 10 minutes for their walk. Or the owner that doesn't have towels.

Or, as I can imagine, your dog completely freaks out and tries to run away from the alien saucer that is following him!

English Terrace Massacre

Jamal and I hit up the cheap dog toy bins at Target on Sunday. We picked out the perfect one..the head is the only stuffed part and it contains a squeaker. The belly has some crinkly stuff inside of it. Otherwise its floppy and soft. When we got home, we gave the frog to Mickey to keep him busy.

Fifteen minutes later we walk into this horrifying scene:

On the far left is the toy, and the trail of its stuffing guts leads straight to our culprit. He was proudly munching on the recently expired squeaker (he had killed the squeak).

He still loves to pick it up and thrash it back and forth with gusto, so we'll let him keep it for a while longer.

Not pictured is the confiscated plastic toy that Jamal was certain would last forever. Mickey had the plastic pulverized in minutes. He shredded it into tiny little bits (not all of which have been accounted for at the time of this posting...)

Chilly Dog

I've told you how Mickey likes to snuggle up with us on the couch. He also seems to appreciate being tucked in with the blankets when the AC is on full blast.

I saw this article that says there will be a Snuggie for dogs! Perfect. It will be available this fall at Petsmart. I know its a little ridiculous, but I know we will get one for our pup.

Additionally, I have no doubt that Mickey will soon get remote control privileges in our house that trump mine, like this doggie.

Rosie's Moving to Town!

That's right folks, Rosie and Snickers are moving to Alexandria. Rosie came out for a house hunting trip during the July 4th weekend and we explored Shirlington. I brought Mickey along for the excursion to make sure he had enough exercise so he would rest peacefully during that night. (I didn't want him all hyper and agitated at the fireworks).

We stopped by a Mexican restaurant for some lunch, and Mickey was very well behaved. We sat on the patio and he spent the entire meal under my chair. After lunch we went to explore the famed Shirlington Dog Park. The dog park makes use of a narrow piece of land between some warehouses and a stream. Mickey was content to just follow about 5 feet behind me as we strolled down the path that runs the length of the park. We decided not to go into the stream this time because we didn't want to deal with a wet muddy dog on the way home. (Yeah, its a dog park with a stream for water sports!)

All in all we enjoyed the dog friendly Shirlington area and I am very excited that Rosie will be moving to a neighborhood within walking distance!

"I am tired but soooo happy"

Remote Fridays

On my new project I travel during the week. Luckily I get to work from home on Fridays and hang out with Mickey and Jamal.




Of course, I feel the need to indulge little Mickey to make up for my absence during the week. (To be honest, I don't know if he really notices I'm gone... Jamal does an excellent job of spoiling him while I'm away)

The other week I decided Mickey and I would hang out in the stairwell. I could do work on my laptop (perched on old boxes) and Mickey could watch the activity of the courtyard below. It worked well until Mickey saw Pele. Suddenly we were tearing down the stairs at a break-neck speed to meet up with his friend. I did manage to get some work done though, so it wasn't a waste.

Lightning

Okay, I'm going to try to get some more regular posts going on. My apologies to my single fan out there on the interwebs.

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On Thursday evening I took Mickey outside. You could hear thunder in the distance and the wind was picking up. It would be best to get outside before the storm rolled in. We ended up meeting the neighbor dog with the same idea.

Pele is Mickey's best friend. Mickey literally goes to Pele's door every day and sits outside it and whines for a little while hoping that his friend will come outside. So of course we can't deny them a little romp before the storm. so we're standing in the courtyard chatting while the dogs play.

We pause to count the seconds between the lightning and thunder (its 5) so we figure we're still safe. Just as we're saying that to each other there is a weird crackling sound above our heads. I look up to the lamp post and see a static discharge on top, and my neighbor turned to look across the street and saw one there too! Like ten feet from our heads.

Mickey stops playing immediately, pauses only for a moment before taking off.. up the stairs back to our front door. When I got up there he was sitting in the door frame smooshed up against the door as close as possible. He spent the rest of the night on Jamal's lap.

Yikes!