It's been insanely hot the past week, and feels even hotter thanks to the humidity which is so thick it actually has a presence on your skin. Too hot to be outside unless you are in the water. And Daisy has figured it out. It's too tiring for her to swim all day long, though she used to be able to do this. But there are two seats cut into the sides of the pool, and today Daisy was swimming back and forth between them, just hanging out in the water to keep cool.
We've had a rough couple of weeks with the dogs. First Marley had some horrid intestinal thing. Then we discovered another tumor on Daisy, which was removed, biopsied, and while it does turn out it is malignant, it seems to have all been cleanly removed so we are hopeful that's the end of that. (And btw, the incision is really about twice as long as it looks in the photo above, really.) Then Daisy had the same intestinal thing that Marley had and while it was truly horrible when poor 15 pound Marley had it, that turns out to be a gentle intro to what happens to your house when a 75 pound dog has the same problem. Anyway, everyone is recovering and doing well.
When Sarah left we all settled down for a few hours of talk, relaxation, etc.
Later we headed over to Skipper's for some greasy food and music of 1968 played by local bands of questionable talent. The crowd was hopping at the WMNF party, but just before midnight we decided to head home and drink our champagne with the dogs.
The next morning we discovered how hard it can be to get four dogs to do the same thing at the same time, even for food.
We all read the paper and had a good breakfast. Some napped at the table.
The weather was gorgeous for January and so we spent much of the time around the house, enjoying the backyard.
Dylan showed Steve how you are really supposed to use the hammock.
It was a great time, as always. And when all the dog company left we gave our dogs their holiday gifts. Marley loves his new elephant.
Dylan was so happy to see Jen and Leigh last night he could not decide which lap to settle on.
Lots of people stopped by to celebrate, library, school, sailing friends, even a neighbor stopped by -- she saw our party decorations outside and said, hey, it's my celebration too! The biggest surprise was a big McCain supporter, Mark's sailing captain, who said he was in mourning but showed up anyway.
We raised glasses to toast a new direction, a new future, and positive change in our country, in our county, and in the new blue state we all are relieved to be able to say we live in without shame.
All the dogs had a great time, they were so social and really well behaved. But they are exhausted today; we are pretty tired too. And still basking in the glow of this best election ever.
Then Mark got dressed for some trick or treat door opening. He has experience with this costume, having worn it earlier at school for the "book character" parade (since you can't officially celebrate Halloween in the schools and libraries of the south). The boys, having just been groomed, decided to pull up their little "I've been groomed" bandanas and became little old Russian ladies.
Daisy didn't want to be left out. She's the big babushka.
so I was able to capture a glimpse of the rare and elusive cuddling-poodle-boys.
There was plenty of swimming, snacking and reading and Mark and Kaiser did a science experiment.
And a lot of the kids played with pirates and built houses.
Marley turned four yesterday. He's the only one of our animals whose birthday we know. We celebrate the birthday of everyone else on October 1st each year. The dogs enjoyed special cupcakes from a doggie bakery while the humans enjoyed a sandwich and beer assortment. Oh, and cannolis that weren't from Little Italy but weren't bad at all.
Lorie and Kaiser had fun in the pool. Daisy did too, she swam so much she can hardly move today. She also killed one of the pool toys Kaiser brought over. Kaiser recently had a birthday too, he is now five and he can really swim!
My own birthday was a couple of months ago and Abby gave me this cool Zen Garden. Kaiser and I had fun putting it all together. 
Jen and Leigh came to celebrate and relax too and brought Gretchen along. Gretchen approved of the cupcakes. She also enjoyed the drive in the back of Jen's brand new gorgeous gray Mini Cooper. And the humans thought it was a pretty fabulous little car too. We all want one.
Marley found one of Jules' feathers on the floor.
Dylan finds it embarrassing.
Last week, while we were out in the yard, I saw Dylan eat dog poop.
It was a pretty morning, warm and clear, and I was inhaling the sweet, humid air, watching dogs roam and sniff, not really thinking about the day, sipping my cooling coffee.
And then Dylan did the most disgusting thing a dog can do.
It wasn't his own, in fact I am pretty sure it was Sarah's, a dog who was visiting us while her parents were away, but that's not the point. He ATE poop. I saw the first gobble, screamed at him to stop, and he quickly grabbed another mouthful before I could reach him. Furious and disgusted, I grabbed him and took him inside, breathing shallowly, I covered his face with soap so he could spend all morning trying to lick it off. I couldn't bring myself to stick a finger in his mouth but I did stick a soapy rag in there. YUCK!
It took a few days for me to feel good about cuddling him, but I was beginning to melt.
Then, I read this. Dooce's dog does it too!
OK, I know dogs do this, I've had dogs do it before. (But not Dylan, at least not that I knew about.) What struck me about Dooce's post is how she completely nailed my feeling about it. I cannot bring myself to think of him in quite the same way. I certainly cannot bring myself to kiss him on the mouth (something I normally do daily, and I don't want to hear what you think about that).
I know in time this memory will receed (though writing about it is not the fastest way to make sure of that). And I love Dylan as much as ever, in spite of the poop, in spite of his bad doggy behavior this morning. And I hope/know that Coco will grow into a wonderful clean mouthed dog that Dooce can love as much as she loves Chuck, and as much as I love Daisy, Marley, and of course, Dylan.
When we heard him barking we looked at each other in panic. We began walking fast, then sort of running, then really running. Each of us with a dog on a leash.
We left the house as usual in the dawn with three dogs, but Dylan, prissy boy that he can be, did not appreciate the light drizzle and refused to budge out of the driveway. Annoyed at his stubborness which he'd been exhibiting more and more lately, I just took off his leash. And left him standing at the front door, under cover, while Mark and I took our walk with Daisy and Marley. Dylan could wait all by himself till we got back.
We walked briskly since it was raining and the dogs needed to do their thing so we could get to work. Once Daisy and Marley took care of business we turned back, short for a walk but Dylan was outside on his own.
Mark was nervous. I was confident. I was wrong.
So we heard the barking and my first thought was he's just standing in front of the door getting annoyed with us, but then I saw the jogger.
And I saw a small dog at her heels. And it looked like Dylan. That's when we started running.
Then the barking got louder and turned into a chorus. Someone else was walking her dogs, and like a good dog parent and a good neighbor, hers were both on leashes. But there was Dylan, leaving the heels of the jogger and running across the street to confront the leashed dogs. Fortunately the good dog parent waited with Dylan until we got there. I tried to think of an excuse but nothing came to me. Just said "sorry" and "thanks" and leashed the bad boy.
And thought about how easy it would have been to open the front door and let him go in, instead of trying to punish him by having him stand alone, outside, until we returned.
But I have been angry at Dylan, who I must say is the cutest, sweetest (usually), smartest dog. He's more like a baby to me than a dog. Now Daisy, there's a dog, a big dog. And Marley, he's small like Dylan, but he's all dog. Not Dylan. Dylan is much closer to human. Most of the time.
(Stay tuned for the first reason....)
