I have been wanting for some time to again come up with another dog blog. It’s hard because, presumably, Alys has so much to say. Well, I told her today that it’s my turn, and even though she wanted to write about riding the mares up to the bench, and also going sea kayaking at 17 Mile Lake, she agreed to give me the day’s page.

Well, I am proud to say that I am now the house alarm clock. I start moving around the upstairs bedroom at 6 a.m. Pete either puts me outside or puts a pillow over his head. Same with Alys. If he puts me out, I soon start barking. Alys then gets up, dresses, heads out to tend to the animals, and lets me back in the house. I go racing stairs, in order to make sure that Pete either is getting up or is up.

The two would like to sleep in, but can’t. I, a dog just over a year old, have both my owners over the barrel. They had no idea it would come to this. I did. This is why I chewed up the alarm clock that they’d recently purchased. Apparently, this device works, but as Alys admitted, it is not quite as good as an energetic Australian Shepherd.

Today, Alys gave me a bone after Pete put me out, so what I’m doing is working.

Ryder has always been one to sleep in. She continues to sleep as I roust the lazy bones couple.

Alys and Shadow look on as another dog does agility

I have no complaints about how it’s going here. Pete’s been taking me for fairly lengthy hikes. Alys took me out the other day with a horse, sans Ryder – this wasn’t much fun. Ryder is a lot of fun to be with, except when she gets obsessed by squirrels. Her degree of focus is amazing. Alys said to Pete some time ago that this is a breed trait. I don’t have it. There is just too much stuff to take in, and I don’t want to miss a thing. Plus, squirrels, ugh. There isn’t even enough meat on their bones to make them worth taking down.

I still have not yet been spayed. Today two neighbor dogs walked into the yard – one of them, a beagle, gave me an appraising eye. I told him that I would not want him to be the father of my children. The other dog said that my tune will change once I come into season. I don’t understand any of this. Alys said that she needs to show me a video entitled “Female dogs are special.” I said that I’d enjoy watching it, if there were dogs in it, and if it ends on a happy note. She said yes on both counts.

Alys said that we were going to do agility today, but this never came about. Now it’s looking overcast. We won’t do agility if it rains. I hope this is a passing storm because I really want to do obstacle work tomorrow. I won’t be writing the blog because Alys will again take over writing dispatches. But I will insist that she tells you how it goes.

Next: 139. 5/20/21: A Conversation with Raudi