Dog Days of Summer

Due to a miscommunication with West Jet, I was forced to leave Brooklyn with my mum in Calgary and bring Mr. Mop by himself to New York.

When we first got here, Mop was listless and lethargic.  I assumed it was because he missed his little buddy.  I now know it is the heat.

I think he does miss Brookie though - he has no one's head to bite and no one to wrestle with.  And my oh my, he is sooooooooo well-behaved.  I am now forced to conclude that Brooklyn is the ringleader in their wacky behaviour.

My mum enjoys taking care of Brooklyn I think.  I mean, she'll complain that he gets up early or that he is being naughty, but I know she thoroughly enjoys his antics.

To prove this I would like to share some exerts from her emails.

Brooklyn is nicely settled in.  He's taking full advantage of the views from the balconies and the squirrel gazing in the back yard.  I move his bed outside so he can view them in comfort.  At night I put the bed on my bed and it is working very well.

The big black squirrel was up early this morning, munching on what looked like a peanut, on the fence right by the backdoor.  When B went out he must have found the peanut shell dropping, he sniffed them for ages before finally peeing on them.  He then found a fir cone, brought it in and attacked it.  I had just vacuumed the rug yesterday, so had to grab it before it was spread all over.

He also found a dead bee yesterday, which occupied him for ages till I discovered what he had and took it away.

He went with me to the Co-op to get gas, it's not self serve and the nice attendant gave him a treat.

This makes me laugh - the image of Brookie rolling around with a dead bee or a fir cone is hilarious.  Why does he choose to play with garbage and not his toys?  Is it because Mop usually takes them from him so he is now accustomed to dust bunnies and lint?  Sometimes he wakes up the morning and plays with himself until the rest of us get up.  In his little life I have found him playing with a deflated balloon, a wool pill from my sweater, foil from a wine bottle, and an empty chocolate bar wrapper.

B's ears are getting the drops and this morning I put the neck stuff on.  He's cottoned on REALLY FAST when I want to do something.  This morning we played the game of wait and try and trick her.  I put a cookie down near me and he kept trying to get it fast enough so I couldn't grab him.  It was a tie, but I did finally win.

He's smart, the second time he got a treat, he heard the crackle of the bag and came flying into the kitchen.

Those cookies have some cinnamon in them and I'm almost tempted to try one.

I don't have to explain why this one makes me laugh.

Brooklyn is now on the wake up at 6 30 cycle, oh joy.

Played cat and mouse with him for ages this morning, come and get the treat so I can grab you, on my part, and, how fast can I fool her with my amazing speed and dexterity on his part.

Needless to say, I won.  So his ears are getting the medicine.  I first wash his face and ears with a nice warm facecloth, that sends him into a state of obvious joy and doziness, then I do the drops and rub gently.

Since he likes it, I have no idea why he tries to avoid the necessary.

This one makes me laugh because I can not only picture Brooklyn lying on his back with his eyes closed and his teeth showing but my mum making little kissy noises in the voice she used to use when I was four and had the flu.

Can now sit, both in the back and in the front in comfort.

So after dinner, Brooklyn and I have been sitting in front watching amazing cloud formations, cats and other stuff.  He really likes the front verandah, lots to see, at least from his point of view.

HE LOVES THESE COOKIE TREATS.  I went to homesense today, but they were all gone.

I've put his bed on my bed.  Last night he was downstairs in it, and came up early in the morning.  He's now all snuggled up and asleep.  Watching squirrels has worn him out.

Right. Brooklyn likes the cloud formations.

Brookie just had a bath.  I used some VERY EXPENSIVE, EXCLUSIVE SHAMPOO on him, he was very good, and his ears seem to be guck free now.

He got a nice rubdown with a fluffy towel, then tore around the house for 10 mins at full tilt.

He's enjoying his brushing, now that he is almost dry, and sits there with a swoony look on his face.

Yesterday he spotted a waskilly wabbit, near the hydrant at the end of the street.  He gazed for several minutes then tried to attack.  He would have given the wabbit (who was his size) a good run for his money, except I held on tight.  So instead he had to content himself with sniffing the ground the wabbit was sitting on, which he seemed to really enjoy.

He's now snoozing on my fluffy blue shawl. he's becoming attached to it.

Funny on many levels.  The first being my mother referring to a rabbit as a 'wabbit'.  The second being that Brook gets super hyper when wet - after a bath he goes sort of mental.  I also enjoy him getting a rubdown with an oversized bath towel.  He's nine pounds.

It's not that I don't love him, but I think he needs Mr Mop around to bug. He's a little bored.

Today, after rising, as usual at 6ish, he was eating his brekkie near the doors in the family room, when Mr Squirrel descended down the fence.  They both stared at each other, eye to eye, for about a minute.  B finally gave chase, but my bag barrier (I don't know what this is) is holding and Mr S. got away.

I've put some dog food on top of the fence, hopefully this will provide entertainment later in the day for B.

He did have fun at Ron's (a farmer friend on my dad's).  We got him to run around alot, he got to eat some nice fresh grass, and he had his first meeting with Red Angus cattle.  It was quite funny, he was running along and then all of a sudden he realized that there were some big red shapes on the other side of the barbed wire fence.  He came to an abrupt halt, stared, then woofed at them.  Being curious creatures, they got up and headed closer to the fence.  B backed off a little, kept glancing round to see if we were there, we were, so then he let out some pretty feeble growls.

The cows kept watching, B got a little braver, took a step closer,growled a little louder, but then gave up.  So I guess he brought some excitement into their boring day, and they into his.

Brooklyn is a regular farmer Joe!  HA!

Mop has been having his own adventures - very much the tale of the Country Dog vs the City Dog.  Brooklyn met some cows, Mop met some pigeons at Central Park.  Mop has also become very good at riding the F train and enjoys Greenwich Village but hates Midtown.  He might even join me today for a veil fitting in the Meatpacking district.

I'll let you know how the reunion goes tomorrow night.  Should be cute.  And there should be lots of head biting.