Dog Bootie Phenomenon

Above and beyond the mentioned phenomenon....we have Squirt's Limo back. HOORAY!!! No more driving the tank.

Squirt and I have been terribly busy today (sadly Robert has to work). We got up at 8 am (early for Saturday), did the grocery shopping, made a Walmart run, filled the car with gas and got bagels for breakfast. Once home, we started and continued the laundry, cleaned out the refrigerator, reorganized the pantry and caught the first half of the NCAA tourney game.

It’s 2pm – now what. It is done snowing for now, dumping about an inch or so on the driveway. Should I go fire up the snow thrower and clean the driveway??? It has been very sunny and even though below freezing snow has been melting. Plus, if it snows later today I would hate to do it two times for such little amounts…..I know, we will walk down and get the mail.

Getting them mail on a Saturday afternoon requires going the long way (especially when it is sunny and fresh powder on the ground). I bundle up and dress Squirt (blue halter, orange boots and purple retractable leash – good thing dogs aren’t fashion conscious) and off we go.

One thing you can count on when walking Squirt, he ALWAYS poops. We go through little blue biodegradable scooper bags like a grocery store goes through plastic sacks. Today was no different. There we were, walking on the path in the fresh clean snow and Squirt stops. Being the civic minded neighbor, I dutifully pull out a sack, getting ready to scoop. Since moving north, Squirt has really taken to trying to cover these things up. FYI – dogs with booties have the equivalent of ping-pong paddles for feet when standing in freshly fallen snow. He ran about two feet forward and as I was getting ready to pick up, he started scratching. By the time he was done, he had missed his deposit but successfully covered my legs from the knees down with a healthy layer of snow which stayed on for the next mile and ½ until we got home. I couldn’t see where my jeans ended and my boots began.

On our walks, I always look for animal tracks, trying to see what has been wandering around the neighborhood. Today, I looked at Squirt’s “paddle” tracks and from all appearances someone dragged something along just on top of the snow. There is no way you can tell a dog made them.

I just checked the weather. It is supposed to be 35 and sunny by Wednesday. No need to throw any snow yet!