Now that Daisy has learned to open the screen door, it is a complete free for all.  For instance, apparently both Daisy and Gretchen decided to bring in some busy work. However, I thought everything was a bit to quiet…caught in the act.

Gretchen knows exactly where the laser was left last. Case in point, instead of her playing out front with Daisy while we wash the truck, Gretchen is in the garage staring and barking at the cabinet as if letting us know we have forgotten to set the laser free and start the fun. Mind you, she has not seen the laser for about 2 weeks, but she remembers exactly where I put it the last time I had it out.

If only she could remember where I put my keys, wallet, etc.

A habit that she has cultivated to perfection over the years involves a few whimpers, a couple barks, and blatant stares at Daisy while she kicks back with a bone in the evening.  Meanwhile, her unscarred treat lies motionless on the floor as if it were made of plaster and completely inedible (which by the way never stopped them before).

When all is said and done, Gretchen goes for Daisy’s scraps and eventually we have to pick up the second bone.  The last thing we need is Daisy to choke down two rawhide bones in a single night. When will Gretchen ever learn?

Plus, we thoroughly enjoy two pooches completely worn out for the night.

Needing a few sweets, I decided to make some molasses cookies today for Scott and I. Since the molasses cookies have pretty much the same ingredients as the ginger bones, the girls thought that I was making their cookies and would not leave the kitchen.  Hence, it was only fair to their watering jowls that I make a half batch of dog treats. When I started to make cookies for them, little baby Daisy (a nickname that has withstood the test of time since she was a scrawny puppy) again would not say off the counters. As soon as I pulled them out of the oven, both the girls and Scott were in the kitchen all excited and crying to get a nice warm cookie.

The moral of the story is that everyone loves a fresh-baked cookie.

I received a complete smell-over as did my laptop case and bag. As usual, I decided the best way to accommodate their need to determine my whereabouts was to lie prone on my back on the floor.  Actually this method works quite well in satisfying their curiosity quickly, but it does have an unusual side effect; Daisy must climb on my chest to lie down.

As I predicted in the post on the 10th, these two shorthairs found the perfect spot at bedtime and adhered themselves to my right side all night long.  One would think a California king would have plenty of room but I find that the space I am allotted is nothing more than 24 inches of width…the edge of the bed on the left and two dogs on my right.  Did I mention I am 6 feet 7 inches tall?

Pacing, staring at the door, and incessant whining manage to fill what would normally be a completely different set of scheduled pacings, starings, and whinings. And that is definitely worth elaborating on at a different time, but as a teaser Gretchen is by far carrying a heart of cesium and functions as a canine atomic clock that can define Coordinated Universal Time.  As I said in the opener, Daisy and Gretchen have a routine and as creatures of habit are wholly unable to settle down for the evening during my absence. 

While I relax in room 218, my wife on the other hand has been reduced to an automaton whose function is to blurt at regular intervals the first names of our German shorthairs. This effort to restore order continues to fail until bedtime as the borg-esque Daisy and Gretchen purport “resistance to whining is futile.” Although the need to quell the two’s actions diminishes once all retire to bed, there still exists the nighttime plea for quiet as apparently all normal sounds have been magnified by a factor of 10 and Daisy cannot help but bark a word of warning. 

A rather poor night’s sleep Heather will have, but the tradeoff is a set of what we term portable personal heaters, PPH, that will curl up as close as possible and continue to make contact for the duration of the dark. A most efficient method of heating that will keep her warm on a cool winter’s night. 

However, upon my return tomorrow the two shorthairs feeling abandoned will stick to me as their confidence returns and I will in turn be the one graced with a set of PPHs.