How to cope with a .....

Bosco and Riley were watching the Today show, as they do each morning while chewing their chewies, when one of the today people said, "Coming up we will hear how to cope with the snow." Bosco looked up from licking his chewy and asked, with attitude, "Uh, shovel it?" Riley took a millisecond break from vigorously chewing and chuckled. Spurred on by Riley's chuckle Bosco continued," How to cope with rain? Get an umbrella? How to cope with heat? Turn on the air? How to cope with the cold? Turn on the heat?" Before getting back to his chewy, he looked at me with a look that said Cope with dumb tv shows by turning off the tv. Duh!

Creature of habit

Left out of the front door means we are either going to the lake or grandma and grandpa's house. Right out of the first door means we are walking around the neighborhood or going to the field, according to Bosco, apparently as you shall see.

The other evening we decided to turn right out the front door, not to go to the lake or grandma and grandpa's house, but rather to go around the block. We wanted to stop off at the mailbox on the way back. Turning left would have meant we would pass the mailbox first thing on our walk. Then we would have to carry the mail for the entire walk. A right turn would have us passing the mailbox at the end of the walk. Another option would have been to go out and get the mail after our return home, an additional twenty steps and a separate trip out the back door. That was too much walking. Instead, we decided to turn right out he door and get the mail on the way back home. That option drove Bosco crazy. He kept trying to cross the street and go in the direction he was accustomed to when turning right out the door. Getting through first block went like this: walk three steps, Bosco pulls left to cross the street; walk three steps, Bosco tries to cross the street; walk three steps, he tries again to cross the street. He kept this up every five feet for the entire first block.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks, but you can lead him in your direction when he's on a leash.

Riley head butts Dannah

It was 7:30 Friday morning. Dannah was in a deep sleep after taking a grueling test on Thursday. She did not realize, of course, that she was being carefully watched, closeup, by Riley. Dannah turned. She lifted her head up. As she turned in the direction of Riley, she got a direct head butt to her forehead. Had Dannah not already been unconscious, Riley's head butt would have succeeded in rendering her so. She is such a silly dog.

Stealth in suburbia

It is normal Riley behavior to run at breakneck speed through the house whenever she wants to go outside. So, it aroused Zohar's curiosity this morning when he witnessed her staring out the window, turn and slowly move towards the doggie door in hunt position. He looked out the window and there, under the tree, sat a cute little rabbit. Riley kept up her subtle movements, even though the rabbit couldn't see or hear her, until she reached the doggie door. Then WHAM out she flew towards the rabbit. The little guy got away, again.

It's not all in the name. Sometimes it's all in the letter.

OMG said Riley, startling Bosco out of his relaxed position on the sofa. What now Bosco asked. Barkley, that humongous Sesame Street dog has been caught sending money to Iran, Cuba and other countries with crazy dictators, Riley informed him. Investigators found letters he wrote trying to hide what he did. How can that be, Bosco wondered aloud. You're right, she answered. It says here that he wasn't allowed to send them money because those countries are sanctioned, she continued. This made absolutely no sense to Bosco. A dog sending money to countries, and a fake dog at that, did not sound right to him. Bosco asked Riley from where she got that information. It's on the front page of today's Wall Street Journal she said as she showed it to him. Bosco looked at the letters in bold. That's not Barkley the dog! That's the British bank Barklay. See the "a," he said as he pointed to the name. Barkley spells his name BarklEy, not BarklAy, he informed her with apparent irritation in his voice. Next time pay attention to the letters, he scolded. It's all in the letters!

Does this game have a name?

This morning Bosco flollowed me into the kitchen as usual. As I was getting my breakfast ready he did something unusual----he began licking his empty food bowl. As he continued licking his bowl it dawned on me that they hadn't yet eaten breakfast. Was this a dog hint?

I filled their bowls and put them in their usual places---Bosco's in the kitchen by the laundry room door and Riley's in the laundry room next to the door. Bosco got to his food bowl before Riley. He placed himself in front of it, his body blocking the entrance to the laundry room. He stared at his food then looked at Riley. He began to eat as Riley approached. As Riley stood behind and to the side of him, he took a morsel and spit it out a few inches from his bowl, close enough to him so that Riley wouldn't dare try to get it. Riley stood there, apprehensive about trying to maneuver between Bosco and the wall in order to get to her food. She began to whine. Bosco remained unmoved emotionally and physically. Ever so slowly and cautiously Riley eased her body between Bosco and the wall. Bosco did not react. He allowed her to pass. As soon as she began eating, Bosco stopped eating, left his bowl nearly full and came over to sit next to me as I ate.

It's a Bosco kind of a life

Complaints have recently been expressed by followers of this blog that Bosco does not get as much attention as Riley in pictures and posts. I cannot disagree with these fans. However, a bit of explanation may help clarify why.

Bosco is a thirteen year old dog who has been around the block a few times, figuratively and literally. There is not much that surprises or intrigues him anymore. He knows what each day is like and is quite content with no surprises like seeing luggage come out of the closet or a strange dog entering the house.

Bosco's daily routine is well set. He gets up with the mistress of the house and no one else. He waits for her to brush her teeth and then follows her into the kitchen. He waits for her to take her pills and then follows her into the laundry room where his treats are stored. He gets his treat and rawhide chew. He waits for his mistress to head back to the bedroom and he follows her there. He chews the rawhide while she does her stretching exercises. He knows that Riley will finish her rawhide before him because he take his time while Riley feverishly chews hers. He knows that once Riley is done she will want his rawhide. After chewing a bit he stops and starts licking himself. When he sees that Riley has finished her rawhide, he stops licking and nonchalantly walks into the hallway as if teasing Riley with his unguarded chewy. He waits ten seconds, walks back into the room, looks at Riley and then his chewy. He sits down next his rawhide chewy again but is done chewing it. When his mistress is done with her stretching exercises he follows her into the kitchen. As long as she is home, Bosco will spend the rest of the day following her around the house wherever she goes. He is her dedicated entourage. At about five in the evening, Bosco leaves the side of his mistress to do guard duty. He sits on the back patio waiting for the neighborhood dogs to pass by on their daily walks. This is the time of day when he uses the most energy. The mere hint of a human or dog walking past his territory is enough to send him zooming to the side gate barking urgently. If someone dares to walk along the perimeter wall, he runs back and forth along the wall barking feverishly. He also has to make sure Riley does not interfere with his movements. If she does, he has to angrily bark at her indicating, BACK OFF.

After guard duty, it is time for dinner. He eats his meal and then hangs out at the kitchen table. If he smells something good he goes into schnorer mode, barking and whining for scraps. He hangs around his mistress until it is time for a walk. After the walk he goes to the laundry room where he'll get another a treat. He waits patiently for his mistress to go to the bedroom, at which time he will wait until she is done with her shower. He comes into the bathroom when he knows she turns off the water. He waits until she opens the shower door and he walks into the shower to lap up the water on the shower floor. When he is done lapping he goes into the bedroom and lies down either at the foot if the bed or the threshold of the bathroom-bedroom door. This is Bosco's daily routine. If his mistress should forgot to do the expected, he stares at her as if to say, "Didn't you forget something?" Oh yes Bosco, you're right. I forgot to give you a treat.

Now you understand why Riley gets most of the blog attention. Bosco knows what it's all about and Riley....well Riley is
Riley.