Ahhh... Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.

Okay, I have several ideas for posts in mind but this could wait no longer and must be said. Today it is raining in the beautiful mountains of Virginia. Not that I don't appreciate the bounty that a good rain brings but... my dumb dogs won't go outside! Now for a somewhat rhetorical question.... why do dogs bred to hunt in rainy, cold and wet conditions, refuse to go out in the rain? Okay to be fair, "the Springer brothers," don't so much refuse as greatly hesitate. However the Weimi, bred from the lineage of hearty German stock... the one who could take down an elk if need be... the one who regularly frolics in any available body of water... refuses to go pee-pee in the rain! Instead, Ms. Ruby will cower in the doorway and run straight back to the sofa with a look that says, " if you have to pee... you go outside... I'm stayin put!" I have photographic evidence that proves my dogs are not sissies when it comes to water, like this...

Okay, I can't find a picture of Ruby in the water... but that's because the "Grey Ghost" is always flying through the woods and I usually only get a sighting from behind anyway.

You get the point. Still it is a frustration and I guess they know that. Weird as it may sound, I know that my dogs are always in tune with my emotions. When I am frustrated they sense it and that's when the brakes REALLY get applied. Still, I count my blessings that there are no neurosis amongst them, when it comes to extreme weather such as thunderstorms. I have mentioned my Dalmatian Maggie in a previous post. Maggie was my dear sweet friend who passed away a couple of years ago at the ripe old age of 14. She was the best friend a girl could have and the sweetest dog you would ever want to meet but, as my Mother says, "she had little dark corners." This was especially true of her reaction to thunderstorms. Her reaction was so severe that she would shake, drool, hide and pee at even the most distant booms. Every 4th of July she would require sedation (which I always felt guilty about doing, but we did it to keep her from hurting herself.) We lived in Arkansas for a while and that was VERY difficult for her, as one might imagine. For those who don't know, Arkansas is a constant torrent of tornadoes, hail and thunder... all of which drove Maggie mad! Once a tornado forced our family into the bathtub for shelter and Maggie dove in too. From then on, even if the thunder boom was as distant a sound as perceptible to human hearing, Maggie would immediately retreat to the tub for safety. If we were gone during a storm, and couldn't find her when we returned, we knew to look in the tub... her harbor from the storm.

So having said that, I guess I am lucky that my pack doesn't get nutty over the rain. They just don't like it and who can blame them? I would rather be wallowing in the sunshine today too. And, who amongst us relishes the thought of cleaning up muddy paw prints off the floor? So instead I will cuddle up on the couch, draped in puppies, with coffee and a good book (maybe Marley and Me,) and wait for the rain to pass. See you at the dog park when it's over!

There are dog people and then... there are DOGGIE people.

Once upon a time... a long, long time ago... I lived in Alaska! Alaska was gorgeous, natural and wild (some of the characteristics I wish to attribute to myself,) and it was just my cup of tea. I realize that Alaska is the one state that even "most" U.S. citizens can't say they have ever been. Granted, it is remote, cold and hard lived. Still, Alaska was all "love" for me. I reveled in the great, the good and the almost not great bits of Alaska. I soaked it in. Truth is... I loved Alaska with all my heart. Some people cannot relate to this... I know. In fact, what I have found is that if you don't love Alaska, you probably hate it or at least are greatly indifferent to it. I am pretty sure that those with hostilities towards the place, focus mainly on the difficulties that life there can bring. After all... what's so great about being mauled by a grizzly or freezing your extremities off? Maybe one would be indifferent because they have no personal experience with the state or maybe they think it is a barren wasteland of igloos and darkness? Why, you may be asking yourself, is she rambling on about Alaska? Well the answer is that I see my passion for Alaska as a metaphor (somewhat lengthy,) for the way man feels about dogs. Either you love 'em or you hate 'em. I tend to be more on the ga-ga side of love.

Okay, no, I am not one of those who believes in dressing my dogs or carrying them around in a sack, (although I did sneak my dog "Maggie" into my flight line job in the Air Force... in a picnic basket... because she was the tiniest cutest Dalmatian puppy anyone had ever seen.... and I couldn't bear to leave her alone all day... again that was a long time ago, don't judge... but I digress!) But I do see dogs as one of God's greatest creations! Just like Alaska, dogs are noble and majestic. If anyone has ever watched a bird dog lock into a point or seen a sheep dog herd or watched a hound dog track or even been comforted by their own beloved pet... it would be hard to argue against the nobility and majesty of the dog. I almost can't recall the site of Mt. McKinley without getting misty. So too, I can't recall the site of search and rescue dogs at the World Trade tower wreckage, on 9/12, and beyond, without tears pooling in my eyes. In Alaska, one looks forward to the predictability of "break-up," and the emergence of spring with joy and reassurance. Who, amongst the dog -loving hoards of the world, have not felt that same feeling in anticipating the greeting you receive when being greeted by your dog? And as predictable as Spring in Alaska, so too is your dog's exuberance about seeing you, (even if you just went to the bathroom and came right back.)

Not to belabor the point here but, either you love them or you don't. Now, it is possible that one's dog disdain is rooted in a bad experience or just simply seeing the drawbacks of having a dog. Dogs can bite when they feel scared or cornered. (So can I, by the way.) Dogs lick themselves, they can knock you over in their enthusiasm and they do... after all... eat poop. True, true and true. Just as true as there are bears and snow in Alaska. However, one can never deny the pleasure and delight they bring to so many. So for me, the benefits of loving a dog are so much greater than the drawbacks could ever be! The only drawback to having a dog, that I will even acknowledge, is that their lifespan is so much shorter than my own. You love dogs or you don't, you're all in or you're out. There is no middle ground. If you're Doggie, you're like me... Doggie for life!