Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Spring in the life of a dog owner

Michigan weather is always a roller coaster. Earlier this week we had 70 degree weather, promptly followed by snow. My daffodils are confused. I, however, am not.

Spring is officially here. At my house it is marked by my mini daffodils poking their heads up in the front yard, followed by my dogs tracking mud into the house. I will not see my floors without mud somewhere until the next snowfall.

I have two Great Pyrenees pups, the youngest just turned a year old. These are very large, very fluffy white dogs, whose favorite pastimes are digging and jumping in mud puddles. They go from white fur to looking like some oddball Landseer Newfoundland.

I know Spring is here, the muddy foot prints and mud splatters on the walls are all the proof I need. The wild weather also turns my normally calm youngest pup into the equivalent of a 125 pound, sugared up, sleep deprived, unruly, independent toddler.

If you were to look in door, you would see me chasing around a muddy dog, usually with some stolen piece of laundry, tail and head held high, with a big grin on his face as this is the greatest game of tag ever. You'll want to cover your eyes though, as I tend to swear at him with the language of a drunken sailor.

My neighbor got a laugh at us the other day, as she watched myself and my hubby (who is a large man) trying to wrangle this wiggling "pup" into a harness so we could rinse him off outside. He was covered in mud on every part of his body, with the exception of a lone heart-shaped white area on the top of his head.

So yes, Spring is definitely here. Enjoy the birdies singing, and the sun shining down. If you hear a lot of swearing, with references to "bad puppy" thrown in, most likely it's another dog owner of a mud-loving pup like mine.