Trying to beat the heat

We’ve had a string of some very hot days out here. The dogs are not thrilled but can survive it.

Rufus wants to play “Chase” – our game with the flirt pole and demands it in the morning and evening. By demand I mean that he sits next to me and whines, then starts the pawing. That’s the charming behavior that I have been rewarding.

Once we’re outside it’s the best thing ever! He runs at top speed trying to catch the toy (You’ll notice that there is no Jolly Tug at the end. That thing died after a week. We now have a West Paw toy that can’t be killed.) Once he catches it, he brings it back to me!! He likes to chomp it a bit, but he’s good at dropping it, leaving it, and then sitting and waiting. Well, the waiting isn’t his best skill because he gets very antsy. But we don’t play tug of war and he doesn’t act like a jerk. He knows what he has to do in order to play. This makes my heart sing.

But in the afternoons when the heat is the worst, he sleeps. He just crawls into his crate and conks out. Occasionally he stumbles out and makes his way over to the sofa, reminding me of my teenage years when staying awake was a Herculean task.

Sophie will just hang out. She deals with extreme temps better: she has dug a few holes in the backyard to lie in. She prefers being outside to being inside, so she has made the best of the situation. She also constantly drinks water.

If she had her druthers she would go for a walk and a dip daily. On Sunday her wish came true. We went for a lovely two mile walk down in Centennial with my pal Kathy and two of her hounds: Luna and Winnie, both of whom were MUCH better than Sophie on leash.  Anticipation overwhelms Sophie, and she can barely contain herself when on a walk in a new area. Not so much sniffing, but lots of pulling. Absolutely no loose leash walking from this girl. Zero. Zip. Nada.

(Compare this with one of our walks that wasn’t even a mile that took us nearly eighteen minutes. So many stops with sniffs.)

We may have gone a mile and a half and Sophie stopped to roll in an attempt to cool off. Despite the cloud cover, Sophie was not wearing the heat well. We headed back to the creek where all dogs could happily cool off.

Sophie is decidedly goofier when she hangs out with the hounds than at home. Could it be that without Rufus she doesn’t have to be the big sister? I continue to anthropomorphize my dogs but I honestly think I’m on to something. I’ve been leaving her to babysit Rufus a lot lately.

I wish I could take her on my upcoming trip to Breckenridge, but the house my family has rented has a no-dogs policy. Sadly, my parents did not realize to get a house for pets meant looking earlier than June. The mountains are wonderful in the summer, and are much cooler than anywhere in Denver. So my pups are off to Dog-topia tomorrow. I will miss them so much my bones will ache. We’ll all be fine.