I recently finished up a marathon stretch of dog-sitting gigs. As of Monday, I had been looking after either Sweetheart or Mr. Gorgeous for 17 out of the last 22 days. That's a lot of dog-sitting! And of course, that means a lot of dog photos.
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| Happy-go-lucky Sweetheart! |
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| She continues to practice the philosophy that two toys are better than one. Here she experiments with the idea that three toys played with together are even better than two! |
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| She was in the mood to chew, so I got her this rope bone to work on. She went at it with gusto, as is her approach to all things! |
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| Sweetheart is a very handsome German Shepherd! |
I transitioned straight from Sweetheart's house to Mr. Gorgeous', so I took Sweetheart along with me when I transferred some of my belongings and fed Mr. Gorgeous his dinner before finishing up at Sweetheart's house. Dusk was falling and I only took along my point-and-shoot, so this is the only picture of their meeting that turned out. Of course, this IS how dogs get to know each other!
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| The collie introduces himself to the German Shepherd in traditional canine fashion. |
I spent a few days with Mr. Gorgeous and then went back to my house for a quick breather...
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| Mr. Gorgeous, resplendent in all his fur, indulges in a bit of sport. |
...and then it was back to the collie's house again!
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| This is why I have given him the pseudonym "Mr. Gorgeous." |
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| Pensive collie. |
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| Action collie! |
It was while I was at Mr. Gorgeous' lakefront house that I had a great view of all the weather. The first few days, the view looked a lot like this:
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| Rain obscures the opposite shore of the lake. |
But then cold, clear weather moved in. I already highlighted one exceptionally beautiful morning in
my previous post, but there were many more wonderful sunrises and sunsets. Unfortunately, part of the beauty of the sunsets is caused by poor air quality, as the high pressure system sits unmoving atop the pollution produced by people burning wood. But that aside, it was wonderful to watch the skies over the glassy lake!
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| Delicately tinted clouds at dawn. |
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| On this evening, skies were clear over downtown Seattle while dark clouds brooded low over Mr. Gorgeous' house. |
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| Those dark clouds soon produced a torrent of hail that was lit gold by the setting sun. |
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| A low bank of purply clouds provided the perfect canvas for a sunset of radiant pinks touched with orange. |
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| An utterly still day on the lake. |
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| Another intense sunset, which morphed from orange to pink to this smoldering red, provides a dramatic backdrop for a bare tree. |
While I was out and about with Sweetheart and Mr. Gorgeous, I also encountered some other great dogs. I didn't have my camera along (it was already too dark for taking pictures) on the evening when Mr. Gorgeous encountered a 10-month-old Rhodesian Ridgeback girl and engaged in a lovely bit of flirtatious play, but I managed to snap a few pictures of other dogs.
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| I was utterly delighted with this bulldog; Sweetheart was less delighted with this bulldog's companion, who used her dense bulldog bulk to say hello with a body slam! |
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| This fellow is a regular at the park where I often take Mr. Gorgeous for a walk. |
And where was my own dog all this time? At home, feeling rather stressed. She usually waits patiently in a resigned fashion for me to return when I'm off dog-sitting, but the length of my stay away, coupled with the fact that I'd been sick in bed for two months prior AND that she had a yellow dog to look after proved to be a bit much. Her yellow dog is a squeaky toy that she received for Christmas that she has taken to treating like a puppy. Unfortunately, she finds caring for a puppy, especially when I'm away, a worrisome burden. When I came home to visit, she would restlessly carry the yellow dog around in her mouth while softly crying. In the end, we had to put the yellow dog away in the cupboard so she wouldn't have to worry about it so much.
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| Abbey and her "puppy." |
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| She didn't want to chew up her rawhide stick, either, carrying it around and whimpering during one of my visits. |
I'm glad to report that now that I'm back home, Abbey has returned to her relaxed and playful self. As I write this, she is sleeping soundly on the pillow here in my study. While I'm excited to meet with a new client next week, I'm glad to be back home with only my own dog (and some dog art) to contend with for the time being!
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