The dogs are going nuts with this weather. It was fine while it was nice and snowy and everything was frozen. Now it is a slushy melting muddy dirty mess. That would be Mess with a capital M. The sidewalks are still an obstacle course littered with boulder sized snow/ice chunks that have been plowed from the roads and covered with grime. Dirty petro grime. Not anything you would even consider walking a dog’s paws through. And the streets are rivers of slush with trecherous submerged ice patches just waiting to snare the unwary pedestrian.
Then there is the backyard. There is a small island of ground/grass that has emerged from the rain. Mostly it is very compact snow with a rippled surface from thousands of paws trampling over it the past few days. Slick on top and even the dogs are wary of running across it – thankfully. So Cricket has resorted to spinning with her jolly ball on the small 2′x6′ section of patio that has been cleared to the concrete. It is a sad state of affairs.
We have been training in the living room doing balance work and agility heel and various commands. They can’t get enough. I have never seen all three dogs be so intense and focused. “More work, mom! More work!” They plead. Even the Nix has consented to climbing up on yoga balls and spinning and twirling – just for something to do! I have promised them all that we will walk early in the morning regardless of the weather. I am hoping the forecast for more snow was just a usual miscast. But walk we will, regardless.
