Spring Dog Days at Old Westbury Gardens

Loyal readers of my blog know that there are a handful of specific dates/events that I look forward to each and every year.  There's my birthday of course, Christmas, the day the air conditioner is installed, and Dog Days Weekend at Old Westbury Gardens (AKA "my estate").  Well, my birthday's a month away, Christmas is seven months away, and as much as I huff and puff Ma insists that "it's not that hot" and therefore way too early to put in the air conditioners.  That means that this weekend past had to be Spring Dog Days at Old Westbury Gardens.

On Saturday, the first day of Dog Days, I went with Sister, Karin, and Mecki.  As is tradition, we met at "Rigby's Wall" (the one depicted in my profile picture) and participated in the great cookie exchange. Deciding to be ornery that morning, I refused to eat most of the cookies Karin offered me, choosing to instead roll them around in my mouth (getting them good and slobbery) before spitting them out onto the grass.  And do you know what happened next?  Karin actually picked up each slobbery cookie (unless Mecki got to it first) and put them back in her pocket.  What great fun!

Anyway, after the great cookie exchange (Mecki ate the cookie Sister offered), we made our way into the gardens.  We wandered around the West Pond, perused the Rose Garden, scurried through the Ghost Walk, and explored the East Lake via the Woodland Walk.  On our stroll, we met lots of pups (including numerous Golden Retrievers), sniffed lots of interesting smells, and begged for attention from passersby.

 

 

And then we met something that I can only describe as other-worldly.

Snapping Turtle

Wandering down one of the paths, the four of us ran into a giant snapping turtle who was making his way, rather determinedly, across the property to get from the East Lake to the West Pond.  Sister and Karin took turns checking out the turtle, leaving Mecki and me behind which was fine by me because that turtle was scary looking from a distance and I certainly did not want to get any closer to him.

A couple of hours later, our walk was over, and we returned to the car.  I was exhausted and fell asleep in the backseat before we even left the property.

When I got home, I drank about three gallons of water and stretched out on the kitchen floor in a puddle of drool and drinking water.

 
I snoozed there until dinner time at which point I ate my food, went out for a quick business trip, then settled down on the living room floor for another nap.

I roused briefly to sample the ice cream Sister had for dessert...

...but spent the rest of the evening snoozing on my pillow when I normally would have been barking for a PB&K or at car doors slamming blocks away.  At 10pm, Sister asked if I wanted to go out to do business one last time.  I didn't really want to, but I knew Sister wouldn't leave me alone unless I did so, sore and achy, I got up and dragged my weary bones outside.  When I got back in, I collapsed on my pillow.  It was after witnessing that particular moment of sheer exhaustion that Sister decided to camp downstairs in the living room rather than force me to drag myself upstairs to bed.

Early on Sunday morning (6:30am to be precise), I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed having slept nearly 17 hours straight.  I was begrudgingly taken outside by Sister for a morning business trip (Sister, as I've said before, is not a morning person) then Sister declared that it was still too early for breakfast and she and I snoozed for another hour or so.  By the way, that's why I like Sister--she's always up for a nap!

Anyway, shortly after we both woke up for the second time, Aunt B came over and she, Sister, and I piled back into the car for a second round of strolling around the estate.  The weather was decidedly unsettled that morning so there wasn't nearly as many people and dogs to meet, but even so, we had an enjoyable walk filled with lots of sniffing and posing for pictures.

Emma Rose and Me:  Oct. 2018

Unfortunately, there was one sad thing that happened on this second excursion:  I learned that my Dog Days Golden Retriever friend Emma Rose had passed away since I last saw her in October.  A highlight of Sunday morning Dog Days was always running into Emma Rose (and her human mom and grandma) and I'm going to miss her a lot.  Sister was very upset about the news, too (I let her give me an extra long hug later in the day).  But, while there will never be another Emma Rose, I did get the opportunity to bunk noses with the newest member of her family:  Alfie, a five-month old mixed breed pup with huge ears and a long curly tail.

Telephone

It is a sad fact of life that a majority of pups such as myself do not have access to a cell phone.  Admittedly, there are a number of reasons why we don't have them:

1. we don't have pockets to store our phones,
2. we don't have thumbs or fingers to dial numbers or to text, and
3. our phones would constantly be sitting in bowls of rice drying out from an onslaught of drool. 

So yeah, maybe it's a good thing that we don't have cell phones.

But we all need ways of connecting and communicating with others and I'm proud to say that I am front and center on two separate phone chains (one at home and one out east) that would put any cell phone connection to shame.

Here's how it works.

Every time I go outside, I stand in the middle of the yard or driveway and I bark.  Now, I don't mean the "someone is walking by my house" bark, or "I'm bored and it's fun to make noise" bark, or even the "someone slammed a car door three blocks over" bark.  No, I simply give one loud mighty bark.

And then, I listen.

Without fail, at least one dog will respond to my bark with a bark of his own.  And when that dog barks, another dog responds.  Soon, the whole neighborhood is barking and I find myself basking in the joy of talking to others and causing a commotion; a commotion that I cannot be scolded for because I have technically only barked once.

Easter 2019

I'd like to wish all my friends and family a very happy Easter.  My words of advice for this day are simple:

1. Keep an eye out for the Easter Bunny.  You see, despite the fact that he is known for hiding tasty treats throughout the house for pups like me to find, whatever he leaves behind is simply not worth the security nightmare of having a bunny hippity hoppin' through the house.
2. Jelly beans are small and round.  If you follow a jelly bean eater around changes are good he or she will accidentally drop at least one on the floor.  The grey ones are the tastiest.
3. Go out and buy yourself a fedora and take lots of pictures of you wearing it.  I mean, check it out!  It took nearly ten years, but Sister finally managed to find a holiday outfit that does not make me look foolish.  In fact, I think I look quite dapper!

Okay, maybe you can look foolish wearing a fedora.  Leave it to Sister to find a way!