Let me start off by saying that I am not complaining. While I do love the cold (coming from a middle-aged woman, remember), I also love Spring! Now, here in the Northeast, the first day of Spring brought with it 6" of snow. Happy "living in the Northeast" weather, where you never know what to expect. I think we could create a game show of some sort.
Now, take 6" of snow and add in a pinch of above-freezing temps and we have a melt. Now, before I had dogs (as an adult) I never considered the ramifications of this melt. Melt=Mud. It's as simple as that. For my pups, Poly in particular, this means that digging creates a gargantuan-sized mess. Casey will come in and I'll have to wipe off his feet. While it's not his favorite thing in the world, he tolerates it. Heck, I'll come in and find that I have to wipe my shoes off to avoid trampling mud and muck into the house.
Enter Poly. Today I had an appointment so I left her outside to let off some of the energy she had from a whopping 2 hours in the kennel. I checked on her several times and all appeared well in her kingdom. One time, though, things were amiss. There was dirt on the ramp to the shed. This can mean only one thing. Digging! Fortunately she came in when I slid on a pair of shoes - she knew I meant business and that she was coming in one way or another so it was best if she didn't fight it. What I saw was nothing short of .... well, ICK! I pulled solidified mud (though not as dry as dirt) in pieces as big as one square inch. Gross!!!! There was mud going in all directions. She isn't a fan of the paw-cleaning to begin with and this was that multiplied by 50! It wasn't long until I was going to be leaving and neither she nor I could tolerate any more, so I put her in her kennel. There was just enough time to get the hand vac out and clean up the big pieces that were strewn about the nook. I have to say, she was not happy about that noise.... and she couldn't escape. At the time I wasn't terribly sympathetic, but now I do feel sort of bad. However, there wasn't a better option. She couldn't go running free around the house with her dirty toes and the mud had to be cleaned up.
I wish I'd taken pictures. It was quite the scene, although I have already admitted my terribly inconsideration of any sensitivities the vac may have caused to her ears. It's just hard to describe the amount of mud that could garrote itself into those toes of hers!
On another front, Casey continues to sleep upstairs. He also continues to sleep parallel to the head/foot boards, leaving little room for hubby and me. Last night I got up for some reason and came back to zero room. Do you have any idea how hard it is to move an 85-lb dog from your area of the bed? He wasn't super co-operative, but some excited calling of his name and some physical encouragement got the job done enough that I could squeeze in. No complaints though, not big ones. It's nice to have him snuggling with us at night and this morning I woke up to him with his head on Daddy's pillow and somehow under the covers - just like a human. So cute :)
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