Puppy Power

Puppies are marvelous creatures. 

Just when you are having a terrible week at work, they yield perspective.  Their infactuation with the smallest things in the world gives them sheer joy and reminds you that there is more to life than your tiny experience.  This week, Edgar has been a Godsend.

On Thursday morning we woke to 8 inches of snow.  I opened the door for him to go out.  He saw the wall of white almost as tall as he is and he backed up with a look on his face like, "Are you crazy, lady? I don't need to pee that bad."  In my bathrobe I grabbed the snow shovel, donned my clogs and began to create a path for him on the deck.  He thought this was nifty.  It fell into the same category like vacuums, mops, and other fun things that run along the floor he can chase and attack.  I literally have bite marks on my Hoover.

He got to the end of the deck and thought this wasn't a big deal.  That was until he fell off the steps with a graceful head plant.  I couldn't help but giggle.  Poor thing.  However, he then figured out he could bound and bound around in the powder!  I decided to take him outside while I shoveled the rest of the driveway and sidewalk.  For 45 minutes my neighbors could hear Edgar growling at the shovel, me yelling his name and then the scrape/dump of the snow off to the side.  It was interrupted every so often by him bounding around.  He finally stopped only because of the immobilizing snowballs gathering on his underbelly and armpits.  (Do dogs have armpits?...well, you know what I'm talking about.)  I did the defrosto dog routine in the sink to melt them after carrying him inside. 

It set a nice tone to my Thursday. 

Another thing I love about Edgar is him dancing for his dinner.  He is the happiest dog I know.  Every night I take a bath as a ritual of self-care.  He usually hangs out in the bathroom with me and curls up on the mat or the pile of clothes.  His newest thing is to chase the drops of water that fall down the sides of the tub.  He paws at them, licks them up, and just watches them intently as they crawl down.  I've begun to enable this behavior and just let the drops fall from my fingertips at the edge.  It makes me smile and the puddles are easy to clean up.

The last thing that I love about him is his ability to cuddle.  He will sleep on top of my chest while I'm lying down on the couch or he'll curl up beside me in bed.  His backbone lining up against my chest and his head on my pillow.  Sounds weird to say that you spoon with your dog, but I'm a brave woman to admit it!  I like his warmth, soft sighs, and mini kicks/barks as he dreams his doggy dreams of finally getting the elusive squirrel (or at least that is what I imagine it to be.) 

Edgar reminds me that there is joy when life is simple.