A Place In The Sun or It's A Dog's Life

I think our dog, Dodger, found his place in the sun when he came to live with us, or more to the point, when he came to live with Doc. I should have had a clue last fall when we were talking about getting a dog from an animal shelter. Doc very tersely warned me when he said "I get attached". There was a lot of understated information in those few words.

Dodger in his favorite place in the sun

I have written before about Doc going off to bed one night , giving Dodger a big hug, saying "I love you" to him and forgetting to say "good night" to me or even to give me a pat on the head. Yes, Doc was embarrassed enough that it was all worthwhile. The Doc and Dodgerisms continue. Doc opted out of a vacation in January because he thought it was too soon to leave Dodger. We have a trip to New Orleans planned in June and Doc has been researching places for Dodger to stay. The have an "interview" scheduled next Friday at a place called Rocky Hill Ranch. Their tag line is "All dogs go to heaven, ours our already there". Oh my.

Doc is retired but he works part time for a friend that has a property management company.

Dodger travels with him everyday and has become an expert in checking out properties.Their days usually involve a stop at the dog park, and all to often, the donut shop, though I'm not supposed to know about that. They have a daily play date in the late afternoon with a neighbor dog, a Corgi named Sammie.

Dodger  and Sammie

Doc grumbles a lot about shoveling snow, but still felt the need to shovel a path for Dodger through "Dodger Park", the name my grandkids have given the fenced area in our yard, every time it snowed. I haven't figured out the reason for this since Dodger loves playing in the snow. I think maybe it was more about Dodger having fun playing in the snow and with the shovel.

And, of course, there was a path shoveled to make it easy to get to Sammie's gate for their daily play date.

                                           

I won't even mention the trips to the pet store for new toys, playtime on the couch before bed, or the number of times a day Doc tells me what a good dog Dodger is. It is all good with me and I love how good they are  for each other. I probably should check, though, and make sure Doc isn't thinking about changing his will.

"Properly trained, a man can be dog's best friend."

Corey Ford