Meanwhile

It's hard to find the time to write all the background chapters for Stella's blog. I work full-time as an English Professor, and the grading really eats into any free time I might find. When I get a window of opportunity--or make one even though I should be working--I usually spend it on "dog stuff": cooking for dogs, shopping for dogs, training dogs, and my favorite, exercising my dogs.

A really good outing for my dogs used to be a leash walk through Munjoy Hill and down to the Eastern Prom beach for some off leash time. The Eastern Prom beach is a small spit of sand, even at low tide, and it's very heavily used. Lots of people take their puppies and dogs of all sizes to run and play together, so it's hard to find quiet, uncrowded time when little dogs can have some freedom uninterrupted by big goofy dogs invading their space. You really have to keep an eye on your small ones. I pick mine up without hesitation if I feel they are overwhelmed.

But, that's all behind us now that Roscoe and Colby (the Min Pins), Spur (the Papillon mix) and George (the Border Terrier) are in the picture! These are Stella's small dog friends, and we love to go for walks on George's farm, hikes in the woods, and in the winter, runs on the beaches that allow dogs off-leash. Stella and Douce are completely spoiled now, and think that the Eastern Prom, their old favorite place to go, is completely lame.

Today we carved out some time for a beach walk. It was a bit windy, but not too bad a day at 33 degrees. The sky was bright blue and the water darker and green where the waves break. The salt marshes are still frozen over, but the path down to the beach was muddy. Why this grosses Stella out when she is about to get a coat full of wet sand is beyond me, but I carry her over the yucky parts. Stella gets the best exercise chasing George and Spur, and she's in heaven. She races at her top speed, which means she still has to take short cuts to keep up with the boys, and she vocalizes, and not very politely bites George on the butt whenever she catches up with him. We are all hoping that George will put an end to this bad behavior with a firm correction, but he is ever the gentleman.

Exercise is important for all of us, but for Stella and I, who are both prone to anxiety, it's huge. There's nothing like the "Prozac effect" of a bracing walk on the beach or an hour exploring what's new on the farm. Stella is at her happiest when the "six pack," as my mother refers to the small dog pack, is together.She does nicely as a lap dog, but maybe she has the heart of a farm dog.