Dogster

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Days of our... wait, what?

Ouch!

We went for the first long walk in a long time today. It happened to be just a few minutes ago, during the hot part of the day.

When Mom put the dogs in the kennel I was curious. My pack mates are usually only put away when I get to stay out for bed. Then I saw her putting her shoes on! I immediately wagged my tail to tell her I was happy. Then, she signaled me to "let's go" and we walked out the door, grabbing my leash on the way.

At first we hung out in the back yard. She wanted to "charge" her clicker because we haven't used one for a long time. I remembered it though and it only took a few treats before I was ready and understood fully. Finally, we were off! For the first half of our street I was able to walk freely without the leash. As we neared the end, where there are more cars, she stopped me to snap the leash on me. Now it was time to get down to business!

So off we go! We went in a different direction then I was used to. I was polite and sat and waited on every curb while going this direction. I didn't mind and it meant I was getting clicks and treats randomly when I did it.

Eventually, my paws started getting hot. When you're walking on the sidewalk in Las Vegas, it starts to hurt pretty bad! We had walked about half a mile before I started prancing around and clinging to the shade. Mom noticed it and soon after we crossed the street to a Del Taco to stand in the shade. Boy did that feel good. Not only that, but she had Tanya (our friend) hold my leash outside so she could get us some ice water! After a few minutes of resting and some ice water I felt ready to go home.

Then my paws touched the hot asphalt of the parking lot. I knew it was rude, and I knew better, but I ran to the end of my leash to get her to hurry up. She knew why I was doing it, though, so she didn't correct me. Finally, we reached the overpass for the highway and walked slower through here. Nice shade for a few minutes! As we reached the end of this patch of shade I hung back, trying to stay in it as long as I could. There was more shade ahead though, and I could see it! I ran forward on the leash to urge them to walk faster so that I could get into that shade. Unforutnately, it was a very tiny strip of shade cast by a pole. For another 15 minutes or so there was no shade and I walked very quickly to keep my paws from touching the sidewalk very much. Finally, we ran across the street. It was hot and I ran faster than I ever usually run on the leash to get to the other side.

But, oh joy, the other side had shade cast by cement walls! So I was glad to walk in this shade, though I tried to rush Mom when we crossed the little streets we kept passing.

At long last we reached our street. I recognized it at once and eagerly turned down it and wanted to cross to our side. Mom walked me in about 20 feet and then unclipped my leash.

Happy to be free of the burning menace, I ran to the first drive-way I could see and stood in the shade until I was called out. I then ran to the next one to wait until they caught up again. I did this with every drive-way until I saw our house. Then I bolted as fast as I could to stand right next to our big old van, where it was nice and cool, until Mom and Tanya got there to let me in.

Finally home! Mom put me in the little pool out back to cool off my paws, told me I was a "Good Girl" and gave me some treats. Then I laid on the patio in the shade to cool down a little before going inside.

I'm so happy to be home now that I'm sleeping on my pillow in the entertainment center. I LOVE walks, but maybe we could do it when the sun isn't so high next time?

At least I know where the shade is so that I can cool my paws if I ever get lost!