Irish has taken a great fondness for the front porch. It is gated and she can’t get out, so she loves it out there. It acts as a sort of nice sized run. She can sit in the sun, feel the wind on her fur, watch the world go by in safety. Bark at every single dog that goes by. Every one. Like they are an invading army. Most of them completely ignore her. Irish ignores NOTHING. I’m trying to get her to just limit the conversation to maybe a couple barks, and then put a lid on it. It’s a work in progress.

We’ve walked every day this week; nice 2 hour fast paced jots around town. When she’s not positioned out front, or in the side yard, she’s inside doing her imitation of a shaggy sheepskin rug, positioned in various inconvenient spots throughout the first floor – in the middle of the hallway, behind the stools at the breakfast bar, under your feet in the living room, in the middle of a doorway, in front of a door, behind a door, foot of the stairs. You know, typical dog behavior.

These walks are for training purposes too. She sucks at heeling…you have no idea how many times she has practically ripped my arm out of its socket stopping to sniff something. I’ve learned some things though on these walks – for instance the typical spots a dog pees. However she is doing better and is almost ignoring other dogs now. Almost. These walks are helping her to acclimatize to city living.

Another development is her rank spring fur is appearing – time for a bath. This I will get the girls involved in as towel girls and general fetchers. Should be a riot. She hates being wet, hates it. She just stands there and acts like your torturing her. Nice. Silly dog. She might not mind tepid water though, and I have this wonderful natural dog soap that makes her smell all nice and fresh, but not perfumed – merely clean with some sort of soap mixed with some herbs for fleas I bought last year. If she’s not being doused by a hose, maybe she may not mind so much. May actually learn to appreciate the massage.

It will make my sister happy. Nothing quite as wonderful as stinky dog smell as you first walk in the door. My sister has a nose like a wine connoisseur, and has this annoying sensitivity to smells. I don’t mind Irish’s natural scent, I’m always smelling the top of her head. But today she was a wee bit rank on the nose. Spring time. She baths herself in the snow all winter, rolling around and doing the “bump bump” with her paws in the air, as she wiggles away on her back. Than she jumps up and stands there looking stupid for a couple of minutes, and than repeat. Shake shake shake. Done. Clean, winter dog.

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