Edie and I have a several-times-a-week tradition now of taking a walk to our nearby dog park. She loves meeting all of the dogs and is quite good with them. She's much better with other folks' dogs than she tends to be with our own. I have successfully taught her to show a dog her upturned hand before petting them, but have not successfully convinced her that if they don't want to smell her, chasing them yelling "hand?! hand!!" probably won't help. One of E's primary functions is her self-appointed Hydration Police position. There are especially stringent laws placed on Billy in her jurisdiction, and so he is subject to many loud demands that he return to the water fountain for a sip. In order to get Edie out of the dog park happily, I promise to take her on the swings at the adjacent playground. Though she acquiesces, the new contingency is that I let her walk Sugar from the outside of the dog park to the playground. Edie calls Sugar "Good Girl" - I think it sounds a lot like her actual name and it is something we say to Sugar a lot when she is being tolerant of Edie. So Edie says "Walk Good Girl? Walk Good Girl? Walk Good Girl?" (x 300) the instant we leave the dog park. Here are some pictures of their latest stroll together.
