Life on the Leash

Here’s how thing roll at LOTL these days … a dog comes in and Millie tries to figure out the play style du jour. Chase? Wrestle? Roll? Millie doesn’t care, as long as she has a willing partner.

Maggie was a tad taken aback by Millie’s style at first …

… but she joined the dance eventually.

(Cute much?)

Daisy is a regular visitor …

When she stops by there’s always some Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling silliness …

But she’s equally interested in the floor model stuff, to Millie’s dismay. When Daisy opts of out of playing to have a gnaw, Millie does the look-at-me-I’m-fun-and-cute trick:

She rolls near Daisy in the hopes that her belly-baring tactic will encourage more play.

Today, the bone won.

Roxy the English Bulldog puppy belongs to our retail neighbor across the street.

When she comes to visit Millie turns on the “charm”:

Despite Roxy’s glum face in the photos, she rallies and gives Millie a taste of her own medicine:

“Payback’s a bitch, my friend.”

I’ve been M.I.A for a while, but I have a really good excuse:

Meet Millie the 8-month old smooth Brussels Griffon, our new shop dog!

Tom and I had been considering a second dog for a while, but he was leaning toward big dudes like Rotties and American Bulldogs. As much as I love those breeds, a nutty old boxer plus a second big dog wasn’t going to work in our bitty store. Then Millie fell into our laps as if she was meant to be with us.

So what does Sum think? He is Over. It. She loves, loves, loves her big brother, and he tolerates her youthful shenanigans with heavy sighs.

Mille is fitting in well in the store …

She plays nicely with most dogs …

And tolerates me geeking out over having a small dog for the first time …

I’ll admit that having a puppy has been a reeducation for this dog trainer. I’m used to old man Sumner, who enjoys activities like sleeping, cuddling and then sleeping a little more. Millie? She likes to PLAY! And RUN AROUND! And GRAB THINGS! And sometimes, if I’m not careful, PEE ON THE COUCH! (Yes, even dog trainers make mistakes.) It’s been a little humbling, but a good refresher and empathy-builder for my new puppy clients.

I’ll do my best to avoid another two month lag between posts, but I’ll admit that most of the cute stuff is ending up on Facebook these days. Friend the store!

Harvey stopped by to pick up another moose antler chew …

He opted to carry it out of the store, making sure to look both ways as he exited:

Then he decided that the sidewalk out front would be a great place to settle in for a gnaw:

Hey, when it’s time to chew, it’s time to chew.

Pumpkin likes to play with pretty much any toy, but he really fell for our new floor model snake:

Instead of stuffing it’s got 6 soda-can sized squeakers in it that are puncture-proof, meaning that even if a tooth cuts through the squeaker somehow it’ll stay alive and keep annoying you. Yes, it’s loud.

Pumpkin’s person told me that he’s so in love with it that he took it with him on their morning walk. He’s a full-time snake wrangler!

I think it’s impossible to see a dog this adorable and not resort to baby talk.

Wittle bitty sweet baby doggie!