Dan Antion

Clothes Make the Pooch – #1LinerWeds

We like to say that our dog (Maddie) is selectively smart. She knows and understands what she needs to know and understand. In eight years of walking her, she still has no clue what the word “easy” means, and “no barking” is the phrase I use when I agree with her that the person on the other side of the street or a few hundred yards ahead of us looks dangerous.

She understands where we will turn around if I say, “short walk,” and she understands that “later” means we will walk, just not now. I usually say “later” when it’s cold but expected to get warmer or when it’s raining but the rain is expected to stop.

As we are seeing some relief from the single-digit lows that had the ground frozen to the point that we worried about her feet, “later” seems to be up for debate. On Sunday, it was 15°f (-9°c) when she wanted to walk. I told her, “We’ll walk later.” She walked over to the coat rack and stuck her nose in the direction of her buffalo plaid coat, as if to say,

“I have a coat; we can go now!”

Ready to go. The wind doesn’t bother her much until we’re in the open space in the park

She barked and I knew I was not going to win that round. She loves wearing that coat. When we get home from our walk, she keeps it on for an hour or two. We think she likes the compression. This post is part of Linda G. Hill’s fun weekly series One-Liner Wednesday. If you have a one-liner, If you would like to join in on the fun, you can follow this link to participate and to see the one-liners from the other participants.

This is how they forage
Up squirrel scope!
She destroyed the cover last year. We were going to evict them last summer. Hopefully this year we will get them out.
But she is adorable
“I hope that’s my Uber Eats order?
“To the moon Alice. Bank, zoom, straight to the moon!”
Hyacinths – starting to appear and being eaten by the bunny :(
Bunny
Sunset
“Maddie, I wanted to get a picture of the playscape”
Playscape without dog
Still pretty windy in the park
Brilliant sun, but windy and oh so cold.
OK, who’s riding and what’s he/she riding?
So you see both Smokeys?

96 comments

  4. I’ve known all along, Maddie could have her own blog. :-) I think those hyacinths may need to go in a container planting if you want to see them next year. :-) When I get home, I’ll be pulling my tulip container plantings out of the shed because they’d never last in the yard with the squirrels and chipmunks, and maybe you need to make a wooden cover for the wood. :-) Mother Nature is never boring.

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    • I planted a couple dozen random bulbs last fall, Judy. No sign of any of them yet. I’m sure the bunnies will nip them in the bud. Nobody bothered these covers until last year. Then one of the preggos moved in, then another and then another. Now it’s like a condo complex. I’ve thought about a wooden rack with a roof, but I worry that then I’ll get birds nesting in there, too.

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  9. Great photos, Dan. It is good to see shoots starting to come up–spring is coming.Your critters (including Maddie) always make me smile. I love the shot of the leaf and its shadow–it looks to me like a bear on a horse.

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  10. I can’t help but wonder if Maddie would have calmer walks in the nice weather if she wore a Thunder Shirt.

    Okay, the periscope squirrel is adorable, BUT the damage to the tarp isn’t! If you build a sturdy wood container, when you’ve emptied it halfway, you won’t be able to lean in far enough to get lower logs without falling in! Maybe long-handled grabbers?

    The leaf shadow is definitely Baby Smoke (note tail!) sitting on a toy pony he found!

    Even in the wind, you can’t mess up Old Glory’s “do”! 🤗

    The hyacinth plants look so sad, while the bunny is sitting there pretending he doesn’t have any idea how that happened! 😂😂

    Love the moon shot!

    Enjoy our very brief vacation from winter Dan. Spring is almost here……so the weather forecasters say.
    Ginger

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    • Thanks Ginger. That could be Baby Smoke on a toy pony. I mean, what other size pony would he ride.

      We’ve had those covers for years. Nobody bothered them until last year. We might have to drag them into Critter Court. Of course, once they have babies, The Editor won’t want to bother them.

      The bunny is sticking to his Sargent Shultz routine – “I know nothing” but I’m not buying it.

      I’ve never tried walking her in the Thunder Shirt. Maybe a lightweight jacket. I think I see her looking at Khol’s “New for the Pampered Pet” circular.

      Stay warm and dry as this week bounces from May back to January.

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  11. I think she just wants t rock her stylish coat as long as she can, Dan. 😉My better half would have evicted that squirrel already. He doesn’t speak cute when it coms to his covers! 😂I love the moon shot. 🙂

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    • The plan was to e ice them last fall, but we never got around to it. Now it’s probably a maternity ward, so we won’t throw them out until May. I do like that moon shot, I’m glad you do too.

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  12. Love the one-liner and the photos!! I never thought that a squirrel could damage a tarp, but peanuts are quite the incentive. What a capture, Dan! 😊

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    • We didn’t invite them in with peanuts. We’ve had those tarps for years, Gwen, and no one every bothered them. in 2020, one female took up residence and started cutting air holes and escape routes into the tarp. She built her nest, had her children and left. As soon as it got cold, she moved back in. Then others moved into the other log racks. At this point, it seems they’ve done all the damage they need to do.

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  13. A girl knows when something looks good on her–you wear it well, Maddie! The little squirrel scope photos are so cute…you’re really gonna evict them? Maybe Smokey’s renting out the room. I’d check with him first.

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    • Smokey, or Mrs. Smokey has been in and out of there. We are going to try to get them out, but not until after they’ve pushed their children out. She is a cutie, but she has made a mess of that cover.

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  14. “To the moon, Alice” got a nostalgic chuckle from me. Good one! The leaf shadow is obviously that hulking white mammoth on Hoth, though I can’t remember what it was called. Those poor hyacinths! I know the rabbits are very hungry right now, but they really need to learn to eat peanuts!

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    • I’m glad you recognized the “Alice” reference, Maureen. I thought it was just me. Now I have to look up what might be on that leaf. So many suggestions. The bunnies are dropping fast on the “happy to have you here” list.

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  16. What Maddie wants…

    That’s a good dad. I’m sure Maddie appreciates your submission to her will and the warmth of her plaid coat. She’s stylin’ while in control of the human. ;-)

    I’m a bit jealous that you already have green things coming out of the ground. It will be awhile before we see anything similar. Spring is still a month away and that isn’t always a guarantee of non-snow or cold weather.

    Have a great day, Dan!

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  22. Dan, your East Coast winters are so much more fun than CA. Love Maddie’s coat. And the sun through the trees –awesome. You have a great eye for finer details. Sorry about the furniture cover. But, the critter peeking out is so cute. Stay warm. 📚 Christine

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  29. Hmm, I think she actually has two coats, one natural, one for styling. :-) Her vocabulary recognition reminds me of the selective hearing/understanding of small children. The photos of the squirrel are so cute but not so exciting for the owner of the tarp! Those little rascals will eat through almost anything!

    See you tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of today. We’re getting rain. Are you getting snow?

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  32. There’s a wonderful story I read years ago (possibly Mark Twain’s?) about a little boy who had a puppy and was fascinated by the question of whether or not his puppy could think. The question became an obsession and he grew up to be a neuroscientist (or that’s what I remember) and created a device that could read thoughts. His dog was old by then, and was the first one to be hooked up to the device. Guess what thoughts were registered from the dog?
    I wonder if humans think :)
    Given your dog’s selective behavior, methinks we don’t give dogs enough credit :)

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  34. Great post and perfect timing for me. We just spent the last week in Seattle for two reasons, one being to dog sit one of our daughters dog. Her and her husband headed south to San Diego for a reunion with old friends and a baby shower for my niece. When I’d take him out on his early morning walk he’d give me a nose nudge towards which coat he wanted on during the walk. As the week progressed, it got colder and colder during the last few days we were there and he was nudging me towards a heavier coat on a hook next to the normal one. Cracked me up!! The second reason was we finally closed on a house up there and spent the day during our “dog sitting” painting and other prep work before we move up there middle part of March!! Great post!

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  35. Sounds like she wants it on after the walk because it’s like one of those thunder coats to calm anxiety when it is thundering. Some people claim they don’t work but it does for my friend’s little Pugsley.

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  37. I thought I knew a lot about training dogs until we adopted Marley. It’s been just over two months and he’s starting to figure out what he can get away with and what he can’t, but continues to push the envelope any chance he gets. I’m studying dog training. Apparently, actions speak louder than words.

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  40. Oh, Maddie! What a clever girl! Hmmm, let’s see about the squirrel…. I believe you could build a cozy winter home for them connected to that hole. Evict them in the summer, install the winter quarters when the weather turns cold.

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