Don't, Don't, Don't

Happy Independence Day!  I think.

I don't feel very independent right now.  When I declare my independence, somebody always says - bet you can guess - "DON'T!"

I've been growing.  


I used to be able to get through the fence into the flower garden.  Now I can only just nibble grass around the edges.  But if I eat too much tasty grass, then my tummy gets upset, so my mom says, "Don't!"

My legs are long enough for me to see into the trash baskets.  And there are always very interesting things in them.  But when I take something out and wave it around and play keep-away - "Don't!"


You should see the pretty plants on my deck!  They are so much fun to pull up out of the pots.  But my people say - I don't need to finish this sentence for you, do I?

And then there's my Gentle Leader!  When I see it, I head the other way.  And my mom says...  "DON'T!"  Sometimes I just won't obey any commands with my "uniform" on.  Ha!  That'll get her!  Well, no.  My mom says, "You just wait, Harriet.  One day you might be a service dog and you're going to love going places in your uniform.  We'll just have to put up with your bad moods until you have grown up a little bit more."

I don't care about growing up a little bit more.  I just wanna do what I wanna do!  Sometimes I whine about it.  My WOOF! is now a rich alto "woof," not a little puppy soprano.  I can sound quite impressive outside when I want to come in.  But I can still do an effective puppy whine when I want some sympathy.  (Try it - it might work for you, too.)

I must admit, though, that life is not totally gloomy.  There's the leaf blower....

....and the rain.









 And I have some new friends, too, and they're fun.

 

I met my cousin Olivia.  We don't have any kinfolk (well, kindogs) in common, but we both grew up in the same house, so that makes us cousins.  Olivia was Lydia when she was a pup, but she changed her name a little when she got big.  Here we are playing together.  Guess which one is me.

Olivia has cats.  Here is one of them, showing off his cute tummy.  His name is Milo.  He didn't want to play with us.

 


My mom and I went to a book sale way out in the country.  We drove and drove.  But there wasn't anything there I was interested in reading, so one of the boys took me for a walk in the - what?


It wasn't a yard.  Nobody could have mowed it.  But it was big, and I could get used to it really fast!



I have a CCI pup friend named Deja.  I call her DJ.  She is younger than I am, she lives over in Buena Vista, Colorado, and she came to my house for a whole day.

See?  She can get through the fence to the flowers.

DJ likes water - can you tell?  Wish I'd thought of that game first.  But somebody would have said, "DON'T!"  When she did it they just said, "How cute!"  T'ain't fair.





  
At first DJ wondered if I was going to eat her up.  I get enthusiastic when I play.  (She's the black blob on the left hiding behind the water meter.)

But pretty soon she decided she could play, too.  Dogs look as if they're fighting when they're just playing.  It's all those impressive teeth.







Then Buddy came over - remember Buddy? - and we all played together.  Fun!

Can't play all the time, though.  (Sigh)

Poor me!  I think I'll go hide my face and take a nap before I get "don'ted" again!