Country Dog Goes South

Shadow spent Saturday with his aunt and uncle on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean in Brooklyn, NY. Being a country dog, Shadow's curiosity was on overdrive from the moment he hopped out of the car.

This is how I imagine his thoughts during the first 20 seconds: No squirrels? No trees? What's with all this tan grainy stuff my paws keep sinking into? Where's the grass? Where do I do my business? Who's that? What's that? Ooh, another dog!

Also at my aunt's house was Casey, a seven-year-old pug. Shadow had never met a pug before, let alone a quasi-city dog. And while Shadow had it over Casey in terms of weight and teeth (they grow back really fast!)... it was 16-pound Casey that called the shots, at one point even swiping Shadow's bully stick!

As usual, by time we headed home, Shadow and Casey were as civil as at the start of the day, when Casey's curly tail was wobbling back and forth like a bobble-head and Shadow was curiously following him around with his tongue half out.

Today, Shadow is a sack of potatoes, using only enough energy to eat, poop, and move to another spot on the floor. For such a little guy, Casey sure did a number on his younger, larger "cousin."

Oh, and Shadow requested I make a special shout-out to my cousin and his new biggest fan (of course that's you, Em!), who spent the previous weekend hanging out in our neck of the woods. He's counting the days until he can jump on you again (or hopefully show you how well-behaved he's become by NOT jumping!)

Check back later for the myriad videos I just discovered sitting on my camera. (Aye, there's the rub with digital technology... I have almost unlimited space, but it's so easy to forget I filmed anything at all!)