The Dog Days of......Spring?

I have always pondered the term "Dog Days of Summer". I have heard so many conflicting explanations of what constitutes Dog Days that I stay confused as to just what causes and when these days occur. Just what makes one set of days belong to dogs and if dogs have their day, why don't cats, mice, birds, whales or armadillos? Those burning questions have never been fully answered to satisfy my inquisitive mind!

Today, however, could have easily been called the Dog Days of Spring here on the Bayou! I would have been in full agreement with that designation. It all started because of the heavy wind we have been enduring for the past twenty-four hours. Determined to make the best of the weather, I opened up the house. All of the windows were thrown open and the breeze (if you can call thirty mile per hour winds a breeze) blew through with an exhilarating force! It felt wonderful! At least to me..poor Ezzy, on the other hand, probably hated it! She was being a sweetheart of a dog by taking an extended nap on her bed when suddenly she was boinked on the noggin! My frame of crystals came flying off the wide windowsill to smash my poor dog! Crystals shattered everywhere! Ezzy always loved to lie on her bed and watch the rainbows dance on the walls but most likely she saw stars after this incident! Poor puppy! I checked her for injuries but she seemed none the worse for wear..I cannot say the same for my crystals.

A bit later, Sunny decided to eat her bed! She is still definitely a puppy! Her nice fluffy pillow was now in shreds! Her crate was nice and fluffy and she was having the time of her life but that bedding is no more. When Mark realized what was happening, he gathered up all the fluffy filling while I reprimanded the animal. To break Ezzy from the same habit, I had made her "hold" whatever she had demolished whether it was her bed, my shoe or some random object. After she would sit and hold the say..pillow for a few minutes, she never again had an inkling to rip a pillow. It worked wonders! I tried this method with Sunny. At first, she fought me. She did not want the pillow in her mouth now. The fun had passed. I persisted and finally she relented. She held the pillow. I thought this would end the eating of the beds...I was wrong. Tonight, I caught her trying to rend her new bed to shreds. Oh, my...the "dog experts" say that dogs do this when they are bored....well, Sunny should not have been bored today!

Before the weather turned too bad, I took both dogs out for a bit of exercise. They have been together long enough to be rambunctious and not harm each other. We had a rousing game of tug-o-war, played fetch and I let them wrestle! They loved every minute. Ezzy, being the humongous mutt she is, was careful not to bite Sunny, the pup! She would growl fiercely, bare the teeth and then knock the pup over with the side of her head. Never once did she bite even though Sunny nipped, snapped and gnashed at her! I was proud of Ezzy! Sunny had the time of her life and Ezzy was right there being excited and thrilled with her new-found playmate! All the while, I got a workout! Who needs a membership at the gym...get a dog!

Yep...Dog Days of Spring are here and today serves as proof! I am satisfied with an explanation at last as my whole day seemed to be filled with activities that involved one dog or the other (or both)! Needless to say..I am exhausted!