The Dog Blog: dog playing in the backyard

Saturday, March 4, 2017

LADY ROLLING JOYOUSLY IN A NEIGHBOR'S YARD.

You'd expect a two-plus year-old dog like Dixie to play now and then, but, most of the time, she doesn't. She ran a little bit yesterday when I put her out in the yard, and she might chew on something a bit.

Sometimes, I'd stamp my foot, and Lady would happily run around me in intricate and erratic patterns. She was playing.

But while our Lady would run, play with toys, chew chewies, roll in the grass and dig in the yard, Dixie doesn't. She loves to roll on her back, but I wonder if that's just Dixie trying to get her harness off. When Lady rolled in the grass (or dirt), you could see true joy in her face and movements.

Maybe it's a beagle thing and a mutt thing. Lady, a mutt, loved to play; Dixie, a beagle, not so much.

• Lady played

• Woof! (translation: Go away, kid; you bother me)

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com TWITTER: EDITORatWORK

More entries from The Dog Blog

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• ... said the spider to ...

, • The Dog Diary (2015)

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• OOH! OOH! The stereophonic huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

Blog entries by Tom Gillispie

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie

• Good Samaritan

• The PRESS cap and my friend Mike

• Watching TV

• No luck with Billy Sims

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer outta there!

EDITOR@WORK blog entries

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

Blog entries from The Auto Racing Journal

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

Monday, February 20, 2017

DIXIE AND ME...

I didn't feel like going to the dog park today, so I took Dixie into the backyard. I left her, exited the yard and walked onto the deck. I sat on a bench and watched her sit for nearly 15 minutes, doing nothing.

Finally, Dixie got up and began to patrol the backyard for scents. She sniffed in the usual places, then added a place or two she normal doesn't check out.

All too soon, though, she went back to the gate and laid down. Sighing, I got up and went to her, hooked her leash to her collar and took her inside.

It wasn't an exciting day, more like a dull half hour, but it was something to do. Perhaps tomorrow I'll feel better, and we'll return to the dog park. And maybe walk a bit.

• Woof! (translation: Go away, kid; you bother me)