Daily Dose of Cute

Because he's sweet like that, Iain brought me home from Scotland an Aero bar, which is a British candy bar I really like but can't easily get around here. I've been eating it like one bite a day, because it's such a rare treat. I left the 3/4 of it that's left sitting out on the end table in the living room last night, like I always do. You see where this is going...

A few minutes ago, I walked into the living room and the EMPTY WRAPPER WAS ON THE FLOOR!!! I turned around to see Zelda looking at me with a wagging tail and a grin on her face that seemed to say, "O HAI! I discovered chocolate! It is very tasty! I LOOOOOOOVE ETT! I LOVE ETT SO MUCH!"


[Representative Image: A picture taken the day we brought Zelda home.]
Immediately, I panicked, because chocolate is poisonous to dogs. I rang the vet, and one of the many awesome vet techs there assured me that even with the amount she ate, its being milk chocolate and Zelda being 40 pounds means that the absolute worst that will happen is a case of the butt-squirts. (I'm paraphrasing.)

My panic gave way to relief, which gave way to I'M GOING TO MURDER THAT DOG FOR EATING MY AERO BAR! (Not really.) I told Zelda she had worried me and asked her kindly to please not eat anymore chocolate bars. By which I mean, I made a mental note not to leave any more chocolate bars within Zel's reach.


[Representative Image: Despite appearing to hang her head in shame,
Zelda was actually, at the time this picture was taken, staring at an ant.]
Meanwhile, Dudley surveyed the goings-on with a smug self-satisfaction that betrayed his attempts to convey disinterest.


"I'm the GOOD dog, you know."
I know, Dudley. I know.

Daily Dose of Cute

Zelda, to our continual amusement, loves to run underneath Dudley, and, frequently, she will stand directly underneath him, with her front end poking out one side, and her back end poking out the other side, so that Dudley looks like he's got a second tail jutting out of his side.




BFFs.
Here is another fact about Zelda: She likes to roll in stinky things.

This makes her not unlike many dogs, although, as I discovered yesterday after she rolled in something black and grody and unfathomably stinky, covering more of herself with the horrible stuff than a wet paper towel (or 20) could handle, it turns out she is scared of the bath. She let me wet her down and soap her up and scrub her in the kitchen without a complaint; indeed, that was a lot of very fun attention! But when I called her into the bathroom and tried to get her into the tub, she was so fearful of the prospect that she peed on the floor.

She then ran into the bedroom, lather and all, and looked at me with those big brown eyes, suddenly full of anxiety, and an expression that seemed to say, "I'm sorry; I think I'm a bad dog but I don't know why; please don't be mad at me."

I wasn't mad at her. I also wasn't sure how to help reassure her in that moment that I wasn't, and that there was nothing to be afraid of. So I asked for help.

"Dudley," I called. He was lying beside her. "Come here, good boy." He got up and came to me in the bathroom. I lavished him with affection and praise.

Zelda followed. I scratched her wee soapy head. "What a good girl!" I told her. Her entire back end, not just her tail but her entire butt, waggled with earnest joy. The bathroom wasn't so scary anymore. Dudley had showed her the way.

I didn't try to put her in the bath. I soaked a towel and rinsed out the soap as best I could that way.

Dudley hung out, patiently letting me rub his head and shoulders with a wet towel, too. Like a good boy.

Daily Dose of Cute

Doggeh Wrasslin'!


Video Description: Dudley lies in the middle of the living room floor on his side; Zelda can be heard trotting down the hall. She comes into the room and sniffs at Dudley's face, then walks by. He gets up, tongue hanging out of his mouth like a glaikit. They wrestle around, Dudley on the floor, so that he's shorter than Zel and gives her a chance to be the Big Dog. Then he jumps up, and they spin around biting each other's faces and legs, snarfing and huffing at each other. Matilda, sitting next to me off-camera, can be heard hissing in the background. Zel sniffs at her, then goes back to playing with Dudz. I pan to Matilda, who is having none of it, and wanders away. Zelly play-bows and leaps at Dudz, and then they lick each other's mouths. Dudley flops back down, and Zelda trots away. (About 5 seconds later, after I'd turned off the camera, she came back, and dumped as many toys as she could carry on his head.)

Still pix of the whole Party of Five below the fold (on most browsers)…


Matilda


Olivia


Sophie


Dudley (Why the long face, Dudz? Hurr hurr.)


Zelda