The Dog Days of Summer

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get three dogs to stay still long enough for a decent picture? The result of my attempt to do so is the not-so-great picture above. The brown and white blob on the left is Bailey, a terrier mix. The tan blob in the middle is Jack. The white puff on the right is Mimi, a maltese. Jack is the oldest one of the bunch by a few months, but they have all known each other and played together since they were puppies. The three of them are doggie BFFs. As much as Jack loves to play with all dogs, he goes absolutely nuts when he sees Bailey and Mimi. The feeling is apparently mutual. The last few weeks Mimi has started barking the second she gets to the grassy area directly in front of our windows. Her bark always summons Jack to the window. Upon visual confirmation that it is indeed her, Jack starts to howl, whimper and bark until we open the door. After saying (or sniffing) their greetings, they both run up to Bailey’s door, which he is usually scratching at by this point. And once all three of them are outside they run, chase, and wrestle to their heart’s content.

With our dogs being BFFs, it was inevitable that we would also become friends with the other pet parents. Bailey’s mom, B, lives in the unit below us. H&S, Mimi’s parents, live just two doors down. While the dogs are frolicking we all hang out on the stairs and gab about work, life, other neighbors and of course the dogs. With the weather being as nice as it has been lately, this is becoming almost a nightly routine for all of us. More often than not, KB Squared, a couple that lives in the building across from ours also come down to hang out with us. They don’t even have a dog. That’s how much fun we are.

This night was especially nice. Eddie and I were having a late dinner when Mimi barked out her orders to come play, which meant that Jack had to wait until we were finished eating. This took unacceptably long to the dogs, because Mimi and Bailey were waiting for Jack on our doormat when we opened the door. Since they were already up at our place, we provided Round 1 of the night’s doggie treats. The dogs got very spoiled because H&S provided another round of doggie treats a little while later. At this point B decided that the adults needed a treat as well and popped into her place for a few minutes. She emerged with glasses and a bottle of champagne. So there we were sitting on the stairs (well, at least the girls; we make the boys sit on the walkway). Seven people who likely would not have become friends but for our dogs, sipping champagne on a Wednesday night while the doggies played. I love these lazy summer nights.