Working Hard For Her Money, Er, Bone

Moyo loves sticks. No I don't think you understand she Loves sticks. The bigger the better. None of those whimpy sticks. Basically, it is not a stick to her unless it is big enough to be called more than a stick... branch, limb, log... you get the idea.

So Friday afternoon Stan, Tammy, and I took Moyo and Kona to the trails for some unleashed romping and an early evening walk before dinner. It was a beautiful evening, complete with pink sunset and balmy breeze. The dogs did great, even Kona who got his first off-leash walk! On the way back Moyo found this giant branch that was longer than she was. This is pretty common for her, and she will usually carry it for a few minutes until some other fascinating-only-to-a-dog type of thing comes along to distract her. Well, this time she got into her mind that THIS stick was the ultimate stick and she was absolutely determined to carry it the entire way.

This feat required a lot of stopping, because well, have you ever tried to carry a stick longer than you and six inches in circumference, in your mouth? So yes, lots of stopping. Stopping involved rolling in the dirt to cool herself off, sort of like you imagine a pig doing. She carried it the entire way back until we got to the trail head where she promptly dropped it and did not look back. Of course, being the person I am, I read all kinds of wonderful doggy lessons into this walk with my dog. Here they are:

1. Playing and Working are not that different

2. Work with a smile on your face, even if said work involves sweat and dirt in your mouth

3. Work with a smile even if in the end, you don't get anything to show for it.

4. When the work is done, don't look back.

She was so incredibly proud of herself! (I was proud too, in my dorky dog-loving way :-)