The Duke Arrives

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It's finally quiet, but for how long I don't know. I've had approx. 9 minutes of sleep. Since Saturday night.

The Duke rode home like a gentleman. Very quiet, enjoyed the ride. When we got here I opened the door a crack and got the leash, he started to bolt out of the car, then suddenly changed his mind, looked scared, and refused to come out. I took the candle stuff in, then he was ready. He smelled Sunny, and very carefully peed in several places, then we came inside. Sunny set up a commotion, Duke spun his wheels a bit on the tile floor, and they found each other, but what was this barricade thing??? Intense barking, but no growling. Unexpected . . . but good.

I went back out to get the dog bed, and suddenly heard the erie wailing of a lost soul in hell!!  I know he howls when left alone, but 23 seconds?!

Well, they both wanted to be on the same side of the barricade as I was, one or more of them was whining at all times, and there hadn't been any growling or nastiness, so I located my air horn, picked up Sunny's toys, and ooooooopened the door. It was fine - lots of hiney sniffing and exploring the barricaded part of the house.  He started protecting the home right away, by barking at the door, and Sunny - who loves to bark too, but never had anybody to bark WITH her, (Cassie did not bark and Marley only barked if someone came to the door, or he thought someone was coming to the door, or he thought he heard something, anyway, not for the sheer joy of barking) joined in . . . for about three hours. My photos of this time were a blur  - both tails wagging, both noses in the air, both panting like steam engines.

Finally they both laid down, and I started drifting off  to sleep on the sofa, to the sound of rain gently crunching . . . wait, CRUNCHING? Duke had helped himself to a log from beside the fireplace and was tearing great chunks out of it! As soon as I told him "leave it", he clamped down and I was forced to trade for a wheat thin - which was all I had at the time - so today was not a grain-free day. I threw the log out the front door. When I came back he had one of my leather fire-tending gloves. I quickly acted with great unconcern and ignored him, while talking to Sunny (happy talk, happy talk). He decided that if I didn't want it, he didn't either.

Not too bad while I was in the shower, except he took my purse from the table and unpacked it, and then I was just a tad annoyed about the five pound bag of rice spread over the laundry/pantry floor. (I had dog-proofed, but had I Duke-proofed????) Nooooo.

He also discovered that when he puts his feet on the kitchen counter he can reach the bottom of my kitchen sink, where there happened to be a Spaghettios pan. He is trying to train me to share MY dinner, I suspect that someone has been feeding him from the desk - uh - table. I am hardened, however to those pleading eyes - he is my 5th golden, and I fear, the smartest one to date.

They both had big dinners - complete with some grated cheese on top, and have passed out for the moment - Duke's feet are twitching and he is softly woofing in his sleep. And the morning and the evening were the first day.

Linda, Sunny and Duke!