There is Always Something new

Dolly has developed a new habit. It started when I planted some sweet corn in our second garden which is across the street behind my neighbors home. I can access the garden by way of he alley that runs next to it. To save my back and knees I ride over on my John Deere GT245 riding mower.

I'll start the mower up and head out of the garage. If I stop and offer Dolly a ride at this point she will refuse.  When I drive on she will follow. She follows as if she's going on a great adventure with me. Some days she struts, other days she prances. It's as if she is saying "Look at us!" I'm  with my wonderful master and we are going exploring!"

As soon as we arrive she will go on patrol. Patrol is serious business to her. The area must be checked and cleared of any threats to her master. If she could talk I'd ask her how a 10 pound dachshund is supposed to defend a man who is 6 foot 6 inches tall and weighs 300 lbs.

Once the area is clear of threats it has to be checked again for new scents. We have to see how many critters have been in the area and file away that information in her mind. She's a good little tracker. Just this morning I spotted her tracking my son who had just returned from a walk. She did not know he left and she loves going on walks with him.

While she's doing all this I'm usually doing various things in the garden. Most days it don't take long and to be honest I really don't have to do it daily but I do it anyway. When I'm done I'll fire up the John Deere and head out. This is the point where Dolly will jump on the mower and climb up on my lap.

I know this sounds dangerous but Dolly has her own very strict rules on how this is to be done. Rule number one is never jump on the mower when it is moving. Rule number two is; Get away, far away from the mower if Mr. Carl has the mower blades running. Rule three is get the heck off the mower if Mr.C turns the blades on when you are riding. I did not train her to do these things...She trained herself. the only part I play is to praise her when she does this.

Once she's on the mower with me she will plant her rear legs in my lap and park her front legs on the steering wheel. When stranger sees us for the first time they usually stop and take a second look because it looks like she is steering. If i have to turn the steering wheel she will move her feet accordingly. This don;t work on sharp turns. At those times I lift her off the wheel with one hand and turn with the other.

Normally it's a short ride back home. She enjoys the ride so much that I just go ahead and make it a nice long one. We will drive along and she will occasionally function as the horn. If anything gets in the way of the mower she will bark at it. If we get behind something that's moving too slow she'll bark at that too.

Yesterday things were different. it was almost time for me to go back in the house for the day. I was sitting in front of the fan when Dolly appeared. She sat down and looked at me with a very sad expression on her face. In my opinion no dog does sad like a Dachshund. I knew what was wrong. If  I had said to her at that point " Dolly what's wrong?" "Show Me!" Show Me!" she would have lead me directly to the John Deere.

I did not take the John Deere out of the garage yesterday and she missed out on her mower ride. She may have wondered about her ride the entire time I was outside. She was doubly sad by the time she came to me. She also knows that if there is something wrong I'll figure it out and try to correct it.. In fact I think she has assigned me that job. We all have our specific jobs she has given us. Gretchen is for food and attention, Richard is the one to go to for fun things. Me, I am the correcter of wrongful things plus my shoulders are a great place for a little dog to nap.

I was too hot and tired to take her for a mower ride. I knew we needed a few groceries. I said to Dolly "Truck Ride" and Ka-Ching! her ears perked up and sad was gone in a flash. A truck ride is not as much fun as a mower ride but the truck has that wonderful glorious Air Conditioner that Mr.Carl knows how to set the vents just right to make a little dog feel mighty comfortable.

If Dolly were human she'd wear her emotions on her sleeve. Usually those emotions are happy ones. Sad is fairly rare and when it shows up I am compelled to find out why. I did not know that our mower rides meant so much to her. That's why I gave her two today lol.

I enjoy doing things for her. She in turn almost always lets me know she is grateful. I get many "Thank You" looks and lots of " I love You" looks too. She don't hide her feelings. The only thing she hides is when she is in pain.