Furry adventurous

Today began with a bit of an adventure, of sorts. It began because of a delivery, and it all made me remember to finally share some Leo cuteness. It’s been a furry day, actually.

Leo and I had been having a leisurely start to the day, mainly because I knew that my latest batch of prescriptions were being delivered this morning, so I was just kind of relaxing in my chair. The driver arrived near 10:30, and I saw that as the driver put the package in my letterbox, he looked up, which I thought was because Leo was barking at him, but I realised he wasn’t looking at my house, but up the street somewhere.

When I went outside to get the package, I heard a small dog bark, and I looked over to see my next door neighbours’ female dog. “How’d you get out?” I asked her. She barked a bit, then sniffed the grass at her feet as she stood on her family’s side of the invisible property line.

Not long after the next door neighbours moved in, their two dogs got out, and it took a search party of their friends to find their male dog. When I saw the female, I assumed the boy was already on an adventure. Nevertheless, I decided I should put the girl back in their yard.

I went inside to put my prescriptions in the house, and when I went back out I saw that the boy dog was there, too. I talked to them both nicely, and by name. She barked at me, a bit and he just looked verrrrry suspicious of me (I was told he’s his daddy’s boy). This time, though, they let me lead them back into their yard, and I closed the gate and made sure it was latched. Then I left a note in the neighbours’ letterbox. Leo was barking through our front window the whole time.

I gave us our breakfasts, and afterward I sat back down in my chair to catch up in the news and such, as I do every morning. When I was ready to go have my shower, I looked behind my chair, and there was Leo (photo up top). When I shared the photo on my personal Facebook, I said:

“Leo’s latest thing is to sleep on the floor behind my chair, up against the curtains covering the doors to the patio. And, I’m all for it!”

I think it’s adorable, though it’s just an extension of what he’s always done: He generally sleeps near me, or else he sometimes lays at the far end of the living area, at the base of the corner cupboard, which is near the doors to the patio I use to let him go outside (photo from June is below; the ratty shoes are what I slip on when I go outside—often to bring in a barking Leo…). In the late evening, he may take himself to bed.

Today, too, I used the electric grooming clippers on Leo, the first time I was able to make them work. A few days ago, I went to get our small battery-powered clippers, something we bought for Jake, I think, so we could snip off little bits of matted fur between groomings. I put a fresh battery in it, turned it on, and it was running very slowly, something I remembered Nigel had noticed and then stopped using them. With a, “why not?” attitude, I got out oil we had for the various clippers, applird it, and then it was perfect. It made me wonder why Nigel hadn’t tried that, because he was so diligent about keeping the main clippers clean and oiled. Maybe he just forgot.

Since oiling the little clippers worked so well, I oiled the big grooming clippers, too—and they seemed better. I’d tried using them on Leo several times in recent weeks, and they never seemed to clip anything. Since the last time I tried, I’ve been clipping off matted fur with scissors (Nigel would be thoroughly appalled if he saw me do that—I wasn’t allowed to use scissors near our furbabies, which is probably why I work so very slowly and carefully), and I also used the little clippers. None of that was enough.

This afternoon, I tried the big clippers for the first time since I oiled them, and they, too were perfect. I only cut a little bit off of Leo today, but it was enough to let me know that I can now use them. Leo seems to be prepared for the ordeal grooming session. I hope that I am, too.

Finally for this day of dog news, I let Leo outside mid-afternoon, and he barked, which drew out the neighbours’ two dogs who joined in on the barking. Their gossip sessions never last more than a minute or two, but it was enough to let me know the two hadn’t escaped yet again.

Clearly, Leo was a very helpful boy today.