i took the snuffster to great falls today to spend time outside in my favorite thinking place. turtles basked in the spring sun in the middle of the canal. snuffy, far more interested in pissing on every single clump of grass along the tow path, ignored them.

he did come upon some canada geese, big honking things that were about twice his size. they didn’t like him, and he definitely didn’t like them. but because he was doing his best to chase them (while still on the leash, the other end of which was attached to me), i couldn’t get a good photo.

we sat for a few hours on a hill. snuffy stood watch, intent on chasing off any rogue geese.

once he tired of that, and i dozed a bit, he tried to get me to play with some sticks. his idea of enticing me to play with him: grab a stick, chew it good, and then bonk me over the head with it. repeat as necessary.

go figure, it worked.

we then clambered down a rocky hill so i could get some photos of a semi-quiet bend in the river. snuffy decided it was time for a sand and mud beauty bath. (i haven’t bathed him yet; he is still coated in grit and stinks to high heaven.)

the river: it’s good for the soul.

another weekend finds us dogsitting. murray’s back, and we’re also joined by karl. this is karl:

when snuffy first met karl, he tried to get karl to play. karl didn’t even notice him for about an hour. when he finally caught on, he tried to play.

he stepped on snuffy’s head.
there’s a bit of a size difference between the two of them.

ultimately, snuffy was successful at getting karl to play with the tennis ball:

this didn’t work out well for snuffy either:

but as with all dogs, in the end, sleep prevailed.

one of the great things about having friends and roommates is free petsitting while traveling. for example, james took care of snuffy when i was down in norfolk for the bar; i’ve taken care of his cat when he’s out of town.

this week, we’re petsitting for randy & k, who are flitting about the orient. um, let me rephrase. we’re petsitting for murray, the attractive redhead featured in this post.

as far as dogs go, murray’s an easy one to care for. he doesn’t like being left alone (neither does snuffy), and he’s rather elderly (correct me on this – 14?). according to the resident doctor, he’s well into senility. when awake, he wanders aimlessly until he falls asleep (or poops in the house, as he did this morning – one reason to like tile floors). his hindquarters shake a bit, as do his front legs. he seems to be developing cataracts, as well.

we were warned that murray doesn’t work and play well with others. that posed a bit of a problem for the first few days, when snuffy tried to get murray to play with him. murray would wander, snuffy would trot merrily behind, his nose shoved as close to murray’s ass as he could get it. every few steps murray would turn around, snarl, and bite at snuffy.

snuffy looked confused. “what is this odd behavior, small fluffy one?” he seemed to be thinking.
(snuffy isn’t the brightest dog in the house, even when he’s the only dog in the house.)

but what isn’t obvious from these pictures is that murray is actually sitting on top of snuffy. the snarling has abated, and murray doesn’t seem to mind the fact that snuffy snores like a drunk linebacker. for his part, snuffy has ceased his attempts at play; he occasionally tries to engage murray more gently, but murray now ignores him and wanders on his senile way.

there were signs of spring on roosevelt island yesterday — including dunks! mallard dunks! many many of them! and snuffies sporting lands’ end squall jackets!

(he was the best-dressed dog on the island. natch.)

…except, it seems, ginger snaps. the disappointment on his face was comical. he’d gone through so much trouble to reach them and tear open the bag!

he still seems to like plastic pen caps, though. dumbass.

ahh, the snuffster.

yes, my phone line still goes through the house under construction next door:

*sigh*

but just to show you that kvetching about my neighbors isn’t my only pastime, i give you this: a photo of snuffy in his new baseball jersey. i knit it myself. the colors, however, you’ve gotta blame on my husband.