The dog dash

Whenever the weather cooperates, Cody, our dog Jenna, and I enjoy walking to school. So off we went this fine AM. It was one of those weird days where there were very few clouds and lots of blue sky but the sky continued to spit nonetheless.

Cody fussed abit about getting his head wet from the sprinkle, but I sort of, well, ignored him really, and moved on. No sooner did he stop complaining about he rain, he was dragging his feet through large puddles, just because. So much for staying dry.

As we approach the school, Cody suddenly goes "shhhh!" and stops. He peers around a tree to the left. Ah, I get it. There's a small stretch of sidewalk where we pass an open field with 3 dogs inside, only being held away from us with a chain link fence. When we walk past this stretch, the dogs furiously bark up a lung or three, watching Jenna happily jaunt past them. But Jenna also gets caught up in the bark-o-war, and although she doesn't bark back, she starts pulling on the leash and jumps up and down like a rabbit, dashing, stopping, going back, just, silly dog stuff that nearly yanks your arm off when attempting to hold onto her leash.

This isn't the first time Cody planned the 20 yard doggie dash. The dogs are generally on the other side of the field as there's a small barn they hang at. Much to Jenna's glee, Cody will suddenly bolt as fast as he can to the other side of the field. As if on cue, the dogs spot Cody and Jenna at the tail end of their sprint, and as aghast as they can possibly be, they surge forward in full yelpfest, thinking that'll stop the passing intruders. The end of the fiasco always has the dogs nearly running into the fence in massive protest, while I'm gulping for air from laughter.

Today was no different. We approached the right tree when I heard the "shhhhh" once again. I curiously stood back to watch today's installment, not really expecting anything to be different, but amused all the same.

It appears Cody has gained abit of confidence in knowing he'll beat the other dogs. Like all other days, he started the dash. Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee spot them and off they go. Cody had gained abit on them today so he bravely slowed down near the end of the dash, and started imitating the dogs.

"ROWRWROWEROEOWEORWEOWOEROWO!" He jumped up and down like a monkey powered on batteries on a trampoline. (My first thought was where'd the energy come from as he had complained the whole walk that he was tired.) Jenna jumped up and down like a rabbit. The dogs went FRANTIC.

There's still that element of the dogs crashing into the fence that's kinda freaky, so right before they did so, Cody disappears from their sight.

And all is quiet.

Except for me. I'm on my knees on the sidewalk, pulling my giggle act. That was some fine entertainment there!

Every morning we go for this walk, I forget about the dog dash. And every day we get there, I look forward to it. Today's show had that extra creative actor element attached, leaving me wonder how he'll top that one.

Daily dog dash is regularly scheduled at approx 8:10 AM near the local yokel school. Free viewings are weather permitting, not including puddles.