Stella is settling in nicely. Everyone in the building who's met her adores her. She is a gorgeous mutt if I say so, with a shiny brindle coat and the sweetest, mildest brown eyes. She reminds me of the dogs you see in ancient Egyptian paintings. If I were mythologically inclined I might call her Anubis, even if she is the wrong gender. It's not just me, either: a lady at Petco yesterday told me she looked like an African wild dog.

And then there was a funny little incident yesterday evening at the dog park in Georgetown. When I arrived, there were two women there with their dogs. One of the dogs was a fawn-and-white rescue who looked a bit like an Italian greyhound, and the other was a beautifully-groomed poodle. Ms. Poodle looked at Stella and said, "Aoh! What kind of dog is she?" I said, "She's a mix of mixes! I think she might have some greyhound in her, but for all I know she could be a min-pin by way of a St. Bernard. It's really a mystery!" Ms. Poodle asked whether she was a rescue, I said yes, and Ms. Rescue nodded approvingly. I asked Ms. P. about her dog, and she went, "This is Pepper, and she's NOT a mix at ALL." While I petted Pepper, who really was lovely--here's the hilarious part--Ms. Poodle looked Stella over (the brindley coat, the chocolate face, the long nose, the splashes of white on her paws and tail), and said "Aoh, she is MASHED potTETTOES." Am I conveying the sneer here and the rapid blinking and the bobblehead nodding-slash-headshaking? She was cracking me up, but I managed to keep a straight face as I said as cheerfully as possible, "Yes, she's my sweetie. I'm keeping her". Ms. P. left soon after that and I had a nice chat with Ms. R.

That's what I get, I suppose, for going to the dog park in Georgetown. If only the city would be considerate enough to set up a dog park in another part of the city, the matrons of Georgetown wouldn't need to have their sensibilities offended by mongrel dogs. For now, I guess they'll just have to live with it.

This morning I tried a run with Stella, and she was fantastic. Just a total natural at it, only got distracted once or twice and didn't insist on chasing the squirrel or bird or candy wrapper. I was taking walk breaks (still on Couch-to-5K), and she made the transitions beautifully. Actually it was a little embarrassing: even during the running intervals, she didn't break out of the alternate-left-and-right walking pattern and into a run except for a couple times, when she soon outpaced me and went back to her fast walking. It was great motivation, though, and I'm pretty sure my workout was better for it. Best of all, she fell asleep in the car and again when we got home, so maybe her day will be a bit less stressful while she waits for me.

Tags: k9
Current Mood: happy
Current Music: "We're Going to Be Friends", The White Stripes