Semi-Daily Scribbles

Over the course of 11 years, I have very few decent photographs of our gal. Having always been a nervous dog, she would run away at the sight, sound, and probably smell of any type of device that would steal her schnauzer soul. In addition to hating having her picture taken, she’s never been able to abide the sound of food sizzling in a skillet (with good reason…frying always set off our smoke alarm when we lived in Seattle.) She has difficulty maneuvering over slippery hardwood or tile surfaces, doesn’t like anyone to touch her paws, and, like many canines, shivers and shakes at the rumble of thunder and the whizzing-whistling-kaboom of fireworks. I’m convinced that once my husband and I introduced a schnauzer puppy into the fold a couple of years ago, The Old Gal began loosening up and some, though not all, of her phobias became less debilitating. Establishing interaction with other dogs is important, and we should have gotten a playmate for her a lot sooner than we did. However, the other plausible reason behind our elder schnauzer’s mellower moods is due to her being precisely that ~ an older dog. We never think of our pets as being little old ladies and gentlemen. They are forever pups in our eyes and in our hearts. I don’t want to admit it, but I’m not sure she even saw the black rectangle in my hand as I took this snapshot (maybe she just likes my iPhone and that’s why she didn’t skedaddle?) After 11 years of frisky skittishness, I can only hope that she’s finally decided that sitting for a portrait isn’t so awful.