Things I'd Forgotten about My Doggies

Jazmin, foster dog in need of a better name, is a lot like my late Max: high energy, very reactive, kinda annoying to Maddy, always wants to dash out the front door. So just now, she had her head over the side of the bed while G and I were cuddling. I pushed her away with my stockinged feet--and suddenly remembered the black face of Max, gingerly and peskily pulling my socks off, one by one, with mischief and glee. She was so playful and such a jokester--and could totally laugh at herself. If she got startled, or tripped over a curb, she always came up wagging and smiling.

And a friend mentioned remembering how Maddy had first reacted to a live bird... I had forgotten this. I'd taken both dogs to a field training, where they retrieved pigeons with their wings tied back with surveyor's tape. Soft-mouthed dogs brought the pinioned pigeons back to their owners, wet but OK. Max returned a limp bird (not too soft-mouthed, my Max).

Maddy, on the other hand, sprang into the water on command, swam purposefully all the way out to the bird, then turned around and came back, saying, "Are you NUTS? That bird is ALIVE!"

Jazmin is a great retriever, something I had needed both my dogs to do: Maddy would happily run out to the ball and bring it to within 10 feet, and drop it. Max would then, on command, go get the ball and bring it to my hand (but was never interested in running out after it to bring it back). When Max died, I no longer had 'a' retriever. In this, Jazmin is a breath of fresh air. In the sleeping-on-my-bed-while-I'm-gone, not so much.