The Walk

My husband and I watched a friend’s four-pound Yorkie this week. We have a Yorkie, too. Two-year-old Gabby is half the size of our six-year-old Phoebe, and she is at least twice as adventurous. Gene and I think she’s adorable. Phoebe, not so much. Phoebe is extremely patient with Gabby, though, and rarely says a cross word. She spends her time trying to stay invisible to the energetic creature.

Every evening one (or both) of the dogs tell me when it’s time for a walk. Our walks are short on hot days. We had rain cooled air yesterday. I got their signal around 6 p.m.  I put on my shoes and attached their individual leashes, and we headed out the door, only to discover that it was still sprinkling and there was heavier rain nearby. The dogs didn’t care. They were already at the ends of their leashes in the yard, so I grabbed my umbrella and kept going. I knew adding an umbrella to our two-leash walk would be a challenge, but I thought I could handle it. I have taken Phoebe and Gabby on two-leash walks many times, so I understand how “twisted” it can get. Gabby runs circles around me and Phoebe, and Phoebe spends her time trying to stay away from Gabby, so I am constantly untangling the leashes.

We began having trouble almost immediately. Gabby had a very urgent need to poop. She began searching for a place in our next door neighbor’s yard. I shortened her leash a bit so she wouldn’t go too far into their yard. At the same time, I decided I should collapse the already troublesome umbrella. Gabby promptly found a spot and assumed her hunched position. Both leashes got tangled tightly around me and the still open and upside down umbrella. Gabby’s taught leash pulled her up on her back legs, and she pooped standing up. It was a sight. Meanwhile, Phoebe wanted to keep walking, but I was tied up. This is when I began laughing uncontrollably.

I wasn’t sure how I would unravel this scene, so I paused to take a deep breath…and a few photos. They don’t do justice to the predicament I found myself in.

I finally somehow managed to get out of this jam, and we voted two to one to continue our not-so-leisurely walk. I hooked the closed umbrella over my arm. We got to the corner a few houses away and made our turn to the left down a nice wide sidewalk. We did pretty well for about five paces. That’s when the sprinklers came on right next to the sidewalk. They made the usual loud and strange sprinkler noises as they began their cycle. Phoebe and Gabby nearly fainted when the hissing sprinkler heads they were investigating popped up out of the grass. They simultaneously turned and ran toward home! It’s a good thing they were on leashes, tangled or not.

It was a short, chaotic, but productive walk.