Is that a stick in yer mouth or are ya just glad to see me?

I have yet to fail mentioning my dogs in every post I’ve written so far, and this will not be an exception. In fact this is dedicated to them in its entirety. We went for an afternoon walk and it was pretty uneventful. Max did his usual "Puff up on the squirrels shtick" which generally lasts about 4 or 5 minutes. Once that was taken care of and the rodents were put firmly in check we headed around the block.

Max being the male dog and ever the usurper in his efforts to be the Alpha male of our pack of 3, is usually the trouble maker of the two dogs. If I try to get away with just going to the corner and back instead of the full 4 block tour, he will plant his feet and refuse to budge. If I try to tug on the leash he will actually lay down forcing me to carry him back to the apartment or I give in and walk all the way around the block. He weighs four pounds at best but his tenacity and refusal to bend makes me fold every single time, so we walk around the block.

Today Max wasn’t the problem. It was Maggie the Maltese. Maggie likes to pick up sticks usually as big is she is. She will carry them all the way around the block , head and tail held high, a furry marching band leader. I notice she picked up a twig coming down the home stretch. We got to the apartment door and I reached down and grabbed what I thought was a 4 inch or so twig out of her mouth. It was a 4 inch or so dog turd, half of it was smashed in my hand and the other half was hanging from her mouth like a cigar stub. We were not pleased.