The dog days of summer

Ollie and I have been among the dogs of late.  Our neighbors, who lost their elderly dog just after we moved in, recently got a new dog.  First a puppy, Angus, whose herding tendencies translated into some ankle-biting of their kids (and so he went back), and then a five-year-old chocolate lab mix named Rosalita, or Rosie.  I only noticed Rosie's arrival when Lucy and Ollie and I met her at the fence one morning two weeks ago.  The fence between our two yards is a lower, picket-height fence with openings between the slats, unlike privacy fence that surrounds the rest of both our yards.  We all said hello, and then the three of us went inside.  And then, while we were having lunch, I noticed a big brown dog in our backyard.  Rosie had jumped the fence.  I tried to take her home, but no one was there.  I left a message on my neighbor's cell, but decided not to look for an outside opening to the fence to put her back, for fear she would just try it again.  So she and Lucy played politely in the backyard for a while.  Then they got hot, and I let them inside.  Ollie got up from his nap in the meantime and tried to read to her (like she does for Lucy, when she'll let him.) The dogs went back out when Rosie piddled in the middle of our rug, and her owners finally came home in the evening.  She came over again within a few days, while we were having breakfast.  I noticed her only because Lucy alerted me to her presence.  The neighbors tried moving some things away from the fence that she was using to help hoister her over and thought that would do the trick, but yesterday she came over while in the yard with her family.  I don't mind, really.  She's a sweet dog, and she and Lucy get along quite well.  I just really hope she doesn't hurt herself.  (And I wouldn't mind if she saved the pooping for her side of the fence.)

Yesterday morning, Ollie and I went over to Centennial Park for the local humane society's Mutt Strutt, a one-mile dog parade around the park, followed by food and music and vendors galore.  I wasn't about to take Lucy, as she just gets anxious in this situation (and she'd been on a long hike in the woods the day before, so she wasn't being deprived a walk), but I thought Ollie might like the sight of all these dogs together.  We went to the gathering area so he could see them all.  He would look, walk up to them, but not pet them, even when offered.  He just really is very shy around big groups, so I like to give him this exposure.  We saw some dancers do a routine to, you guessed it, "Who let the dogs out?" and the dogs take off on their parade, and then we headed for the playground, where the dogs passed by a few minutes later.

I don't know if we'll get another dog after Lucy.  Not right away, probably.  Not with little kids, preferably, as it's just too much work to add in to the mix.  But I have a feeling that Ollie won't let us go very long without one if he's old enough to help out and have a say in the matter.