Doggy doors and Easter

We've had a lovely weekend, full of gardening and yard work. My husband and I put in a new arbor at the garden gate, and he tore out some very old and ugly junipers that used to be by the street.

The dogs got a present a few weeks ago, a dog door! Amber is still having to pee a lot so we needed it. They learned it fairly fast. The first week or so though, they would both go out it on their own but then would come to the door and wait to be let back in like they used to have to do. It was pretty cute. I have always thought Amber was a genius of a dog so it was a little surprising that she didn't get it right away. Obviously it wasn't because she is not intelligent, just that it was a habit she'd known all her life.

I wonder how a dog door changes the way a dog thinks. If she'd been raised with one, would she have been just a little more independent? Rye seemed to get it just a tiny bit faster than her and he is the more independent of the two, though not by much. They are both dogs that like to be close and want to make us happy for sure. I also wonder about the next puppy or dog of the house, someday in the distant future. What does it do for their view of the human in the house if they don't have to rely on us to let them in, let them out? Or does that not change anything at all? Have you read "Merle's Door" by Ted Kerasote? Great book.

They have it down now though! They love it. Amber is a sunbather and will lie out in it all day when it's warm enough. And squirrel patrol is so much easier now.

Hope you all have a wonderful day today! Happy Easter from the creatures at Barks and Recreation.

 

I think they look more like angel wings on Rivet the cat (and he would like you to think that's what they are).