Was it something they ate? We control what they eat in the house, but when we're out with our two little imps and they wander off momentarily it doesn't take long for them to scoop something up off the forest floor for a little bit of taste-testing fun. They know full well this is forbidden. It's one of the reasons they get chopped-up fresh vegetables as treats twice daily. They love those vegetables.

 And just because they also are given wild berries and apples in season as additional treats when we're hiking through the forest trails and these goodies are all available to share with them, it doesn't mean they should feel free to consider the forest floor their personal buffet. Especially when they're attracted to the disgusting fecal matter that tends to be dropped here and there.

We learned a short while ago that the an who had taken it upon himself to guide dog owners to a sense of responsibility about their dog droppings, to pick them up and discard them in bins he personally set out to receive trash rather than leave bottles, tins, used masks and a whole host of other forms of detritus lying about, won't be doing it any longer. His altruistic volunteer work putting out fresh garbage bags every week, collecting the full ones to the curbside to be picked up on garbage day has gone on for at least a decade.

 

He's a gruff, friendly man in his early 60s with a personal sense of mission. Not a dog owner himself, he began hiking through the forest trails n a bid to improve his health with exercise. A few weeks ago he left a note at each of the street entrances dispersed throughout the wider community leading to the ravine, explaining that he hoped people would carry on with his work. He was diagnosed with advanced cancer and decided to leave a lot of things behind him. 

We had sun in the early part of the day today, but by afternoon clouds had rolled in and darkened the day. Although there was no rain in the forecast, it looked as though rain would be imminent. And we were kind of bushed from last night's constantly interrupted sleep. Jillie kept asking to go out to the backyard. Earlier in the evening it was Jackie who unusually asked repeatedly to be let out.

The first time Jillie needed to go out was around half-past four. I took her out to the backyard and watched her pee, but nothing else. The next time shortly afterward she leaped off the bed, we were both fast asleep and unaware. Until Irving heard her scratching about and then leaped off the bed himself to check. He spent the next half-hour cleaning up messes here and there. The last time I took her out it was three hours later and by then she finished emptying her bowels. The fun part of dog companionship.

This constant up-and-down and loss of sleep explained just why it was that we finally got out of bed to start the morning routine after falling back asleep at a truly unusual hour. We thought for certain neither of them would be inclined to eat, but we were wrong. They had their breakfast thank you very much, and the treat to follow, cubed French toast.

And when later we were out in the ravine they avidly sought doggy cookies. They are clever little beasts, knowing that when other dogs show up to await Irving's reaction in dispensing cookies, they'll be included. So if they detect the presence of other dogs they're familiar with at a distance on another trail, out of eyesight and hearing, but they still somehow detect their presence, Jillie sets up a huge barking session, joined by Jackie.

Other dogs familiar with our hiking routine respond to the racket our two make by heading at speed in our direction to confront us as the source of treats. They're patient and courteous and expectant. This is a deliberate set-up by Jackie and Jillie, to extract more cookies for themselves. Their expectations centre around the fact that the dogs will come running as soon as they hear the barking invitation and then it will be party time, chums! There truly is method to their madness.

And when we finally return home, do our tour of the garden and are finally back in the house they follow me about anxiously to remind me as though I could ever forget, that it's time for their vegetable salad. Usually diced cucumber, bell pepper and grape tomatoes. Their evening salad is comprised of cauliflower, snap peas, bell pepper and tomatoes, although any kind of fresh or cooked vegetable chopped into small pieces is equally welcome.