I've been taking the dogs for walks recently, instead of just taking them outside to potty, and my neighbors' reactions to three miniature wiener dogs is usually pretty entertaining. One fellow walked outside and greeted us with "It's the dachshund patrol!" while another asked me how I manage three at a time (my answer: "Barely."), and almost everyone either coos or waves at the pups.
The dogs also are a never-ending source of amusement on these walks. Maddy LOVES them; as soon as we get outside, she races down the sidewalk and looks back at me, just waiting to start moving forward. Max prefers to stop and smell the flowers, so to speak, and Jordan is pretty solidly in between - he likes scooting up ahead and checking things out, but he's also content to trot beside me at times. Some days he feels more of a need to mark than others, and Maddy seems to have a tendency for this as well. One of my favorite things from our walks was the day I watched her hike a leg to pee on a lamppost. Just because she's doesn't have boy parts doesn't mean that she can't and won't add her scent to that lamppost, by God!
Mike and I were talking about the dogs this morning, and he commented on the way Jordan interacts with me, observing that Jordan can almost always be found draped over me somehow or laying next to me. Mike thinks this is because I am a constant in the dogs' lives, that I've become Jordan's safe shelter since we got him. As soon as I put the pups on the bed and sit down with them, Jordan is right there, curling up on my hip, and when they get to sleep in the big bed, he stays close to my side all night long. He shifts from lying with his neck across mine, to being curled up against me, to lying by my side with his head pillowed on my shoulder, to turning so his butt is in my face, but no matter what his position is, he's right there next to me the whole time. Max tends to burrow under the covers at first, to lie like a dead dog near our feet. Eventually she moves up again so she can sleep like a person next to us, but there have been times where the only way I can tell she's still alive is because she's warm. Maddy is more of a fidget. She usually starts off burrowing under the covers to curl up with Max, but after a few minutes of that, she slithers back up along Mike's back and lays there for a while before migrating over to lie against me. There are times I wish we had a bigger bed (for three small dogs, they sure do take up a lot of space!), but I'm always happy to sleep in a puppy pile. It's one of the most relaxing things I can think of.
