Doggies

Tess has long had a love affair with dogs. For months now, she points out every dog that passes, following after them with pointed finger extended when she's able. Whenever she hears a dog bark outside, she points at our windows and says, "daw." So you can imagine her delight when we visited my best friend in California who owns...a DOG!

To make it even better, my friend's roommates in San Francisco also have a dog, so that was two dogs for half of the trip. The other half of the trip was spent in San Miguel, and my friend's sister's dogs were at that house, so there were three dogs for about five days.

My friend's dog, Benedick, was an ideal dog for Tess. He's a chiuaua mix from the pound that turns heads everywhere we go. He loves to play, and was very gentle with Tess as she learned how to pet and play without hurting him. As the week went on, they had soon developed games of tug-of-war and wrestling.

Here's Benny, receiving one of Tess's many hugs.
My friend's sister's dogs are puggles--a mixture of a pug and a beagle. They were much more high strung than Benny, and the two dogs would rough house together in a way that made us fear Tess would get hurt. But Tess never had any fear. She ran into the middle of the rough housing, jumped a little when they barked, but wasn't deterred. The only time she cried was when they barked because they were sad they couldn't come in. Tess stood there pointing at the dog on the leash and cried her own crocodile tears.

Oliver was pretty heavy.
That's better.
Tug-of-war.
Initiating a game of tug-of-war:
More tug-of-war:
Getting to feed the dog:
Helping the dog eat. (The first time Marti gave Tess a treat for the dog, she ate it. She liked eating their food.)
Now that we're home, Tess has suddenly forged a bond with a Taco Bell chiuaua toy that we bought at a flea market. When I ask if it's Benny, she says "ya."