Long Cat...

 

I'm talking about Murphy (of course).  When I get up in the morning, part of my routine is to open the shade on the door to the patio and move one of the counter barstools in front of the door so Murphy can look outside...

 That keeps him occupied while I get his breakfast ready.  The boy would not be happy being a house cat that never gets to go outside.  After he has eaten and I've done the rest of my morning routine, I usually take him outside - it was a little chilly to start the day today (30º), so we put that off until the sun started to warm things up out there.  But, in the meantime, he likes to look outside.

After lunch, I took him out again.  While we were walking around, he heard something happening in Steph and Dan's yard: Steph had come outside with Elsie, another pup from Guide Dogs for the Blind.  To the casual observer, it's another black lab, but Elsie is much younger and smaller than Rubina.  Steph and Dan traded with Elsie's raisers (who used to have Rubina) for a week or so... apparently, it is good for these dogs to get experience with other raisers.  Steph and Elsie were playing fetch-the-ball in their yard.

Murph walked over there and watched while Elsie walked back and forth... "Dogs are suck-ups."

"That's not nice, Murphy - they are playing.  It makes Elsie happy and it is good exercise for her."

Murphy said, "It wears me out just watching."  We watched for a while, Murphy got close to Elsie, Elsie moved in, and... Murphy bopped her on the snout.  Three times.  No claws and no hissing, so this was an improvement.  Elsie thinks they are playing.  They aren't.

I herded Murphy back to our yard and let him wander around a bit more.  Then, back inside...

This afternoon, Steph came over and asked if we wanted to join them in a walk.  Sure; well, just me, 'cause Joan was in the middle of doing laundry.  Little Elsie is a good walker...

It's fun to watch them work with the dog, stopping from time to time to get her to sit... or back up.  Even at her tender age, she is doing a good job with the commands.

Here's a photo from yesterday...

Murphy is wearing a new harness - this one is brown and matches his fur better.  Because it is important to accessorize.  He had to go out on a leash yesterday because he kept going under a furniture cover and I couldn't keep an eye on him.  He had no issue with being on the leash, again.  But, there is a difference in his demeanor: when walking around in the yard without a harness and leash, his tail is high in the air.  When on the leash, it goes straight out the back.  That probably means something.