Spencer the Detective

The first winter we spent in this house, Spencer and Emma still didn't fully understand the concept of the leash. They understood that the leash meant they would be going outside. That was exciting for them. Leash = good times. They had no concept that I was actually holding the other end of the leash and therefore they should behave. Emma would hop up and down in place,all fours off the floor. Spencer would step on my feet. I have heard that's a "dominance" thing, but I think in Spencer's case it is just "he's a jerk" thing.

You know the excitement you felt as a kid when you got your first bike. You didn't know how to ride it, but you just knew it was going to be fun. That excitement, that joy, that anticipation of freedom. That's how Emma and Spencer viewed their leashes. As soon as the saw the leash in my hand they would go bonkers. But similar to the child with a bike they can't ride, Emma and Spencer had no clue as to how to behave on leash.

Spencer is a sniffer. He likes to pretend he is a blood hound. I don't believe he knows why he is sniffing, I think he saw a dog in a movie do it and he thought it looked cool so he started doing it. He sniffs everything. Head down, sniffing. He gets a scent and he goes berserk. Leash or not, he just has to investigate. And I am just some annoyance making it hard for him to get to the SMELL!!

One snowy, icy afternoon, I grab their leashes and they both do the usual happy dance. After 5 minutes of them running around themselves in their excitement, knocking over the umbrella stand and each other and sneezing (when they get excited they sneeze) I finally get them on leash. I open the door and unfortunately, there is a little old lady and her little fluffy dog right in front of my house.

Spencer and Emma go mad. They bust out of the house and run right for the small fluffy dog. Fluffy dog runs backward, Emma and Spencer run after her and I run straight into little old lady. Fluffy dog runs back toward little old lady's legs for protection. Emma and Spencer follow. All three dogs run around us, wrapping their leashes tightly around our legs. Old lady and I are back to back spinning in circles. We are also on ice so I have one hand wrapped around behind me trying to keep little old lady on her feet, but we were going down.

All of the sudden I saw a flash of what was to come. Little old lady falling on her fluffy dog and me on top of her. Broken hips, broken dog...it was going to be bad. I just knew it. I had to focus, I had to keep us standing up. I had to get the dogs to stop. And just as I was about to start swearing at them to stop, they did stop..... and reversed!! So, little old lady and I unwound and she and her fluffy puppy continued on down the sidewalk with just a casual goodbye.

I was rather hurt. She and I had just shared a "moment" and she just walked away. I figured after having her fanny pressed against mine for a good minute or so and the fact that my contortions kept her on her feet would have at least been grounds for a cup of coffee. I stood there staring after her...and wondering if any of the neighbors saw what just happened. And all because Spencer wanted to sniff fluffy dog butt.