When they are outside alone, I often watch Lilly and Ginko from various windows in the house. I particularly like to watch when they don’t think I’m looking. I like the unaffected way they explore the yard or just hang out. I love watching them pal around, usually with Ginko in the lead and Lilly tagging along. In particularly, I enjoy seeing Lilly be relaxed and confident at home. And, I hope someday she’ll be like that elsewhere too.
For Lilly, just being a dog outside means various things.
1.) She patrols the fence line, just to see what wild animals have wandered by.
2.) She rolls in the scat of anything she finds, which is why she smells so bad much of the time.
3.) She hunts for mice or voles in the pastures, which often means staring down a hole for hours. (Seriously, I’ve had to drag her away in the heat of summer to make sure she drinks and doesn’t get dehydrated.)
4.) She splashes around in the creek because dirty is only fun if it’s wet too.
5.) She lays down on the hill, overlooking the valley, and just watches.
I’m not exactly sure what she’s looking for, but it’s about the most content you’ll ever see her. I know that she can see one neighbor’s sheep and goats from her perch. She can also see the horses and cattle behind us. I’m pretty sure she’s adopted various neighbors into her flock to watch as well.
Sometimes, I take a blanket out and join her on the hill. As much as I’d love to fuss on her, I try not to. I just sit there and try to see what she sees. And, since it’s Lilly we’re talking about, I try to hear what she hears.
One of our early pet obedience trainers told the class that dogs left to their own devices outside become less responsive to their handlers. I can see how that might be true, but I also cannot imagine NOT letting Lilly have her quiet time outside. The teamwork I try so hard to build with her is intense work. I know it. She knows it. So, I cannot begrudge her a little time away.
Plus, it’s a nice break for me. It’s exhausting being the most interesting lamb in Lilly’s life.
Sure, once in a while I get scared because I cannot find her and she doesn’t immediately respond to my calls, but it’s usually because she’s thinking really hard on something, or she’s fallen asleep somewhere that I cannot immediately see.
This very minute, she’s sound asleep on her bed in my office. I can hear her tiny snores from my desk. She spent several hours playing outside. We took our walk after it warmed up, then we played fetch, then she wanted to stay outside and poke around with Ginko while I worked.
A bit ago, they came to my office window and asked to come in. They are both sound asleep. This is one of those moments that I wish I could stop live action in my life and grab a screen capture of the image to show you. Sadly, if I turned on the camera, I would ruin the moment.
So, take my word for it. They are both quite tired and quite happy, after uninterrupted, un-mommy-fied time alone outside.
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