Shakespeare About Town

Shakespeare's leash walking is continuing to progress. He now potties reliably outside (no more peeing on my deck!) and is almost totally comfortable walking around the city. Strange people and ordinary cars are no longer cause for hesitation, although the loud hydraulic noise of a SEPTA bus still gives him pause, as it does most dogs.

He's also still figuring out that the leash actually physically connects him to me, by which I mean that he wraps himself around telephone poles and bike stands constantly and then gets very confused about why he's all tangled up. But these incidents are already becoming less common so I think he's starting to figure that one out.

Because his confidence has improved so substantially, I can now take him out to pose for silly pictures with the other mutt monsters.

...and they can all go out for walks together, at least when it's late enough that not too many people will be inconvenienced by our hogging the entire sidewalk.

(^ taking that picture was a minor ordeal, which is why Pongu and Crookytail look so unhappy on either side of Shakespeare. They were being Very Good Dogs and holding their Sit-Stays while Shakespeare jumped on their heads, licked their mouths, chewed their tails, and otherwise frantically tried to convince them to play with him. When he finally figured out that we were doing the "sit still for cookies" thing, he huffed and laid down impatiently until the other dogs were willing to move again.)

In a few minutes I'll be taking Shakespeare to the vet to have his stitches removed, and then maaaayyybe we'll stop by the dog park depending on how muddy it looks and how crowded it is. I don't want him getting too crazy just yet, even a couple weeks after his operation. So if it's packed (or rowdy, or completely turned into a giant mud puddle) we'll give it a miss.

Tomorrow he's going home.