Late nights

When the human has stayed up way past your bedtime…but you don’t want to abandon your awake human to go sleep in the bedroom with your asleep human.

Photo of a red/brown dog fast asleep inside of a round, fuzzy, orange dog bed. The dog is curled up on its side with its face smushed against the fuzzy wall, and with all four of its paws in front of it.

A little stressed at the vet

Maggie was only a little stressed at the vet today. Her visits usually end up net positive though, because the *second* the vet gives her a treat all her stress goes out the window :)

Photo of a red/brown dog standing in a large waiting area, looking up at the photographer. The dog’s mouth is open because she’s panting and her ears are pulled back slightly from the typical alert position. She looks a little stressed.

Comfortable dog

Making the most of the sun and quickly-growing grass (which I haven’t mowed yet).

Photo of a red/brown dog that’s been taken through a wooden trellis. The dog is sleeping on its side on the grass on a sunny day.

Daily walks with Maggie

We walk.

Photo of a red/brown dog on a red leash being walked down a residential street on a sunny day.

We check our pee-mail.

Photo of a red/brown dog on a red leash sniffing the grass at the base of a tree on a residential street on a sunny day.

We ask for a treat (when we’ve walked by another dog and haven’t reacted badly to them).

Photo of a red/brown dog on a red leash on the footpath of a residential street. The dog is looking back at its human expectantly.

We take a selfie. (Optional.)

Selfie of a man walking a red/brown dog on a sunny day. The man is wearing a black printed t-shirt, black hat, and sunglasses. The dog is sniffing a patch of grass next to the man.

Lovely day in Melbourne for a walk too!

Photo of a lovely looking residential footpath on a sunny day. There are picket fences to one side of the footpath and a line of trees on the nature strip on the other side.

Not. Happy.

Melbourne’s recent, super-humid heatwave finally broke when several bands of thunderstorms rumbled through the city.

Maggie Does Not like thunderstorms. She ran to Nadia when the thunder started.

I responded to Nadia’s tweet with my own freaked-out-Maggie photo a short time later.

Close-up photo of a stressed looking red/brown dog underneath a desk. The dog’s ears are pulled back and its mouth is open, with tongue hanging out.

Fortunately, playing Midnight Oil’s ‘Diesel and Dust’ album rather loudly helped – with the music easily masking the ongoing thunder as the storm system rumbled along. [x]

Selfie of a man sitting on a chair in a carpeted room. Sitting on the carpet behind him – alert, but not scared – is a red/brown dog.

Heatwave afternoon napping

It is clearly too hot to sleep in the fuzzy orange dog bed today. Of course that means Maggie must sleep right behind me as I stand at my standing desk.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

High-angle selfie of a man wearing a headset and a black, printed t-shirt standing in front of a desk in a carpeted room. Close behind the man is a red dog fast asleep on its side, its nose pointing towards the man. Next to the dog is a fuzzy orange dog bed.

Action, reaction

For each and every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Action: The weather was lovely so we went for an extra long walk.

Reaction:

Photo of a red dog fast asleep on a sofa. The dog’s head is resting comfortably on a brightly coloured cushion.

Fifth Maggie-versary!

It’s our fifth Maggie-versary! We adopted Maggie — a red heeler, kelpie, staffie mix found wandering around the bush near Dubbo, NSW — five years ago today.

Photo of a red dog sitting on the floor on a green mat, looking somewhat nervously at the photographer.

Sadly our little doggo spent this morning and early afternoon at the vet getting some non-urgent dental work done. She’s back now, but is still worn down from the general anaesthetic.

At least she’s been reunited with her pack so she can rest properly.

Photo of a weary looking red dog who is resting her head on her paw, eyes closed, while lying next to a human.

The folks at Hobsons Bay Veterinary Clinic are fantastic, by the way. 10/10 would recommend.

Also, I love the design of the crepe bandage they used to hold the drip needle in place :)

Photo of a dog’s foreleg that has a green crepe bandage wrapped around it. The bandage has large blue paw prints stamped along its length.

The nurse said to keep Maggie warm but she’s managing that just fine on her own – given it’s a bright and sunny 34 degrees in Melbourne this afternoon!

Photo of a dog sitting on the grass in a residential garden on a bright, sunny day. The dog has its eyes half closed.

When she’s indoors, though, we give her a bit of a hand.

Photo of a red dog asleep on a towel that’s been placed across a leather sofa. The back half of the dog is covered with a soft blanket.

Overall she’s a little tired and a little stressed, but she’s eating well and is recovering nicely.

Making the most of a little bit of sun

Maggie made the most of what little sun we got today.

Photo of a red dog sitting on the grass on a mildly sunny day. The dog is looking at the photographer.

She’s definitely living the life!

(Meanwhile I spent the day in back-to-back meetings from 9am to 4pm, with only two short breaks in between. *sigh*)

Photo of a red dog asleep on its side in a residential garden.

Maggie likes popcorn

Maggie would like Nadia to know that she too likes popcorn. Very, very much, in fact.

Photo of a red dog, ears pricked, standing at the foot of a low, outdoor lounge chair. The dog is looking attentively at the person sitting on the chair, whose is mostly off-camera but has their feet visible near the dog’s head.

A few seconds later…[Chariots of Fire soundtrack starts playing]

Them's the rules

When the weather is good, you take an extra long walk. And after you take an extra long walk, you nap. Them’s the rules.

Photo of a red dog fast asleep on a towel that’s been spread across the seat of a black leather sofa.

Forever hopeful

Maggie keeps an eye on us while we eat dinner on the off chance that she’ll score a human-food treat when we’re done. She is forever hopeful and always hungry!

Photo of a red dog, sitting alert and ready, a short distance away from a dining table that has a pattered green and white tablecloth.

Doggy street food

When you’re walking Maggie and she suddenly surges forward or pulls away, you know she’s found something to eat in the buffet that is our neighbourhood.

One in five times she succeeds. The rest of the time I pull her back quickly enough.

But now she knows that I know…

A red dog being walked on a lead in a residential neighbourhood sniffs at a patch of grass in the nature strip by the side of the road.

So these days, when I yank her to a halt (and she’s not still straining because Dammit. She. Is. So. Close.), she immediately feigns disinterest. Sometimes she even takes a small step in the other direction.

Then, the second there’s some slack on her leash, she lunges forward to grab the forbidden morsel. It’s a smart tactic that’s even worked a few times.

But now I know. And she knows that I know.

I’m curious to see what she'll come up with next :)

A red dog being walked on a lead looks back over its shoulder at the photographer who has stopped walking to take this photo.

I do occasionally let her grab a doggy street food snack, by the way. We have a primary school and three cafes nearby so there’s always fresh bits of sandwiches and the like strewn across our neighbourhood.

Finding and eating random stuff on the road is the highlight of her day!