"I AM tall and beautiful"

I have a precious little dachshund. His name is Rusty the Rustling Digger Dog but I just call him Rusty most of the time. His does live up to his name though. Rusty for his color ~ rusty red. Rustling for the way he likes to rustle the chickens or cats or anything else he thinks he can make an impression on. Digger ~ oh yes he is! And although he doesn't know it, he is a dog.

Rusty is a very happy and very loving little fellow. I recently took a trip to Alaska to see my daughter. I couldn't bear leaving Rusty behind this trip because if I did it would have to be in a kennel... all by himself... no one to love! (Rusty MUST have his daily dose of lovin') Sooo... off we went together to Alaska, (he traveled very well, by the way).

When we reached our destination Rusty was just a little confused. He was glad to see me and let me know it. But he still was to face a lot of new things, not the least of which was 4 other dogs. He met the 2 little dogs, Henry and Frank, in the car. He wasn't at all sure he liked the idea of sharing space with 2 strange dogs. There was a lot of growling and snapping on the ride to Sasha's house.

When we got to Sasha's house he got to meet Duke and Rosco, the 2 big dogs. Poor little Rusty just didn't know what else to do so he would stand between my legs and growl and snap at what I am sure he thought were terrible adversaries. Although small, Rusty can put on quite a show. He stood his ground and refused to leave my side at first. It wasn't long that things started to quiet down and Rusty began to interact with the other dogs.

While we sat and visited, Sasha, Eric and I watched as the dogs strutted their stuff for each other. There was a lot of sniffing and posturing and finally Rusty began to wander amongst the other dogs on his own. I cannot begin to tell you how fun is was to watch the drama play out as these 5 precious pets tried to figure out whether or not to be friends. All 5 dogs are beautiful and sweet individuals. As we marveled at this I made the comment that Rusty was really very timid and shy but that he seemed aggressive because rather than run and hide he would attack his fears. Sasha began to giggle saying, "What does he do, give himself a little pep talk?" and we were off. We started laughing and expounding on that thought.

In a final moment of jest Eric commented (as if he were speaking as Rusty), "I DO have long legs... I AM tall and beautiful..." and with that we all nearly busted a gut laughing. This may be one of those scenarios when you really had to be there, but having been there I laugh out loud every time I think of it.

Rusty and I would like to thank Duke and Henry for letting him stay with them and being so nice to him. We would also like to thank Duke, Henry, Frank and Rosco for showing him such a good time at "Dog Park". And of course we are so grateful for Sasha for being the sweet person she is and having the sweet puppies she does.

TTFN :)