Winter must be coming because the days are shorter and darker, and Asta's nose is turning pink. It's the strangest thing: her nose is black in the summer and pink in the winter. Sort of like a seasonal Michael Jackson nose.
Asta gets walked every day, seven days a week: twice by a dog walking service (so she can play with other dogs and give us a break), at least twice by me, and once each by John, Aidan and Ronan. She's fed twice a day, in the morning by John, and in the afternoon by me. I'm the one who house trained her, took her to obedience school, and I take her to the vet and to the groomer. I'm the one that administers her medicine when she needs it. In fact, at the vet's, her file is under the name Asta Holloway, as opposed to my husband's last name. If I'm not her mommy, I'm certainly her primary caregiver. But who does she love? John. At six o'clock every evening, she parks herself in the front hall and looks out the window until he comes home, throws herself at him in a paroxysm of quivering joy, then spends the next half hour with her head on his knee gazing at him in mute adoration. It's ridiculous. I, on the other hand, don't even get a tail wag. Seriously. I come home, and get the doggy equivalent of "Oh. It's just you". He is her lord and master, I'm just staff. John says it's because he's a dog whisperer. Oh please. She loves him because a) he throws balls for her, b) he's the good cop to my bad cop and c) she's a bit of a dim witted floozie.
I am toying with the idea of getting Asta dog booties. In the winter she gets snow and ice stuck between her pads, and it seems painful. I will admit that I see other dogs with them, and think they look completely ridiculous. The Dog Whisperer won't hear of it. Says I'm just looking for an excuse to buy more shoes - any shoes, even for the dog. That's just silly. Although I did see a nice pair of Jimmy Chews.