(photo of Casey taken by Wildcat Studios in Telluride—they are so good at what they do that they snapped this one of me in five minutes! My owner nearly fell over she was so impressed with how they effortlessly captured my inner beauty)
How on earth would I know if you can go home again? I never get the opportunity. In fact not only do I not go back to my old home with my owner, currently I am not even in my new town let alone home. It’s a little hard to get postings out to you when I have no access to any information. Let’s face it….my guardian, Lane, is no gossip. Yes, this is an admirable quality but it allows me no hard intel on life in Telluride at the moment. Sometimes feeling lost and adrift, however, is beneficial. You aren’t bombarded with new events, new impressions, new dogs, new adventures which allows you time to remember the good old days. This has certainly been my experience this past week.
Going back to The Woodlands would be an adventure if only to catch up with old friends. It is true the walks back in Texas can become stale; there is only so much walking around the neighbourhood sniffing the same old smells that one dog can do.
Here in Telluride there are more walks to choose from so my owner doesn’t groan when we have to head outdoors. Since we don’t have a car we are limited to whatever our legs can handle. I have four legs, am low to the ground, and quite svelte. Without bragging walking is my forte. I’m always in a chipper mood when the word WALK is uttered and I’m great company – so I’m out and about Telluride every single day. At the same time there is something to be said for the old familiar haunts of my previous life, and I wouldn’t mind getting back there to sniff out what’s been going on in my absence. You know what they say about being born in the lone star state….how special we are! My owners, being Canadian, just don’t get the whole Texas identity thing but Texas is in my blood.
There are a few friends I’d like to drop in on for a visit. One of my buds had a tough Summer and Fall. We’re not super tight because Rusty can be standoffish. He spent considerable time in Britain and it appears he picked up some of their qualities….good friend when he gets to know you but you have hoops to jump through before you get the old butt sniff, you know what I mean? 
Rusty’s odour permeated the air in our old house because Benj and his owner, Katherine, were dating. I got so used to Rusty’s scent, and he to mine, that when we met on the walking trails we just hit it off like old friends without all the formalities Rusty tends to prefer. Anyway, lo
ng story short, Rusty recently spent about ten days in quarantine. Rumour spreading is not my thing but I’ll whisper this sotto voce….he had a mandible malfunction, an incisor incident, a jaw jab…get my drift? I don’t want to say the real word because it just makes Rusty sad. The details of the little tooth tete-a-tete are rather murky. He hasn’t been able to get complete details up to Telluride. Got to take his side though, I’m loyal to my pals. His reputation took a hit but he’s on the rebound and holding his head high and moving forward. Actually he’s not moving forward as much as he’d like because, almost as if in punishment, he had to have a toe removed. OUCH! OUCH!! It would have been nice to be around to give him a little shot of courage……but maybe this Spring I can get back there and see how he looks and how he’s getting around. Hope you’re back on the trail soon, Rusty!
Daisy is a completely different kind of canine. She’s aloof, note how she shiftily avoids looking you directly in the eye, but loving. She’s only guardian of the homestead if I approach her property, but demanding as a pussycat for attention from all other visitors. We’re cordial on a walk but I HATE HER ASS on my lawn. She runs around free in the neighbourhood and I have always been envious of her. Apparently it is because she’s a herding dog and needs room to roam. Well la dee da da I say…I’m from a hunting line and I need to run free too! It stuck in my craw when I saw her running around loose. She KNEW full well I could see her out the window and she KNEW it irritated me to see her lie down or pee on my lawn but she apparently felt the urge every time she dropped by. I peed on hers too 
whenever I passed No. 30 but that is completely different, mine is payback. This is not a chicken and egg question. I have been known to whirl on my leash like the infamous Tasmanian Devil, gnawing at the leather that keeps me tied to my owner, frothing at the mouth to go after dear Daisy for a second….but then we go on a walk together and we are as happy as two dogs can be. Go figure? Twice I was allowed into the hallowed hallway of her home. I left as much scent as possible just to wind her up. I dropped a little fur, shook my head to leave a few sprayed droplets on the newel post. No idea if it bugged her or not but I slept with a smile on my cute little dog jowls for a few nights.
Teddy, the gymn rat, is the dog of a Personal Trainer. Can you imagine how much exercise that dog gets? Not only that but he hangs out at the gymn too. OK, he doesn’t get inside but he does sit patiently 
in the truck waiting for his Katy to emerge and take him off on yet another 5 or 10 mile walk. His owner is scary because she has no limits, no “early morning” issues like we do. It was nothing for Ted’s owner to call and say, hey, we’re heading out at 6:30 a.m. to beat the heat and walking to Galveston and back want to join us? (that would be about 150 miles) OK, maybe I exaggerate but even I am not at my best that early. It’s hard to keep up in the Texas heat, even if I am a native. Ted is an interesting dog; he has no shame. He has been photographed in a suit and tie (photo conveniently lost, maybe Teddy ate it?) ….he looked good but I like to tease him about it! Now that I see this picture of Teddy with his fish…I think he and Lilly, the Telluride fly fishing dog
would get along great. They definitely have the same interests Maybe Ted will get up to Telluride some day and they can hang out and swap “the one that got away” stories. And obviously Lilly will wear anything also as here she is in a hoodie.
One of my old buddies died recently. I loved hanging out with him at his house. I’m not too good at sharing my family as you shall soon learn. He, too, was named Teddy and the love of Silvia’s life. We looked after him around the time of Hurricane Ike. 
Here he is hiding out in our safe haven…the pantry. He was ill then and we knew he didn’t have long. Due to incredible stress from the hurricane and knowing my friend was down to his last few months of life I got a bit carried away with jealousy. I’m not proud of myself. OK, I cannot tell a lie….I am proud of myself. I took the opportunity to fill several pairs of my owner’s shoes and her new Ugg slippers with a ton of poop. Funny how she never noticed I had not been unloading, so to speak, for a few days. It took a lot of effort to create my masterpiece and in retrospect I was quite artistic. I even managed to hit some new socks she had lying on the floor and then leave a Hansel and Gretel trail to lead her to my work of art! My Van Gogh career ended with me tranquilised. The vet felt it would help calm my jealousy and stress from Ike. My memory of that time is foggy.
Just thinking about my old friends and some of the walks and talks we had has made me nostalgic for the old days. I’m pretty sure you can go back. It may not be the same but it will be familiar and comforting. It seems unlikely that my old buds would throw me out of the neighbourhood if I dropped by for a pee and a sniff. Maybe I’ll get back in April and skip mud season so I can get in a few jaunts out and around town. I miss them. I hope they miss me. See ya later.
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