Drop It!

Duke and I were out for a walk this morning. When I wasn’t scouring the ground in front of us (like here when I was in a clean parking lot), I tried to look-up and observe the fall colors. (Picture snapped this morning while walking Duke).

The fun never ends with Duke. He had another mushroom incident Sunday. It was not nearly severe as the prior weekend – no Saturday night trip to the vet.

I’ve stopped feeling guilty about these his food-induced sickness because we watch him like a hawk. We accompany him any time he is out of doors. We seldom trust him to the kids anymore – though the Dude is pretty good with the “Drop It!” command. Anytime we let him out to do his thing, Shana or I follow close behind Duke barking out (no pun intended) commands to “DROP IT!” whenever he picks up something. He responds well to the “drop it” command. In fact, he only responds when I call his name about 25% of the time (more for Shana). The neighbors must think we are mean, cruel – or hopefully – only odd – walking along behind an old dog yelling “drop it” every 10 seconds.

At times, I wonder about the quality of his life. Anytime he is walking off road, he has his nose to the ground looking for dog poop, goose poop, mushrooms, wood chips, or whatever he “needs”. I implore him, “Duke look up, sniff the air, and see the sunshine!” But, in the end, he’s just a dog.