My late Standard Poodle Stoney was an extremely elegant dog in the way he moved and in the way he expressed himself. Therefore, it always struck me as comical when he did something out-of-character. When on the porch, he would often lie down next to a large-leafed plant. Every time he would lie there, one of the plant's huge leaves would end up draped over the top of his head, making it look as if he were wearing a lampshade.
My friend Lynn's Standard Poodle Sam is very playful and athletic. His favorite toy is a stuffed hedgehog (of which he has many in all sizes). When he plays with one of his hedgies, he paws it and tosses it, and sometimes hikes it like a football. This, of course, often causes the flying hedgehog to crash into furniture -- which Sam seems to think is a "field goal."
Unlike his sister Sydney who rarely budges once she's gone to bed at night, Jyah wanders all over the house. I always wonder what he's up to. Do his toys come alive like toys in the Sugarplum Fairy, and he has to patrol the house looking for evidence of their misbehavior? I don't know, but I often find one or more of his toy dragons on the bed when I wake up in the morning.
The Night Watchman
Sydney has little tolerance for not getting exactly what she wants. And, what she wants is usually what her brother Jyah has -- even if what we give each of them is exactly alike.
(October 2008)
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"But, I don't want that one. I want what he has."
