Leaf Superpower?

My son’s occupational therapist and I got our Wheaton Terriers together today for a, “play date”.   It was two-fold as she and I have coaching calls weekly instead of having my son go to her office.   That, and of late I’ve had a lot to talk to her about my daughter as well.

I make a joke of blaming her for us getting a dog.   I do so in a complimentary way, because we are all quite smitten with the dog and are very glad we made the choice to get her.   She loves the children and they love her.   I’m not sure she has a favorite, she seems to love every one of us wholeheartedly and unconditionally.   That’s sort of the definition of dog though, isn’t it?

When we got the two dogs together we, yet again, marveled at how the coloration and coats had changed with each of our dogs since we’d last seen each other.   What looked like very similar beginnings has now diverged in both coloration and texture.   That, and Matisse is much smaller than Theo (although she’s four months younger).

It was thunder storming on and off but we caught one of the off bits where the sun was out and went for a walk with the dogs after they’d trounced and played together until they were lying on the floor with their tongues hanging out, panting. 

The walk was relaxing and we got a lot of things discussed.   When we got back I noted how my dog looked bedraggled while hers looked almost half orderly fur-wise.   It was about that time that we let them run around in the yard before I headed home.   It was then that the real difference came out. 

First off,  my dog loves to roll in the dirt.   Theo is more dominant as a male and our dog rolls over on her back in a submissive posture, but they were both rolling around.   I looked over and Matisse was covered in dirt, her paws were brown and grimy and she had leaves stuck all over her—just like at home, although there was no “sticky bush” in sight. 

Theo, on the other hand, didn’t have a coating of dirt on him—he looked almost clean in comparison.   And there wasn’t a single leaf stuck to him.   Not one.   Matisse had over fifty.   I know this because when I got her home and in the shower I had to pull them off individually.   Water doesn’t help.   Shampoo doesn’t loosen them, conditioner doesn’t sluice them off and brushing or combing is more an exercise in tangles than leaf removal. 

Leaf collection would seem to be our dog’s super power.  

The Big Boy Update:  I wish I remembered the conversation or context from when I wrote this down.   All I know is one day I was having a conversation with my son and he said very matter of factly, “I’m never taking you into battle.”

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter’s music teacher has been trying to teach her how to play the piano (or keyboard, which she likes too).   She said she has excellent fingering skills—only she can’t get her to use her thumbs.   She and I realized this makes complete sense; she is quite proficient at typing on her braillewriter—which doesn’t use the thumbs at all.