Surprisingly, most dogs don't like the rain....

Ah, the one-of-a-kind smell of seven long haired wet dogs who go out into the rain just quickly enough to do their business and then come right back in the dog door.  Or  to scurry out to inspect the squirrel sitting high in a maple tree and throwing down bunches of leaves in its harvest.  Or to run down to the end of the fence to see what the neighbor's dog is barking about.  Or to run to the gate of the agility area, wishfully thinking it might be possible to catch the bird digging worms on the other side of the gate.  Or to tip toe out just to be sure it is still raining.  Or to all run out when one dog starts the "rumor mill barking" and all have to go see what the first dog is barking about.  The list is a long one from a dog's point of view.

During a rainy day, between short sleeps in the house, the dog door flap is constantly in use just long enough to enable the outer coat of each and every dog to stay wet all day long.  It is just a dog thing.  Yes, I could close the door, and keep all my dogs inside all day but then they get bored, and their curiosity wains.  The younger ones get antsy from lack of doing anything and create new, less positive activities.  No, it is much better to keep the dog door open and in use, not pay attention to the wet floors and furniture (thank God for leather) and just accept the whole experience as a special rainy day event.

For those of you who don't know much about collies, they have a very thick undercoat that keeps them quite dry close to their skin even though the outside coat looks sopping wet.  So when they come to cuddle with us, they are not feeling much of the water they are spreading all over us.  But you know what, I still hug and cuddle them even though I get sopping wet.  I seldom pass up a dog's request for attention.  Clothes, floors, furniture, and outer layers of dogs eventually dry, but our dogs are with us for such a brief amount of time.  So I react to them as if they were totally dry.  It is just my thing.

Take care,
Liz