While our neighbors took a short trip, Tom and I had the opportunity to do some dog-sitting – walking Miss Daisy.  Daisy is 1/4 Golden Retriever and 3/4 Poodle.  She looks mostly like a standard poodle except for her tail, which looks like a Golden’s.  Daisy is smart and loves to go for walks.

Walking Daisy is a pleasure.  She loves to explore and we have a little circuit we make around the hill.  She has favorite places that she likes to sniff and favorite places to mark.  When her family is home she is usually off the leash, but I don’t want to lose her while we are dog-sitting, so I always keep her on the leash.

We have been enjoying early mornings and late evenings together.  I get up earlier so I can walk her before work and then Tom and I go out together to walk her late at night.  I don’t go out much at night, so walking Daisy has given me a chance to enjoy some beautiful stars peeking through the trees.  We also have a herd of deer that like to graze on the hill at night and when we go out with Daisy we send them scurrying off into the woods.  The world looks so different at night!

During the day we walk her a couple of times and spend some time playing with her.  Daisy has an open-weave ball that is her absolute favorite toy.  As soon as she sees us, she picks it up and invites us to play with her.  She will chase the ball or tug on it as long as we are willing to play with her.  I laugh when she plays with Tom because he will run away from her and she will trot after him with the ball in her mouth.  She is persistent.

Daisy is a great dog and has been a joy to watch.  She makes me miss having a dog, but dog-sitting is a good way to enjoy a dog without the daily care of it.