The Many Faces of Arwen

 Today we will explore the many moods of Arwen the Wonder Dog. She is my ever-changing, ever-shedding, ever-barking, wonderful, loving dog. My buddy, my bestest furry friend. Above, she is sleepy. She does sleepy well. Her head sloooowly starts to droop, her eyes close, then open, then close slowly, then open slowly, until they just seem too heavy to open and then finally stay closed, though the exhausted sigh is optional.

 Here she is watchful, guarding her dino. An old photo to be sure, she has managed to tear all the stuffing out of it and it is now in the middle of her toy box, half inside out. She likes her toys this way. We recently bought her a "stuffed" wolf toy, that had no stuffing to begin with. She carries it everywhere. She loves to play "keep-away" with her toys, wagging her tail furiously while trying to walk surreptitiously away from us, like we won't notice a 53 pound dog with a 2 foot long floppy wolf in her mouth, wagging her tail (and sometimes her butt, when she is really trying to blend into the background), and walking around any corner and stopping to see if we follower her. If we do, she play growls or talks around whatever is in her mouth, giving a pretty hilarious sound from a pretty hilarious dog.

Her cute "Please feed me whatever it is you're eating 'cause it looks really, really tasty" pose, tongue licking optional. Carrots, cheese and yogurt are her favorites, though not necessarily in that order. She also loves her natural treats. And chicken. And oatmeal. And potatoes. You get the picture. The funny thing is, we don't really feed her "human food" at all, just the occasional, "Oops, it fell on the floor....Arwen have!" sort of thing. Except for carrots. But she still tries. And with a face like this, who can really deny her? She looks so cute and fuzzy. Only the thought of doggy dental work or weight reduction diets keep us from giving in. It's hard though :)

 Here is her cute, watchful, "Give me that squeaky toy" look. She wants to play! She is quite good at playing, particularly the "death shake" where she shakes the heck out of whatever is in her mouth. Usually reserved for very hyper playtime, and usually accompanied by bouncing up the hallway and back again, barking optional. Her bounce is hilarious. She doesn't really run, unless she's trying to chase something far away. She bounces. Think Tigger, but in a black and white, lab/border collie/husky mix dog.

Sitting pretty. My wonderful, cute, loving, friendly, happy dog. She really is always happy (except during thunderstorms, but that is ok). Even when she's not doing something like eating or sleeping or chasing toys, she is just happy to hang out and be one of the humans (don't tell her she's not, she won't believe you), with a special barking ability.

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Can you tell I love my dog? I think she knows it too ;-)

Until next time,