Table for Three?

Coda Cleetis loves to eat. He’s your typical chow hound or anything else hound for that matter. His favorite midnight snack is plastic. When he was just a puppy my husband and I decided we should start taking him to outdoor restaurants. We had always enjoyed taking our previous Labrador out to eat with us and we wanted to teach Coda to stay relaxed in any setting. Surprisingly, Coda was a natural at dining al fresco. He loved being outside and his continued disinterest in humans meant he didn’t try to say hi to anyone. At last, we had found at least one redeeming quality in our Coda. Or so we thought.

One sunny spring day, not too long ago, we took Coda to Rubios. The Rubios by our house has a big outdoor seating area with a fountain. We found a nice spot in the shade and Coda flopped onto the cool concrete. My husband and I had a great chat and didn’t even think about Coda again until our burritos were gone. Then I decided to check on how Coda was doing. We'd never seen anything like it.

Coda was still stretched out, sound asleep on his side. One might think this a good thing, but as you’re getting to know Coda you’re probably already cringing. Coda was sound asleep alright – on the foot of a lady at the next table! He was even snoring. Luckily the lady was a dog lover. I apologized to the woman and woke Coda up, to which he stretched then looked annoyed I was disturbing him. So much for Coda guarding the pack.

We still take Coda out to eat but now were keep a better eye on him and warn the neighboring diners. Not long after the Rubios outing, we took Coda to a local sandwich shop and he went belly up - sound asleep with paws in the air and tongue flopped out. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s just a little too relaxed!

Next time I’ll tell you about Coda and the cat. I’ll put it this way, the cat won.

How Did I Forget Sierra?

In my last post I forgot to mention Sierra. I’m not sure how this is possible since Sierra is the instigator of Coda's clan. She gets Coda in trouble. See, like a good mom I always think it’s the other kid.

Sierra is a Yellow Lab mix. You can usually find Sierra bounding through the neighborhood after slipping her collar. She and Coda are great friends and love to stir up mischief. Case in point – the yard incident.

Coda and Sierra were playing at our neighborhood park. They like to rummage through the bushes to pick up empty water bottles and ticks. One minute they were playing tug with a tree branch and the next they were gone. Sierra’s owner and I started shouting out their names but we didn’t hear anything. We weren’t worried about the danger of a car (our area is very secluded and lends itself nicely to off-leash playing) but where did they go? We were just about ready to start knocking on doors, when all of sudden we heard yelping following by Coda and Sierra running towards us. Something was wrong. At first we couldn’t tell what it was. Then they got closer.

Both dogs were soaking wet. The buddies decided to go snooping and merrily let themselves into a neighbor’s yard. They just didn’t know about the workmen. When the unsuspecting workmen saw two big dogs coming their way, they reacted. Their weapon of choice? The garden hose they were using to water new grass. Coda and Sierra each got a good shot in the snout before turning tail.

Sierra’s owner and I had a good laugh, but the workmen weren’t smiling. We apologized and vowed to discipline our dogs. Of course trying to put a dog in time-out doesn’t really work. So we just had to hope the dousing would teach them their lesson.

Coda and Sierra have since been in four yards, two garages, and a front hall. I think the Labradors are looking for more water!