Max and Birdie's Morning Walk

Every morning Max and Birdie follow me around quietly watching to see when I put my shoes on. Once they see the shoes come out of the closet, that's it—they know its "walk time"and the barking begins.

Max has walked without a leash for years. He knows the routes like the back of his paw. He sits at every stop sign and waits for my "ok" to cross and turns around to make sure I'm following him. He never barks at other dogs. He just struts along knowing he's free and they are trapped behind their fences or worse, leashed by their owners. His only weakness is cats, but he's more scared of them than they are of him. When he was a puppy a cat clawed him in the face and left one stuck on his snout. Ouch! He's detested them ever since. I can't blame him really. I'm not a cat fan either. (Sorry cat lovers.)

Birdie is my live wire. Since she was a stray, she has no problem prancing off by herself and half the time we have to go looking for her. Stinker! So I've always had her on a leash. But I got smart and started leashing her to Max instead. Genius! It works out great.

So, Max is in charge and I've been reduced to pooper-scooper. But I'm ok with that.