One new addition to the neighborhood is a sweet black girl named Juno. She’s just a few months old, with gangly legs and big white paws. Her friendly owner is patient with her and with us as we crouch down to her level. We might get a little puppy nip, a wet kiss, or a muddy paw on our jeans if we are lucky. She loses interest in us too soon and bounces away down the sidewalk.
Another good boy is Hobbes, a compact brown dog with the most expressive dark eyes of any dog I’ve ever met. When we first met him, he gave us the most hilarious side-eye glance that cracked us up, even his person. She agreed that he was undoubtedly suspicious of us at first, but now we’ve won him over, and my boys love to scratch his ears and ask him about his day.
There are many other sweet dogs on our route, but first in our hearts is Baffy, a white-brown-tan, shaggy little boy who is our most regular friend. Some days, we run into him and his sweet owner right outside our house, as if he’s come to wait for us, and other days, our paths cross down the street near the school. Still, no matter where we see Baff, one thing is the same: When he spots us, that tail goes on high wag speed, and he nearly pulls his owner over in haste to get to us.
Photo Credit Annie Spratt