Sunshine

We are planning a trip to the sunshine state soon. We haven't told the dogs yet because they we bug us each day, "Are we going to Florida today?" and no parent can stand that kind of torment.

For Vegas, Florida is all about the pool at Grandma and Grandpa's house. When we get to Florida, the dog population will equal the human population in the house. There will be five retrievers, four LAP-ra-dors and one Golden. Vegas, the Golden, does move to the beat of a different drummer but that is another blog for another day.

We will enter the house and Vegas will run over to the doors leading to the pool. She will stand and stare, willing the door to open. It will not. The other labs will jump in excitement, rough house with each other and say in dog speak, "They are here! New shoes to chew! New beds to lie on! New humans to stare at and beg treats!"

Vegas will ignore this dog behavior and continue to singularly stare out at the pool. We will love on the labs, hug the parents, and be generally relieved to be out of a car after 25 driving hours. I will examine what is on the stove or in the oven because that is what I do. My Mom creates the most amazing food and when I eat her cooking, I have come home.

Vegas will continue to stare at the pool longingly. She will begin to become impatient as we continue to ignore her plaintiff look. She believes we are torturing her.

She will bark. And she won't stop. This is classic Golden Retriever obsessive compulsive disorder(OCD). She is letting us know that she left the pool behind last November but it has been in her top five thoughts since then (tennis ball - squirrel - frisby - treat - and repeat).

And we will relent (we were going to all along) and open the door as all five dogs bound out to the water. They will stare at us anticipating the first throw of the tennis ball. Let the fun begin!

This is why I can't tell Vegas we are leaving.

But I can look at her and smile - and know that one of her favorite things is only 11 days away!