Girls Gone Wild!

This is my idea of a girl's day out. No spas or shoe shopping or talk about relationships and feelings. Ugh - yuck - no! For me it's all about dogs, open trails, stickers in my hiking shoes, and a good friend who get's it (Wuddup, Patty!). It's been a while since we've been able to have one of these somewhat strenuous, but completely awesome, off-trail, off-leash, dirty days with our girls, and Z and I have both missed it! Just the sight of our friends waiting in the parking lot last Sunday brought uncontrollable whining from the backseat (Z, not me - I was the one driving this time). Sure, there was the usual snarky moment from Z toward Soph when we got out of the car, but that's only because she loves her soooo much; she just has a weird way of showing it!

Get outta my way, slow poke!

Conflicting schedules and 'second children' (our bratty-blonde-bimbo-boy dogs) have kept us from doing much of the girl thing, but when we do, there's something we've both noticed - our 'little girls' are mature dogs! They've grown up. Of course I can't speak for Patty, I'm mainly speaking to my own situation, and this is how I see it... Yes, the girls both have a quirk or two, but their awareness level and demeanor are just so different from the boys. And wow - they have actual attention spans! Is it age? Gender? Probably both. Sorry for being sexist (not really, but I think I'm supposed to pretend like I am), but while the girls can be a bit bitchy (I'm looking at you, Z), the boys can be flighty air-heads and just a little dense at times.

You know how, let's say two people in a relationship are leaving to go to a friend's place for dinner... while the woman is getting everything together and talking on the phone and grabbing a bottle of wine and putting on lip balm and feeding the cats and yet (annoyingly) still has to remind the guy that's just standing there to grab a jacket???.... Well, the differences are kinda like that. One's quick, in control of the situation, and tuned in to everything going on. The other one - not so much.

It's a generalization, so what. I'm not saying it's like that all of the time with people or our dogs. Here's more on that though - while the above scenario is unfolding the energies of both parties are very different. While one might seem to have a higher anxiety level, the other might as well be watching cartoons somewhere in the back of his head. Neither is better, just different ways of processing, I suppose - just like our girl vs. boy dogs. I appreciate Z's cunning brain, intelligence, and nowadays - just her general awareness of what is going on. I also appreciate Bolt's softness, innocence, and wonderment of all that is new to him.

I'm fine here - just leave me...I'll live off the land.

This must be what it's like when other people have human babies - you think you know what you've got and then that second child comes in and throws highlights all over the things you never noticed before. The only real difference I can see is that my kind of kid can poop in the woods - Yea for me, I win again!



[Side note: Google the above subject and you'll find plenty of opinions on male vs female dog personalities, temperament, and learning. Here's a 2009 article by Patricia McConnell that basically sums up some random beliefs and ends with 'we don't really know until there's more science' (remember, no stamp from a guy in a lab coat = no proof, either way), but it does start with this well known gem - “If you want a good dog, get a male. If you want a great dog, get a female and cross your fingers.”]