Pooper Dog
Chloe is such a funny dog. She's still pretty much terrified of strangers, or children, or people walking by the house, or traffic, the doorbell, heels clicking on the pavement, being followed... she's a little quirky. But she's also FUN! When she's in her playful, runny mood, she will literally run in circles around me, still attached to her leash, while I turn around and around and around to keep up with her. We both end up a little dizzy.
This was our morning walk:
Chloe: Bird! Look, bird! Flying bird! Maybe I can REACH it! ::bounce, bounce::
Me: Come on, crazy. This way.
Chloe: Oo, this way has a SQUIRREL! TWO squirrels! Chasing each other! I can chase the squirrels too! Right? RIGHT? Squirrel!
Me: We're not chasing squirrels. Here, come on...
Chloe: What's that? A car! I think it's a car. Do you see the car? There's a car coming from over there. Car! And now it's going that way! Can we follow the car?
Me: No, we're focusing on the business at hand. Let's go.
Chloe: Oh, LOOK! Someone running! I know I'm usually afraid of people, but this one's RUNNING! We can chase her! Like the squirrels! Or... MAYBE I'LL JUST RUN AROUND YOU IN CIRCLES! This is FUN!
Me: Oh, boy...
Lots of people in my complex have dogs. LOTS. We know most of them. We know which ones to run over and play with and which ones to stay on track and keep away from. And most people we encounter regularly know how quirky Chloe is. She will play with their dog, but if they (the human) try to pet Chloe or get to close to her, she will back up and bounce away and go back to doggie time.
There's one woman with a chihuahua named Minnie who does not like big dogs. Minnie, not the woman. (Oh, another weird thing is that I know all the dogs' names, but none of the humans'!) Anyway. Minnie's mom calls Chloe "Cleo". There is a dog named Cleo in the complex, but she's a small, white, fluffy little thing. Chloe is a 55-pound Shepherd/Rhodesian/something mix. Not small or white or fluffy. And no matter how many times I say Chloe's name in a conversation with Minnie's mom, she does not pick up on her error.
The other day, I walked out of the house with Chloe, and from down the sidewalk and around the corner, I hear "CHLOE!!!" in a happy, speaking-to-a-puppy voice. I could not see the human attached to it, but I knew it was Minnie's mom. I thought, Can she even see us? How does she know I just came outside with Chloe? And HOW DID SHE FINALLY GET HER NAME RIGHT??.
Well. As we rounded the corner, I saw Minnie, her mom, and CLEO AND HER MOM. So somehow, this very nice and friendly woman who loves dogs has gotten Cleo and Chloe irreversibly mixed up.