Smally Furry Observations

And so little 'Bella' seems to get used to the new routines. She travels extremely well in the car, is totally calm and remains in one spot, mostly seated.

As I am typing this I am enjoying being indoors on my day(s) off. Haven't been able to do that peacefully and undisturbed in years. Sometimes I wonder how people can live with others ... 

Anyway, I am paying some forest sounds ... meditative sounds which immediately clear my thoughts with regards to typing, making my output very focused rather than all over the place.

It's a bit like playing darts after 2 pints ... that balance of drink and concentration worked best for me, stopping all the thoughts, ideas etc in my head leaving it calm and focused, to the point, hence improving my aiming ability. :)

'Bella' too seems to benefit from the music, she lies next to me on the sofa very relaxed, every now and then flinching her eyes depending on the sound my fingers make on the keyboard.  Every now and then she raises her head staring at the wall in a almost meditative stare.

How we ('Bella' and I) spend the evenings and days off when it rains, in between walks ...

This brings me back to my question: are animals (the non-human animals) spiritual? Do they meditate? I always had a feeling that 'Luke' (mentioned in this blog in the beginning years) was a very spiritual horse. He seemed to be mostly far away, often standing under the same tree, staring seemingly into nothing. 'Lillian' ('Luke' was her horse)
.

In any case, music/sound influenced or not, here a very chilled out 'Bella' ... 

we did get lost earlier on our walk and it turned out quite a bit longer than expected ...

'Bella' is an extremely observant and sensitive dog. More so than any other I have met / had. When walking, it is like walking a feather. She reacts to the slightest pull on the lead. The extendable lead she has got seems almost too powerful, I might go and see if I find one more light weight. She keeps getting confused at times, thinking I am pulling her on the lead when I don't. 'Bella' is very much one for closeness. If I am in the kitchen, she is there too. If I am on the sofa, she is right next to me. My guess is that she probably feels a little insecure, having to be in HER home with a more or less strange person. We had only met a couple of times before some time back in summer.

Today is the first day where she is more boisterous and uses her chew 'thing' (looks like a lump of bone but it isn't.) 'Bella' also is beginning to train me ... you know, the thing dogs do to whomever is 'their' human. She has figured that if she paws me long enough while I am typing, I will without a doubt stop as her keyboard input doesn't return the wanted results. Or she sits on the ottoman, like the sphinx, watching me intently.

 ... 'I will stare at you until you get up and come for a walk, human' ... 

In the morning first thing she comes with me to see to 'Mr F' . It's dark at 6am so I take her for a quick walk around grass verges near the yard so she can do her most important business. I then sort out 'Mr F', mucking out, feeding etc so he is set for the day. Meanwhile 'Bella' waits patiently in the car which I have parked so that she can see what goes on out there. After 'Mr F' is all set and turned out it is more or less daylight and I take 'Bella' for a long-ish walk. She then patiently waits in the car, parked so that she can see me and the horses. Once all done I drop her off back home and go to work. Although it's all perfectly timed: the festive days fall on weekdays so there is hardly any work on for a week. Again a first in years .... I feel so spoilt!