back in the swing of things

had a nice long walk with sam tonight, unencumbered by prams and such. we walked an unusual route where we'd been only once before, many months ago. that first time, at a particular spot, sam suddenly started jumping up on me, to play. at that time, that included nipping quite hard, so i was not happy.

this time, when approaching the same spot, sam became very alert and eager to snif, but he didn't jump. however, he became very energetic, and when we rounded the corner and saw another dog, i became apprehensive. especially as the dog looked like a shih tzu -- those small barkers spell trouble! when we were five metres away, sam began jumping. i was half-expecting this, so i pulled him with me across the road -- sam kept jumping high into the air. we must have made an intriguing sight.

this was not the only time he jumped on the walk. after sniffing the ground outside an apartment complex with an air of absorption, sam suddenly looked up, and jumped sideways. he was spooked by something he saw -- possibly a hanging flower pot. this i can assure you was both intriguing and amusing.

when we came home, sam still had a lot of bounce in him. i gave him a bone which he jumped high up to get, just because he was so silly and bouncy. hmm, encouraging mad behaviour... i must be mad, too.