An Exposition: In Which Ava Absolutely, Definitely Does Not Like Rain

Did I ever mention that Ava doesn't like rain? Or, more specifically -- that she doesn't like getting wet?

You didn't tell me it would be wet out there.
(Ava, 11 weeks old)

Well, she doesn't. She's trained to potty on the lawn, so ever since she came home we've been carrying her to the lawn, so she likes to play in grass, lie in grass, and yes, she does her business on grass. But as the weather got cooler her owners mentioned to me that she doesn't like wet grass. Really? I wondered. I hadn't noticed.

Then she learnt Drop (lie down) as well as Sit, and one day I asked for a Drop in the grass. She started to lower herself in the direction of the ground so slowly she was barely moving. It was the first time I'd seen a dog know what I wanted but choose not to do it. She knew exactly what I was asking for but didn't want to get her undercarriage wet. Ha ha! I guess they were right.

Seriously?
(Ava, 13 weeks old)

Now she's 7 months old, and is pretty well house trained. She pees on command, which I love. It's such an invaluable skill, as I can ask her to go before and after we go out. But she still doesn't like getting wet. So getting Ava to do her incredibly elaborate potty dance on the lawn after it's rained isn't always successful. We're still working on making sure she doesn't leave her owners any more presents in the house on rainy days.

It rained buckets yesterday, but this morning was fine so we played ball on the lawn. As it's cold and wet I've realised we humans have been avoiding the yard and soggy lawn ourselves, so I'm making an effort to play games with her there to try to desensitise her to it.

She's not sure about this ball. Other toys she pounces on - this one she chases but won't touch. I wonder why?

She didn't mind the wet ground on our bushy walk today, but we got caught in a sudden shower on the way home and we were both drenched. Boy, did she throw a tantrum the minute we were inside! She ran around frantically, throwing herself on anything soft and rolling as much as she can. She could hardly hold still for me to dry her. I reassured her as I towelled her down, but inside I was laughing. Dogs!