I love sunflowers!

Karl and I rolled into Karl’s Auntie Kris and Uncle Hal’s place midday Saturday to walk and visit and for Karl to dispense doggie kisses all around and collect hugs and rubs in return :)!

The driveway has a turning circle around a beauteous garden. Hal likes to find unusual varieties to include. Until yesterday, I had no idea there were color varieties of sunflowers…I know about the size varieties. This beauty has all of the colors that say Autumn to me. And even in the gray, overcast light, it glowed.

Karl, Kris and I headed out for a walk. We met Hal as he returned from Saturday errands. Karl played chase with Kris and Hal…play-bowed and did his “catch me if you can” run.

An idyllic time with good friends, my good dog and Autumn Beauty*.

**I think that this variety of Sunflower is called “Autumn Beauty”…I await verification/correction :)! (Gayle???)

AND!!! as I was getting this ready to post, the following came to me in an email from Kris:

Remember when you guys left here, all of a sudden Karl perked up and barked and carried on? Later that day, a very large brown phase black bear walked up our driveway and then turned and went between Hal’s truck and the containers and disappeared into the woods. He could have been hanging around and Karl caught a whiff. Bear Dog at Work!

YOWZA! Karl had a Bear Dog Day!!

I ordered Karl a new dog bed. He has several dog beds…one is an outdoor bed that he uses only in the winter….preferring the grass or sidewalk when it is warm.

He has a dog bed at the foot of my bed. He uses that sometimes – mostly in the winter…preferring the hardwood floor in the closet. And yes, I’ve tried all sorts of things in the closet, thinking that wood is pretty darn hard.

During the day he often sleeps on the hardwood in a corner of the living room behind one of the big leather chairs.

As an older dog, I thought maybe more cushioning might be of interest and I thought my best shot at getting him to use a new bed in the living room would be as it gets cooler.

Enter a large, memory foam bed with bolster.

I plopped it behind my chair and threw a toy on it. The thought here is that if Karl walks on the bed and finds it is not threatening, maybe he’ll lie down on it and LOVE it.

These things don’t always work on the first try.

Bob likes the new bed. I had high hopes that maybe a bit of sibling rivalry would kick in and Karl would want what Bob had. I can’t claim credit for getting Bob to go on the new bed – he decided for himself. Now, if I had WANTED him to get on the bed…

A bit of progress! On the bed, lying down, playing with the toy! Maybe this will work.

Maybe not…