So Many Smells! So Many Noises!

Hi hi hi! It’s me, Elsie!

And the garden is ALIVE.

The grass smells different.

The air is moving.

There are noises from everywhere — birds, people, dogs I can’t see, things happening beyond the fence.

So I run.

I spin.

I bounce.

I play.

Charlie plays with me too. Not wild — steady. He knows the game. I chase him, he lets me win (sometimes), and then we stop. Then we start again.

Russ doesn’t interrupt.

He doesn’t shout.

He doesn’t wind me up.

He just… watches.

That’s the best bit.

Because when someone else is holding the responsibility, I don’t have to.

I can play. I can learn. I can practise being fast, being gentle, being calm again after excitement.

Charlie and Elsie play and learn in the garden in spring.

Dogs play to learn how to survive.

How to read bodies.

How to stop.

How to start again.

A dog that can play is a dog that doesn’t feel the need to manage the world.

When I’m playing, I’m not guarding.

I’m not worrying.

I’m not deciding what everything means.

I’m just being a dog.

And that feels really, really good.

Love, wiggles, and wags,

Elsie

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