Well, the other half was away for over two weeks the other day, and took his "girls" with him to keep him company - Kita and Jessie.
Their return was really quite sweet. I wasn't 100% sure what time they would be arriving, so had taken the other three for a walk up the mountain. We were standing on top when they arrived, and I'm not sure Bear, Coda or Cady realised who it was, as they didn't show much interest.
I could see Kita and Jessie running around and inspecting everything, as they do, and waited until Kita was at the front and called her.
She stopped dead in her tracks, looking for me.
I opened the gate and called her again.
Now Kita's a big, forty-kg girl, and with a bit of arthritis in her front legs, takes life a lot slower these days. That day was not such a day.
She realised where I was, and came at a gallop.
The poor thing, I couldn't let her bail all the way up the mountain on her stiff joints, and started down to meet her. Bear, Coda and Cady followed, as they do when they decide to be good.
They all saw each other at a similar time and stopped, assessing the situation and who this was, then ran for each other.
The joy that these doggies displayed in their greeting of each other after being separated for two weeks was something very, very special. Kita of course growled and moaned and whooed in turn, while Bear, Cady and even Coda got up in her face, licking her, smelling her, bouncing around excitedly, and with tails wagging like fans.
She also struggled to get to me because the others were making such a fuss. They all didn't know which way to turn. When the greetings were over and we headed home, little Cady who normally runs on ahead, stuck to Kita's side like she was attached.
Jessie, who hadn't made the run up the mountain, likely due to her nerves, greeted us excitedly just outside the gate, but as usual was way happier to see Kita, her living security blanket, than any of the dogs. She did spend a large amount of time jumping all over me though.
It showed me just how much these animals feel for us and each other, and Kita, as the matriarch of our bunch, is very special and very important to them all, even Coda, who doesn't show much emotion. Their joy at being reunited was one of the most special things I've seen.
And who can tell me that these animals don't feel anything?
