December 14, 2014

White Dog stepped on the edge of the cleaning rag Steve was using; he looked up at her. "Dad," she said gently, "this is Albuquerque, you should know that after Snow Day comes Mud Day. You may as well just wait to clean the pawprints off of the floor."

As if to prove her point, Nilla ambled in from outside and walked right over the area Steve had just wiped...leaving smearing muddy pawprints. There are mats both outside and inside the dog door but the outside, despite Steve's efforts, was scuffed over with snow and frozen slushy melt from the planter. The inside mat was designed to provide a change of texture for YoYoMa, our blind boy, to let him know he was AT the door on the inside. It is one of those kitchen ergonomic mats to prevent fatigue.

"Why not just spread an old bath towel so they step on it AFTER they get past the inside mat?" I suggested. "Sure, lets give it a try," my open minded husband said and headed into the bedroom to spread a bright red towel like a celebrity walkway.

He sat down and sighed. "Maybe that will fix the problem." He didn't sound very convinced.

With good reason, it turns out.

It was less than five minutes before the dog door slammed. There were a few seconds of quiet. Then the door slammed a second time. We heard Sachi bark a challenge.

And then Zsofia came charging into the living room to leap on the sofa...with the towel in her mouth, taunting her brother.