And eventually I am back to BAU.Yes, more or less like a pub after or during restoration.Officially back to the usual business:yoga,school drops ,school pick ups,homework,extra activities,walk on the beach….hopefully coffee mornings will be restored soon too.Even the traveling husband is back in the air after the Christmas break. Seeing him leaving with his bag, this morning ,was certainly the first hint for the dogs that things were going back to normality.They are no naive though,so they didn’t let themselves celebrate until they saw the girls with the school bags on their shoulders and me wearing the full proper dogs outfit.The excitement was uncontrollable and contagious .The giant dog was all over the place….more then usual.I could see little clouds coming out his head filled with thoughts about running free on the beach,meet his four legs pals,eating delicious seaweed for then puking them on my white rug in the kitchen……

K loves his social life.C is more of an old cranky lady .One or two growls and the other dogs know to keep the distance.She is happy walking on her own ,snacking with some crabs and every once in a while checking on me.K is the opposite,young and full of energy. I am afraid he will never completely get out of his puppy phase.Being raised with C,who is a third of his size, made him developed the idea that he is her size.If you look at him properly it will be quite obvious that he still doesn’t know what to do with his long legs,despite the fact he is walking on them for four years now and.If there might still be some doubts left,about his misconceptions of his size,they are wiped off by the fact that he never goes on the big dog bed but always on the small one.If I try to make him go,he would look at me puzzled and clearly wondering why do I keep to buy such big beds:who would need it.?!C would,she loves the big bed,she can basically swim in it.That is her bed,K can go in the small one.This,also clarify who is the boss in the house.Size doesn’t matter here:she is the boss and that is it!Who knows K,knows he is a baby trapped in the body of giant and they are usually not terrified when they see him running toward their dogs,most of the time considerably smaller.It is a matter of fact that small dogs love K.They jump on him,bite his ears hanging from them like silly monkeys.The bravest and more agile ones attempt a ride on his back too.He,on the other side,loves to be the center of all these attentions and,true to be told,he is very gentle and patient.The problem comes with the people who doesn’t know him….then is where I have to be careful and hoping not to bump into those hysterical frigid owners of just as hysterical frigid dogs.

It is cold and windy this morning but not as freezing as yesterday.The sky is dark grey.It looks more a December day then a January day.One of those day when the day light never really comes out.
The beach is deserted :blame the weather! K is disappointed. As soon I let him out the car he launch himself in a crazy run in and out the water.He starts to grab seaweeds and throw them in the air for then catching them. This is something he learned as a puppy and keep doing it.When nobody acknowledges his requests for a play,he would start to throw the ball or whatever toy to himself, for then retrieving it. Once he has stretched his legs, he starts to look around in the hope of seeing some of the regular dogs materializing.He jumps in every direction desperately looking for a chase.No luck so far.He tried with his sister,who made him immediately understand it is a waste of time.

We reached one end of the beach and when we turn around to go back he (K)sees her:good old S. Actually she is not old,they are same age but, to him, she is a old friend.S is my friend SJ dog.We meet them nearly every morning .It will be interesting to see if he will say the usual warm “hello”to SJ or not.I am under the impression he still haven’t forgiven her for last week when, she came over for lunch without S.
The greetings K and S give one an other are overwhelming. They see each other from the distance and here it comes the run and the hug and a bit of rough play and chasing and then happily back to mind their own business.
Sometimes I wonder what these loyal companions of ours think.What would they say if they could speak….may be it is better not to know!

At the horizon I can see the rest of the beach gang slowly approaching. The air is slightly warmer,the courage to face the beach has been found.Everybody is back on business:Sam,Kim,Sandie,Milly,Luthor,Allan, Bealey,Rosy….only to name some of them.The owners are exchanging tells about their just past Christmas holidays and the furry four legs children are happily running and chasing each other stopping by for a treat every once in a while.They all know well the right pockets to bark at.

Traditionally the school gate sees the big split between working and not working moms:antagonisms,criticisms,speculations etc etc.I don’t even want to go down that road.My personal split is between dogs mom and non dogs mom.Of course there is then a multitude of subcategories like small dogs mom and big dogs mom;walking the dogs mom and not ,etc etc.(The ones with the dogs that sleep outside are unquestionably included in the non dogs mom!)Despite it all,at the end of the day what it matters is that we are all united by our little or big furry creatures that fill full our domestic life as much as our kids and,surely,are no step behind this last ones in our hearts.
A simple single nod from the car outside the school gate becomes a long chat when on the beach walking the dogs.On the beach even the antagonism between the different schools disappears .Mothers and fathers of preschoolers happily mixed with mothers and fathers of teenagers or with parents of no children at all,not with only two legs at least. The “beach gang” is a multi denominational gang whose glue is the canine parenthood .It is a sort of secret society build up on respect,loyalty and solidarity:mess with one and you mess with all but,primarily, you don’t dare to mess with our dogs!