Jumping For Joy

As usual, Ranger used his mind-bending powers today to convince me to take him on a late-afternoon walk. 

As usual, I kept that decision to myself as long as possible, knowing that as soon as he sensed my intentions, he would begin to bark, howl and stamp his feet with excitement. Which is kind of cute but also very much like a toddler's tantrum. Which is really not that cute at all.

Unfortunately, today I made a huge strategic blunder. In the final moments before I stood up to get my coat on, I decided to text my daughter at work, to keep her up to speed on my timeline and let her know when I would be picking her up.

Unfortunately, rather than exert myself with actually typing the message with my own brutally overworked fingertips, I opted for the lazy man's tool: voice control. I spoke my message out loud, and let my phone translate it to print.

Unfortunately, while dictating my message, I uttered a forbidden phrase: "I'm taking Wooie on a woo now."

Unfortunately, Ranger can decode this somewhat cryptic message. "Wooie" means Ranger. "Woo" means walk. He understood exactly what this phrase meant: Walk time is ON.

Uh-oh.

Unfortunately, that set off the usual cacophony of barking, howling, begging, prancing and scampering that happens whenever Ranger receives confirmation that it's walk time. So I surrendered to my fate, and headed to the laundry room for my boots and coat.

What happened next was adorable. While still barking at the top of his lungs, Ranger began to jump up and down with excitement. Literally, his two front paws sprang off the laundry room floor by several inches, and when he landed after the first jump, he sprang up a second and third time.

It was undoubtedly one of the most outrageously funny things that my little Irish gentleman has ever done. 

So yes, Ranger got his walk. As usual.

And as you glance through these scenes from today's outing, just imagine that you are strolling along with my dog, who is so happy to be walking with you that he literally jumps for joy.