Sometimes I get to go to this place far, far away and play on a very big playground. The Mommy and Daddy people call it “The Reserve.” When I go there, I have to make a long trip in this very big dog with a huge mouth with round legs that holds my crate, the “goodie box” (that’s for another tale), and my bed. It also holds an awful lot of stuff for the Mommy person. I guess she needs more goodies than I do. All I know is that it has a VERY big mouth and needs a lot to eat. At first, I was scared of this dog, but now I know it usually takes me to great places, and it can run fast with those round legs.

When we get there, I get to jump in two very big bathtubs and even swim in those bathtubs. I like these bathtubs so much better than the one at home. The mommy person insists on putting this stinky white stuff on my fur when we’re at the small bathtub home, and it’s inside where I can’t see anyone or anything. But these bathtubs are OUTSIDE, and I can see EVERYTHING! I can even drink the water–trust me–you do NOT want to drink the bathtub water at the other place. (I also don’t recommend licking your fur while in that bathtub.)

There are lots of exciting citizens at the Reserve. There are swimmers and leapers in the bathtubs; there are earth-dwellers and tree-dwellers, and these things that can magically jump in the air and stay in the air. I call them air-tree-dwellers since they seem to think they own both. They seem to think they own the WHOLE place, but I am telling them, in no uncertain terms, that the Reserve belongs to the Mommy and Daddy person and me.

My favorite dwellers are the four-legged kind that are a lot like me. I call them the tail-waggers, and when I come to play at the Reserve, they come and find me. We play in the bathtubs and chase each other and wrestle around. We like to pretend-bite each other, but it’s just our way of showing each other that we are friends. We seem to have a lot in common.

But there are some four-legged citizens I most definitely don’t like and here’s why: They don’t pretend-bite; they BITE. When they bite me, it hurts big-time! And this liquid stuff sometimes comes out of my fur when it happens. When it comes out, the Mommy person puts me in the inside bathtub and puts that white stuff on me again and makes me have this weird thing on the spot where the liquid stuff came out. It’s NOT fun–that thing itches.

These dwellers aren’t like me, and I don’t know why. I try to play with them just like I play with the tail-waggers, but they don’t seem to want to chase me, and they don’t want to be chased, either. I keep trying to show them that I’m a nice tail-wagger by rolling over on my back and letting them sniff me up one side and down the other, but they won’t play with me, too. They even growl and bark at me when I come to play. Because of this, I call them growlers.

I wish there was a way that tail-waggers and growlers could get along–we would have so much fun together! There seems to be no way to get us together to do good things; we could chase the air-tree-dwellers away, or make sure that the tree-dwellers don’t get on our favorite porches or bark at all the people putting THEIR things on OUR favorite porches (They wear what the Mommy person calls shorts, and the Mommy person calls them UPS.). We could dig holes together to bury our favorite treats so that the earth-dwellers will also play with us.

But no matter what we have tried, they seem to growl, bark, sniff and walk away. However, I noticed that one of the tail-waggers seems to get along with both groups. Her name is Elle. She lives with two growlers and two tail-waggers. The mommy person says Elle is kind of like this place called Switzerland. She plays with the tail-waggers, and she sleeps with the growlers. She’s a very quiet dog, and yet, everyone likes her. When she’s around, the tail-waggers and the growlers will actually hang out together…on purpose. I guess she understands why the growlers are barking and why the tail-waggers are playing. She seems to spend equal time with both groups and visits both groups…on purpose. She seeks them out, and she will bring her growlers and tail-waggers with her once in a while.

And I’m so thankful she does this because Elle is now my friend, and she is teaching me how to get along with the Growlers better. I don’t know if we’ll ever chase the air-tree-dwellers together, but it’s a start. The Mommy person says she wishes there were people Elles. She says Elles could help this place called Congress. All I know is that I wish there were more Elles…on purpose.