Summer will be the first of the two puppies for me to describe in detail. This is fitting since she is usually the first one to do anything. If we are meeting someone new it is Summer who rushes forward tail wagging and long nose nudging. She does not hesitate to investigate. Even from the very first day, Summer was the puppy that stood out as more outgoing than her shy brother. When they were small enough to share a crate for traveling, I would open the wire mesh door and they timidly huddled in the back until Summer summoned the courage to step forward into my unfamiliar hands. She is still the first one to come out the back hatch on my car when we go anywhere. I don’t know if it is fearless, or rather Summer being the good big sister leading the way for her little brother.

I have no idea of the birth order of the litter these two came from. But if I had to guess, Summer was born before Koda. She just acts like the big sister. Brave most of the time, bossy some of the time, and not always willing to share her toys. In fact quite often she will just go over and grab the ball or toy out of her little brother’s mouth. He just lets her do that without a fuss. It kind of reminds me of what my oldest sister got away with. We younger siblings just allowed her to rule the house. I’d like to think that my big sisters also took care of me and my younger sister the way Summer does.

Summer snuggles next to Koda. When he hurt his eye a few weeks ago, she kept nuzzling around his face and even tried to lick it. It appeared to be an attempt at soothing his wound. (He actually did the same for her when she had an ear infection months ago). The day I brought her brother to the vet alone, Summer stayed home with my husband. He said she kept watch at the door and then would pace around in search of her brother. Upon our return he was greeted by his big sister with kisses and sniffing.

As sweet as Summer is sounding, let me now tell you some other things about her. She is a thief. Not only does she steal Koda’s toys, she takes things off of the coffee table in a sneaky way. She steals slippers, remote controls, paper napkins that fall under the table during dinner, and socks. She also has a pattern of bringing into the house some bit of nature to gnaw on inside. Sometimes it’s a big hunk of tree bark or mulch, a small branch, and even leaves. I feel like I need to put her through a TSA check before she re-enters the house. Summer is a smart one and earned the name Houdini when when she was younger. She somehow figured out how to open the latch on her crate in the middle of the night. Once or twice I have actually found her roaming free in the morning, while her brother sat watching from behind bars.

Summer is also our dog with the digestion mishaps. It’s been from both ends. Let’s just say the round rug that was in my kitchen had to be dragged outside because of the smelly situation. Poor thing. She got over it with some rice I gave her (just as I’ve done with my own kids). Then last night Summer’s stomach was upset by all the treats I gave her yesterday. No, not chocolate, I know better than that. It was some cheap brand of training treats that did not agree with her. So there she was dressed in her too small Minnie Mouse costume barfing on the sofa. Too bad the steam cleaning company that I hired to deodorize the sofa on Monday doesn’t have a vomit policy like the rain policy at the car wash place.

Summer is fine today. She is back to her normal affectionate, thieving, active, big sister self. She is actually sharing the flip flop she stole from the back patio with her little brother. Both are chewing it up on top of the sofa cushions as I write this post. Isn’t that sweet?