Pip visits Larry Meiller!!

When I blather on and on about what a perfect dog Pip is, I'm obviously biased. But by just about anyone's standards, she really was amazing today, when she and I were guests on "The Larry Meiller Show" on Wisconsin Public Radio. (It was pledge week, and I was hoping people would pledge one for the Pipper. You still can, you know.)

Pip is still a puppy—only 11 months old—but in the studio you'd have thought she was a well-trained, Zen-like adult. First of course, she loved meeting Larry—but who doesn't?

Then we got set up in the studio. Part of the time she sat on my lap, and part of the time she had her own chair.

She's heard me blather about birds before, so when she realized she wasn't going to hear anything new, she took a little nap. 

She was such a good girl that when we were done, I had to reward her with our favorite food, at the Rocky's in Arlington, WI. 

We brought our pizza to Goose Pond, but I almost forgot to eat it. Our eBird list included:

• 1000 Canada Geese
• 150 Tundra Swans
• 1 American Black Duck
• 70 Mallards
• 75 Sandhill Cranes

That was astonishing for December 9. But I don't know if I was more surprised by the birds or by Pip's reaction to them. She was transfixed! A small plane went by, and the birds started calling loudly—I thought the whole mass of them were going to explode in flight, but they just chattered for a minute or so and settled down again. Throughout the time we were there, even when they were just calling quietly, Pip could not pull her eyes away. 

I finally got her to look for just a moment before she turned back around. She didn't even want pizza! She finally gobbled down the piece of sausage I saved for her, but only after we drove away from the swans. I guess I know what her favorite bird is now. 

What a splendid day, and all because of Larry Meiller. I hope you pledged!!