Phoebe and Manny

When we left for Russia in May, one thing we worried about was how she and Manny the dog would get along. As it turned out, we needn't have worried. At first they were more or less indifferent to one another, but they've become great friends.

Phoebe feeds Manny his two daily meals. She's generally pretty neat and competent at it. Manny's food bin is in the hall closet, about ten feet from Manny's bowls. She can open the closet, open the food bin, scoop out the right amount, and carry it to his bowl, and pour it in without incident.

The only issue that arises is if she spills some on the way. For a kid who has no problem wreaking havoc with her toys and her own food, she's pretty fastidious with his. So she tries to stoop down and pick up the dropped bits, leading to more drops and . . . well, you get the picture. No matter how many times we tell her to leave the drops for him, she still tries to pick them up.

She also helps out after his walks, trying to dry his paws with the towel we keep on hand for this purpose (she's not great at this yet), and feeding him his post-walk treats. When the weather's warm enough (and there's enough daylight) to bring Phoebe out on the walks, she also wants to hold his leash. This we don't allow.

Oddly enough, I don't think we have a photo of the two of them together. Neither of them is good at staying still for photos. I'll try to video the feeding ritual sometime this week and post it.