The Tenneys Unscripted

Penny vs. Sophie

I know at least some of you have been wondering how Penny Lane has been faring across the pond. Wait no longer, here’s a quick update on her never-ending shenanigans. 

Just to be clear, Penny is faring wonderfully here and she is still our favorite dog. That’s my disclaimer before you read any further.

“Penny would never hurt the thing, but would really appreciate a friend.”

It’s a daily battle for Sophie the Giraffe. I don’t know what her obsession is, but no matter how well we hide the thing – under blankets, on the counter after being washed (again), and so on – Penny tracks her down. Max finally gets a squeak out of her with his little hands, and Penny immediately rushes over and delicately takes her right out of his hands. Luckily we have a backup Sophie.

Penny sleeps most the day. When Max won’t go down for a nap (like every day), she looks at me disgustedly and wonders what our problem is. At least once a day, she likes to hang out in her backyard. It’s not as big as her backyard in Portland, but she loves it nonetheless and does her “laps” and attacks the bushes. There is a brave cat that likes to sit on the fence and participate in stare downs with Penny, and he sometimes gets just close enough to wave his tail where Penny thinks she might get him. Penny would never hurt the thing, but would really appreciate a friend. Back inside, she never leaves my side. If Max is playing on the floor and I’m sitting next to him, Penny is leaning on my other side. She hasn’t heard of the personal-space bubble.

Penny gets two walks a day through Vondelpark with Grayson, and I’m afraid she’s corrupting the neighborhood dogs. As I mentioned earlier, most dogs are not on leashes here, and calmly stay within a certain range of their humans on foot or bike through the city. Penny has a knack of luring in those dogs (even though she is always on a leash) and getting them to play with her. Their owners have to turn around on their bikes and try to get their dogs back on track. We apologize profusely and assure the owner it usually never happens. Right.

Penny had her first “interview” with a dog sitter at the house the other day. Grayson met Suze in the park and found out she walks and dog-sits several Nike family dogs. We are making plans over the holidays for some traveling, so we need a place for Penny to stay. And preferably not the (perfectly normal) kennel for our spoiled dog. I’m not going to lie, I was pretty nervous for the interview. Penny loved her, of course. And after getting over how big she is, Suze the sitter seemed to love Penny, too (who wouldn’t?). There was a significantly drawn-out pause from us when Suze asked if Penny was well-trained (she sits, sometimes. If you have a treat. And if she feels like it). And Suze seemed only slightly alarmed that Penny needs a leash for walks. All ended well, but Suze is going to pick up Penny this Friday afternoon to introduce her own dog and get the hang of walking her. Gulp.

At the end of the day, Penny is just the best dog ever. She keeps me company all day and loves to snuggle after Max goes to bed at night. The weather here is right up her alley, and she seems very much at home. To her, home really is wherever I am with you.