Scary stuff

When Dionne was tiny (6 weeks ago), she went through that brief (less than 2-week-long) phase when she thought the stairs in our house were too scary to descend. Now she rockets up and down them all at a speed that's almost scary to watch. But stairs with open treads -- that's another story.

She freezes in her tracks, as seen here, and mulishly refuses to budge. Clearly she can see the drop-off, and the legacy of her  retriever ancestors who were afraid of heights -- and lived to pass on their genes -- are screaming at her: "Stop! Stop! This is dangerous!!!"

We've seen this reaction before in other CCI puppies, and like them, Dionne will almost certainly get over it. We're confident.

At the moment, the only place we commonly encounter stairs with open treads is in our friend Alberto's building, where we usually gather with friends on Friday nights for a potluck meal and a movie. Albie kindly welcomes Dionne and her little kennel.

She's happy to take the elevator to and from his condo on the third floor, thank you very much.