The Follow-Me Parade

My labrador is big and black. She's weighs about 125 lbs and follows me around like a shadow. Sometimes she follows me so close that she steps on my flip flops and I walk right out of them. She had a litter of 12 puppies 3 years ago. We kept two of them. Now I have 3 labradors - 2 black and one caramel colored. (I suppose that makes her a yellow lab, but she's really darker than yellow...) Now that the puppies are big enough to flop around the house, they have joined the follow-me parade. They will race each other to be the first one behind me. Sometimes, the puppies will follow me side by side as a pair, trotting along, each trying to nudge my hand into petting them. Sometimes I wonder if they follow me around because they are afraid of losing me. They will literally follow me everywhere I go. Into the living room, everyone get settled, into the kitchen to watch me get milk, back to the living room, now across the room to retrieve the remote and so the parade goes.

I think their favorite place to follow me is into the bathroom. They know that once I sit on the porcelain throne, I am trapped. All three will vie for a spot closest to me. One will sit between the bathtub and me, one will sit between the wall and me and the third will plop in the middle with her head in my lap - yes while I am doing my thing. They all three wag their tails and expect some sort of petting. I have become very creative at petting 3 dogs with only 2 hands. It amuses me that while I am petting them, they stop wagging their tails, but as soon as I stop their tails go crazy....I have also had to create a signal for when I want them to go away - I raise both arms above my head and look away from them. They have come to understand that this means they are to stop begging for attention and leave me to my business. At this signal, two will leave and go lay down outside the bathroom door. They are the lookout. The third will lay at my feet facing out. She is my bodyguard. I'm not sure how they decide who will play which role. It's never the same twice. But I am relieved that I am always able to pee safely guarded.