Clark versus nature - Day Five

My dog Clark has a decided distaste for all things nature. He'd rather walk on concrete or asphalt than dirt or gravel, he makes wide berths around piles of fallen leaves, he prefers to pee on mailbox poles instead of trees, and he really really dislikes the rain. Tonight, he jumped over a pile of leaves to get to his favorite mailbox instead of walking through them. The other day he stood on the edge of the road staring at a cat because chasing it would involve him running through the grass. And when we adopted him a few months ago, we couldn't get him to sit still for a picture on the lawn of the shelter while he sat like a perfect gentleman when we walked over to the sidewalk.

I attribute much of this to the fact that he spent nine of his first eleven months on this planet penned up in tiny concrete kennels in two different shelters. No running, no getting out in the elements, no enjoying fresh air. He does like going for hikes with me, but he's pretty darn happy when we get home and he gets to crawl up on the couch.

I'm looking forward to see how he deals with snow this winter, but I'm sure he'll care for it as little as he does the rest of what nature has to throw at him. I just hope he likes the doggy-sweaters that Alli insists she is going to dress him in. That's what you get for not liking nature... doggy-sweaters. Yikes.