As we usually do, we went to some garage sales Saturday morning and, as we usually do, we took our Yorkies with us.

Our Yorkies are affectionate little creatures, and they love going out where they get to meet people. They recognize what's going on in the house as we get ready to go, and they keep running back and forth from wherever I am at the moment to the ottoman in the living room where they always sit to have their harnesses put on. They also get brushed there before the harnesses go on.  They will stand like little statues while I brush them, because they know that the brushing is a necessary prerequisite to going. I don't dare put them into their harnesses before I'm ready to take them to the car - because as soon as they're in the harnesses, they are READY! They run and stand at the door, whining and pleading to be let out.

Funny thing is, once they are in the car, they calm down. They know they're going and they're just alert to what's going on around them.

I go along just to drive, to tote heavy stuff to the car, and to enjoy the time with my wife without the ever-present distractions at home - so I don't even get out of the car at every stop. When the wife gets out, the girls hardly react at all. When I reach for the door handle, though, things change. THEN, they are excited. THEN they know their world is about to expand!

Bailey and Meggie love attention. This seems to be common among Yorkies. Ours crave it as much as food and water, and they usually get a good bit of it in the course of a morning of garage sales. When we get out, they are generally very well behaved. They are eager to explore the area, but they aren't hyper and they're not tugging at the leash. Let someone take note of them and show an interest in petting them, though, and that all changes. Of course they are on a leash, and that's a VERY good thing. Only the most ardent animal lover could withstand the unrestrained onslaught of these two furry attention-seeking missiles once they have been acknowleged. You can almost hear their thoughts - "YES! ME ... ME ... MEEEEEEEEE! PET ME! I'M RIGHT HERE! OOOOOOOOOO ... MORE PETTING! DON'T STOP!"

When that person stops, I direct the pups away, and they are once again calmly checking out their surroundings - until someone else pauses to pet them.

By the time we have gone through this at a dozen or more stops, the effort of being charming and loving catches up with them and they are taking naps in the car between stops. They usually sleep away at least half of the morning when they're at home, so staying alert and active all morning finally has them ready to return to home, lunch, and a long nap full of dreams of great masses of humanity with nothing else to do but love them.