Team Small Dog has to take a backseat to the tiny brushes somedays, when those days are Mondays.

Once upon a time, before there was a Team Small Dog, and there was just Laura and her little black dog, Timmy, there were miles of walls and gallons of paint and lots of teensy tiny small brushes. Way smaller than this one.



The paint lived in buckets and milk crates and came in many colors. It all lived in an Art Studio behind the house. It was used for glamorous, artist type things. Not usually painting bathrooms.


Then there was dog agility and Team Small Dog and Timmy died and the small brushes just sat in the garage which was formerly known as the Art Studio behind stacks of pvc poles in various lengths. And weave pole bases in multiple sizes. And boards. And a contact trainer. And some tunnels. And boxes of Christmas stuff. And my mom and dad's super cool wood bench couch thing that doesn't fit in the house. And magnolia deer fortune telling booth.


Then my friend Kathleen with the beautiful Heart Dog Agility which I always call Forest Agility because it's in a forest, built an agility bathroom to replace her driveway porta potty and it was really nice except had these plain white walls. Not even white. Off white. Light beige. But like, a color that freaked out my delicate design sensibilities so I dusted off the old paint cans and tiny brushes and started painting a nice bathroom mural in there every single Monday morning when I go and practice.


Team Small Dog thinks this is a horrible, rotten idea. It cuts into Monday agility practice time, eliminates one forest walk per week, and means that exactly at the end of agility practice they get locked in their car boxes and have to take naps while Laura sits in there and paints.

I think this is a swell idea. Tough luck, Team Small Dog.

"Lots of people would KILL for a nap, you little whiners," I tell them. "Shut yer little gobs and go to sleep."

And then I put on my ipod, and then I get to sit in the bathroom until it's time to go and paint stuff with the small brushes. Which, aside from dog agility or a walk in the forest, is pretty much my favorite way to spend time. Next time you go up to Heart Dog Agility for a fun match or seminar, make sure you drink a bunch of coffee first so you have to go to the bathroom. You'll like it, and someday, in about a million Mondays, it will even be done.