Millie and Sam are allowed outside exercise IF the weather is good enough for me to be out in the back yard. And they are only allowed outside IF they are supervised by me. You would think that they are desperate criminals escaping from a vile jail as they run out the door. Sam hears the door being unlocked and is at the door in 2 seconds. If Millie isn't asking to go out or happens to be by the door, I have to ask her if she would like to go outside (that is, after I find her) and most of the time she will come but sometimes she prefers to stay inside to finish her nap (not sure why since she naps just fine in the swing outside).
Millie mostly makes her way to the swing where she naps. If she gets hot, she lays on the brick patio under the swing. She does walk around and will also lay in the mulch. Millie loves the crape myrtles and tries to bit them. If she doesn't want to come back in, she growls or just ignores you. Out comes the water hose, and usually, I just have to say 'water' and she runs back to the back door in a flash. She learned her lesson very well. But sometimes, she just decides to come back in and goes and waits by the door.
Sam usually comes back in fairly easily as he knows he'll get a treat when he gets inside. Since I leave the door barely closed, he can get back (and out) on his own. And he does. He's all over the yard and found something this summer by the oleander so he hid near the base - he's hard to find when he's back in the garden somewhere.
They both come inside for water, food and to use the litter box. I find that pretty funny. Neither one likes to get their feet wet. It's funny to watch them when the grass is wet.
That's Sam trying to eat my flowers. His very favorite are pansies and violas. He also watches the squirrel that sometimes runs down the fence. When he gets tired or hot, he climbs into one of the wicker chairs to rest. That is of course, after he's gone under every other piece of outdoor furniture on the patio - I can tell by all the stuff on his whiskers!
Here's Millie chasing a bug or a geiko. She's the real hunter. One summer when we had lots of birds around, Millie would lay on her back in the grass. When the birds came down, she tried to grab them with paws. I was laughing too hard to get a good picture. She's a great stalker. She actually got a baby bird that fell on the ground but she wasn't trying to bite it hard - I got her in the house and when I got back outside, the baby bird was gone.
They don't bother me when I'm gardening. But once they are back in the house, they get their treats. And then they nap like they've never sleeped. Nothing disturbs them either.
