Dog Blog

Yesterday we adopted a dog, ok well not permanently (to my disappointment). We have offered to dog sit over Christmas for a couple that live around the corner and yesterday they brought Daffy (a lovely black lab mix) for a trial sleepover. Now it is no secret that I love dogs, especially Labradors. I still miss Poppy, the wonderful golden lab that we had until I was 12 – yes it was 11 years ago but I still think about her. However Zack is not so enthusiastic about animals, although I have to say he is coming around, our latest post-foreign service plan is to have a puppy farm in upstate New York (and an apartment in Manhattan of course). Anyway I am getting totally off track with the present story. So yesterday afternoon Max and Nola dropped off a very excitable Daffy. They had repeatedly said that Daffy was a low energy dog who preferred to spend her days sleeping (much like our cat), so I was not prepared for the next 20 hours...

3:00pm            
Daffy arrives at the house, tail wagging and tongue dripping

3:05pm            
Max and Nola manage squeeze out the door without Daffy escaping and I am left alone with the dog

3:05:02pm       
 I look down at the big slobbery wriggling pile of fur on the floor and she looks up at me with big wet eyes that just scream excitement, "hmm" I think to myself, "this should be interesting"

3:05:03pm       
 and she’s off... as fast as she can. With her paws slipping on the tiles, Daffy explores every nook and cranny of the house (she is an indoor dog that loves food and hates exercise so in reality it’s more of a lopsided waddle)

3:05:04pm        
as I stand there, wondering what to do next, a loud barking starts echoing around the house. Apparently Daffy is not content to just sniff everything, she also has to bark too... "so much for being low energy" I tell her. For the rest of her stay Daffy barks at everything... Lamin, the guard, the trucks on the road, the water filter... everything that makes a sound within a three mile radius has her barking like we’re under attack. I guess she would be a good guard dog - well that’s if the burglar was afraid of being licked. 

3:05:30pm       
 having never been in this situation and not knowing what to do I decide to chase her, my plan is to play with her until she gets tired and falls asleep

3:06 - 3:10pm 
we run laps around the house, Daffy in the lead, tongue flapping and drool flying, she thinks this is a great game "see Zack I'm great with dogs, my plan is working perfectly"

3:10:03pm       
six minutes of running prove too much for Daffy and she flops on the floor panting, seemingly exhausted. My plan has succeeded... until she spots the cat...

OK I think you get the gist. Thankfully I had already thought to keep the dog and the cat separated but that didn’t stop them from watching each other closely. They sat on either side of the glass door, staring at each other with death in their eyes (Slobs outside, Daffy inside) looking as if they were in an old western movie, ready for the shoot out. Yet despite the running, jumping, licking and barking, we all survived the night. Although at 5am this morning I was woken by a wet nose attached to a very excited dog trying to lick my face – 5am!