I Love My Hoo-Mans!

I am not happy until I can look at my person eyeball to eyeball. I am just tall enough to do this when she is sitting. You may wonder that I know my person is a she. We dogs know these things. She is like me.

I remember the day I met her. Another she person and my he one picked me up at the farm where I lived with my mother and dad and brothers and sisters. At first I was excited, until I saw my family disappear as our car drove off. I was so nervous. How could I be without my mom?

When the car stopped, we all got out and went into a building. There was my she person. I knew she was my new mom. My Zsa Zsa. Sometimes they both called her by my mother’s name. It felt good. She could not hug me enough.

When I first arrived, I spent most of my time with my he person. He sat a lot, which was fine with me. I sat under a table he was working at. I like being close. I heard a lot of clicking noises. Every now and then he seemed to be talking to himself as his words weren’t directed at me. When he left the room, I followed. That was just the way it was.

My she person went away every day, until the day she seemed to be staying home more. By then I was no longer a puppy. I had them both. What a joy.

The best times were when they would speak the “W” word. It was then they brought out the leash. I was so happy I could barely contain myself. I was ready. I lunged toward the door, but my people settled me down with the “Sit” word. I know a lot more than they think I do. Sometimes that works in my favor.

I have a friend I see when we go outside walking. She looks just like me. Oh, what fun we have. We go off leash for a little while and run around playing “Tag, You’re It.” Just when I think I can’t run another lap, my persons call me back. I’m ready.

The hardest thing about going for walks is all the rolly things. They are so scary. Every time I see one approaching, I bark to warn my people of the danger. They seem unconcerned about the rolly things, but just want to hold me back. I guess they don’t understand it is my duty to keep them safe.

I have a couple of warm, soft beds where I live. I curl up on them most of the time. This is where I am between eating and going for walks and chasing off the squirrels in the back yard. What would they do without me?

Things went along so well for a long time. I saw times of very hot days where I couldn’t stand to be outside long. Just when it seemed it would never end, it did. The days got cooler. Sometimes it would rain. The ground was covered with leaves from the trees. I guess I like this time the best. It feels so good after being hot so long.

Before I know it, the days get way too cold. Now I don’t want outside because my hair is too short to keep me warm out there. It’s also very wet most of the time. My persons make me sit and they wipe my feet when I come in. I am about to get the hang of it. They only do it when it is wet outside. Sometimes they build a fire in the house. That is the most fun of all. I love the heat. The best place to snooze!

Then we start having birds talking a lot in the mornings. It is getting warmer. There is still some rain, but it doesn’t make me cold. I have a lot to do. The birds need chasing. The squirrels seem to be running around the top railing of the fence more, too. They are always just out of reach. It is maddening. My people don’t seem to care. They tell me to hush a lot.

Before I know it, it starts getting too hot again. My people leave me water outside and inside. It’s a good thing. I get very thirsty. I love to be inside and stretch out on the cool tile floor.

It doesn’t take me long to figure out that these weather patterns keep repeating. I don’t exactly know what makes them change, but they keep doing it. All I really care about is that I get to be close to my people.

One day I began to notice that my he person was not okay. We dogs know these things. I had no name for it, but he stopped working at his desk. He sat a lot or was in bed. Sometimes he was in a rolly thing…in the house! That was confusing. I knew I couldn’t bark at him.

One day when all the leaves were off the trees, my he person let out his last air. I was right there. I know it was not good, but I didn’t know that he would go away and never come back. My she person hugged me a lot then. It helped us both, I could tell. She was very sad.

Now there have been many times of the flow of the weather. My person and I moved to a different building far away. I don’t hear the same dogs talking. We don’t have squirrels, but we have so many birds! My person sits at her desk a lot. I hear the tapping sounds. I curl up on the big leather chair. We are content.

(submitted by my lovely Annie dog!)- Shari