Charley, I am not one to complain. Well, maybe not much.
Well, maybe on some days not much anyways. But when I do, can I just say I
really appreciate you listening and not judging me for voicing my opinion. You
seem to always know it is important to hear me out and let me say my peace. I
love how you have the sensitivity to let me set it up with the proper lead in
without rushing me through so I can really cathartically relive it and get over
it and move on. What would I do without
my four legged friend?
It reminds me a good work buddy of my husband’s Jason. All his wise cracking and practical jokes on
everyone. He could get everyone laughing
at him at the drop of a hat. But boy, his dog Jackson, he could make Jason
laugh like nobody. He would come into work and tell Jackson stories and have
himself in stitches just recanting the adventures of Jackson. Perhaps the funniest image left of the dog with us was
when he entered his little pug in a costume contest. In his mind, I am sure it
was a beauty contest. Anyone familiar with pugs knows, there is no way they are
in the category of beautiful! Well, the
picture of Jackson in the local paper showed him in complete leather motorcycle
garb looking tough. Ah, except for one
little thing, he was quite obviously not paying attention to the announcer
because he was too preoccupied sniffing
another dog’s butt. All I can say, on
the bright side is it was not Jason’s.
Charley is always eager to see me, unlike my adult kids. My
daughter travels in from out of town and feels as if it is penance to stay with
me. On the flip side, her Rottie Belle
thinks Grandma is the bomb. Belle had been living with us for 6 months.
I was followed everywhere by her. I could literally not get up in the
middle of the night and walk out of the bedroom without tripping on her. She
was right under my feet to ensure I did not leave without taking her. Funny how your own kids want to run away
from you and your dog wants to never leave your side and if you try to run away
they want to run with you. This dog wasn’t
even mine and still would not leave my side.
What a sweetie! My daughter must not
have talked to her about me is all I can figure.
When I walk Charley up the street at night, I can hold my
head high. There is no real drama with him other than he has this dramatic
flair for pooping in other people’s yard.
Why is our yard not good enough anyways? Then we have to clean up his ‘do’ and carry it home like a new
bought toy in plastic bags. A few moments of holding your breath and
collecting the specimen as quickly as you can and we are on your way.
With family or friends, the poop that flies is not nearly as
easy to scoop up in a plastic Wal-Mart bag and yet it’s just as toxic. It is the kind of stuff where someone says
something about someone else and as it goes around, it gets inflated and
creates havoc. In families, it can create scenarios where
someone can become the scape goat whereby one person becomes the cause of every
bad; the root of all evil and no one cares anymore. This is like a board game that ends with the
pieces and the board getting thrown up in the air except its real life. Dogs sometimes have it easier, aye?
Speaking of aggressive tongues, well they say it often times
comes from insecurity. Many people mask that by being mean. I wonder if the
same is true of dogs also. If so, my sister has a very highly insecure pup
then. Her dog Jake, when cornered by my husband Jim, simply trying to get him
home safely to his owner from our house, became possessed by a She Devil. With next to little warning, he lurched
forward and bit my husband. With a history of large dogs, my husband had never
been bitten in his own home, and now this small dog comes along and scares the
heck out of him snapping at him. He will
forever be known to us as simply “Jake
the Biter.”
When it comes to fashion, Charley loves whatever I have on.
Infact so much so that he rubs up against it to basically love on it. Too bad
his hair has a way of falling off and depositing itself on my articles of
clothing! We have actually now placed lint rollers, or should I say “Charley
hair rollers” at key locations throughout all of our entrances to our house and
in all of our motor vehicles except our lawn mower. My husband says it is
irrelevant to have dog hair on clothing when mowing the lawn. The one and only time you can walk out the door and not have to spend 15 to 30 minutes swatting every area of your body with a roller! In the country, clothing on mowers is
optional. Heck, dogs luck out in this area of life, never having to wear any. Having a dog is like having a close friend that is not into fashion at all, unlike some people I know who shall
remember nameless!
My sister’s dog Pinkie
is as cute as they come. She never hurts
a sole but yet, someone in her house still felt compelled to make her look more
like her namesake. Did she complain?
Nope, not a word. It didn't matter to her she was the talk of the
town. Dogs everywhere in Springboro were
probably howling back and forth about her for weeks. I mean how ridiculous it
looks to have a mild mannered female dog with a pink Mohawk on its head? When
my sister rolled my hair in rags years ago, my hair looked about as cool as
Pinkie’s and I whined about it for days. Not Pinkie, she took it in stride.
Just makes my case even stronger, dogs allow you to pick on them and are good
sports. We need more dogs in the world
and less friends.
Charley is a pretty good sport in this area too. Around the holidays, I attempt to put that ridiculous Christmas collar on him. You know,
the one with the wide red Santa velvet look to it and the big ole bells that
jingle every time he moves. How
wonderful that must be for him to when the sound is so terribly close to his
ears. I bet he just loves that! And then when I try to compliment the look
with the accessory of the season, a Santa cap, well does he look jolly. I must
admit, he does scramble abit over that but I can manage to get a photo or two
off before he manages to get it taken off.
But hey, no one else in my circle of friends or family would dare wear
it or one of those Christmas sweaters loaded down with Christmas tidings of joy
hung all over them. But Charley will wear anything I put on him, at least for a
few minutes, before he can get it off and chew it up!
I love how no matter how long I am gone; Charley is just as
excited to see me. I can simply go outside and get the mail and it is as I was
gone for days. Charley is wagging his tail, smiling and eager to see me walk
through the door again. Not too many
people in your life are that eager to see you. I think my friends Bonni and
Gary would agree as their dog Roxie goes positively nuts when you come over,
even strangers! What is even more
precious is every day, when Gary comes home; Roxie arrives at the door to greet
him and has held on to her little gift, her daily dump. Yep, how many of us
would be willing to actually hold on to something we need to do and fight the
urge just so we could wait and save it for our best buddy? You just have to love Roxie’s loyalty to
Gary! I know Gary just treasures his
girl.
Friends come and go in your lifetime, unfortunately too many
times. Even with family, far too often anymore, it feels as if they are not
there when you need them. In my circle, I sometimes feel used more than
aided. That is, with the exception of
Charley. He, as long as he is kept on a lead, is always within a leash length
to help me. I do mean that literally.
When I need him to be there for me he is. Unfortunately, his only major
deterrent from this is his pesky persistence in trying to jump our fence. Even an electric fence won’t work with
Charley either so we are the only family I know that walks a dog on a leash in
a fenced in yard. But, if that is the
price I have to pay to have a loyal friend and companion, and keep him somewhat
captive, I will. Everyone has to have friends. So maybe I have to cohere mine a
bit. We all do what we have to.
My daughter in law, her dog, Bruiser, he thinks every dog
wants to mate with him. Bruiser should be nicknamed, Boner. I really don’t think any further explanation
is needed is it? We simply stare in
amazement when he is at our house to see a small beagle boxer mix humping the
side of a sleeping 112 lb. lab. I
think Bruiser has read too much doggie porn!
But again, Rebekah has had Bruiser for a very long time and
he is a loyal dog and a wonderful companion. We all need that. When times were
tough, Bruiser was there. Just like
Charley. That is what counts.
So yeah, dogs can be weird.
So are you sometimes. We dog
owners can put up with their idiosyncrasies.
But heck, they put up with all of ours and never ever spill their
guts and tell a sole about any of ours, they are totally trustworthy. Come on, where do you find friends like that? Who never laughs at you even when you are
stupid? Who sits with you even when you
are stinky? Who loves you, baby, all the
time? One place only will you find that..... in
the doggie kingdom. Adopt a dog, not a
family member or a friend! You just
might live longer!
