Doppleganger

Yay! Suppertime!  Ok, now we go for a big walk!  Doo doo doo, dum dee dum.  Oh, there's the lady around the corner.  She's my friend, I like her.  Lemme go in for a sniff......Hi!   Mom talks to her awhile.  Hmmmm, I hear my name.   I wonder why?

Ok, Mom, let's keep going......oh, there's Beau!  He's my friend!  Hey, Beau, how ya doin'?  I hear my name again.  Beau's Mom and my Mom are talking.  Why are they talking about me?

Oh, boy!  There's my friend, Daisy!  Hi, Daisy!  This is fun, the three of us sniffing and wagging!   And Daisy's Mom is saying my name, too!  I'm a popular guy! 

Now it's time to keep on walking....all the way around the big block...heading home and another lady starts talking to Mom.  I want to get home and have my treat.  Why are they all talking so much?  Why do I keep hearing my name?   I didn't do anything.........this is funny.  C'mon, Mom, let's go home!

 

 

Hey!  That looks like me!

 

 

I was driving home from the gym and caught a glimpse of a woman walking a dog that looked just like Harry.  I was momentarily alarmed.  Did he get out somehow?  How could that happen?  Who is that?..........Harry?

Once home, there he was, safe and sound.  He had his dinner and we went out for our evening walk.  We first encountered our neighbor around the corner.  She asked, "Who was that walking Harry?"  I said, "You saw that, too?  That wasn't Harry!" 

Then, further down the block, we ran into another neighbor and her little guy, Beau.  "Who was walking Harry?"  Nope, NOT Harry.  I had no idea who it was.

Then little, fluffy Daisy and Mom walked up.  "Someone was walking Harry earlier.  Who was that?" Oh, my goodness, this was getting really silly.  Did the whole neighborhood see the woman and Harry's doppleganger? 

As we continued on our walk, yet another neighbor stopped to chat.  Well, you know how THAT conversation went........

No one has seen the person or the look-alike dog again.  It must have been someone visiting.  But it certainly proved to me that Harry is rather well known in his neighborhood!!

The Howling

There was a chill in the air and a misty fog settled over the creek and the rolling hills. The air was still and silent.  It didn't feel like May.  It was as if time had been suspended and we were trapped in an old, faded photograph. 

I was working on my computer, where I can look out the back sun room windows.  This gloom continued to hang on through the day. 

Then a low moan was heard.  What was that?  I looked outside, but only saw the mist.  Again.  I could not tell where it was coming from.  Then the low moan rose up and up, like a scene from "Hound of the Baskervilles" when Basil Rathbone played Sherlock Holmes, in spooky black and white.  A shiver ran up my spine.

Harry?  

Harry Spotter has the most rich and varied dream life of any dog I have ever met.  Yes, it was Harry howling in his sleep.  (He has never howled while awake, yet.)  It must have been a doozy because he woke himself up, shook it off, stretched and....went back to sleep.  I'd love to know what goes on in those dreams.

There be monsters about....

Oh, no. Nooooooo.  I can hear them!  Monsters are coming!  C'mon, Mom, we have to hurry back inside!  This is bad.  This is very bad.  The monsters are right in front of my house.   I hate them and their noise.  Why won't they go away? 
Now I'm scared.  Brrrgggggg.  I'm afraid to go outside.  Please, Mom, please don't make me.
Ok, I'm a good boy and I do my business, but I want to go home, right away, right NOW!
I'm going to curl up in my bed like I used to a long, long time ago.  Suppertime?  Nope, I'm not hungry.  I'll just stay right here.  If I stay here, I'll be safe.  Go away, monsters.  Go away.

Alyx Weaver

                                                                                                                                Copyright 2014

 

Our sidewalk was crumbling.  We live in a condo community and so, the sidewalk repair crew was making the rounds of the entire place.  They started early in the morning, just about the time I walk Harry every day.  He was not happy.  Between a giant tractor and the cement machine, breaking  up the old sidewalk and replacing it - it took an entire day.  Harry was beside himself.  Just like when he first came to live with us and he was afraid of the garbage trucks and just about anything else on wheels....he refused to eat.  He was trembling all over.  I brought him his dinner in his bed.  As long as I stayed with him, he ate, reluctantly.  Getting him outside was practically impossible even after the trucks and tractors had left.  He was like this for several days........it felt like torture.

But, eventually, all the work in the neighborhood was done and things went back to a nice, quiet normal.  And Harry ran into a couple of his buddies, Beau and Bandit, and that helped him feel better.  Our boy is back, tail up, happy meter on!

Happiness Overload!

Mom and Dad go out and leave me home, sometimes.  Izz okay.  They come back with stuff and some of that stuff is for me!   And I get to play with my special toy, too!  It has treats in it and I have to get them out! 

They were gone for a long time the other day.  A long, long time.  Then I heard the car.  Oh boy!  They're home!  And then Mom walked in the door.  Oh boy!  Oh boy!  She's home, she's home, she's home!  My happy meter is going full speed!  I'm going to run into the bedroom for a tummy rub!  Up on the bed and YELP!!!!  Ow.  Uh-oh.  I hurt my leg.  Now Mom is worried.  She's checking my paw and leg and everything.   I hurts to walk a little.  I can't put my foot down all the way. 

So she took me just for a short walk, then she gave me something with peanut butter.  I like peanut butter.  She told me to lie down and I did.  Guess what?  The next morning I was all better!  I guess I better be careful when I get really happy!  Snorfle.

We had to get our plants for the coming season and wound up going to two different nurseries.  They were crowded and it took a long time.  Harry went wild when I walked in the house.  I had never seen him get so excited.  He was leaping and prancing about like a small gazelle.  Then he went tearing down the hall to the bedroom.  I knew what that meant - he wanted his tummy rubbed.  I followed as quickly as I could, but just as I entered the room he landed on the bed and let out a loud yelp.  Very loud.  Oh, geez, did he strain, sprain or break something?  He just looked up at me with his big, brown eyes looking sad.  I gently handled the leg and pressed here and there - he didn't yelp again and I could move and touch him.  But when he tried to walk he limped.  So, he must have strained a muscle.  Alright, just a short evening walk for him to do his business.  One baby aspirin wrapped in peanut butter and rest. 

Happily, he was totally fine in the morning.  Those happiness overloads can be hazardous.