Tuesday, August 09, 2011

My Shadow For A Week

Simon was our houseguest for a week. Simon is a Boston Terrier belonging to my son Greg and his wife Lindsay. They needed someone to watch their dog while they vacationed in upper Michigan last week.


It's been a while since we had a dog around the house for longer than a day. Our beloved Doogie passed away almost three years ago. He followed my wife around the house most of the days of his life.

So it was a little surprising that Simon turned out to be my shadow, lying on the carpet outside the bathroom while I took a shower, occasionally climbing onto my lap, and refusing to go to bed at night until I retired myself.

Loyalty? Maybe. More likely he hoped I would get his ball out so we could play. That's what he craved all week, a game of ball. I would throw it, he'd run and get it, then I'd chase him around the house trying to get it back.


Sometimes I'd hide his ball, but he proved to be pretty good at finding it. One time I thought I had this ball well hidden among some junk mail on an end table. Next thing I knew he had the ball in his mouth as he stood next to my recliner, a particularly devilish look in his eyes as if to say, "Look what I've got."

The object for him was to destroy this ball as he had so many like it. Gnaw on it until it stops squeaking, then tear it to shreds. And eventually by the end of the week, he did.



That didn't stop him from begging to play ball, as in the picture above. He's looking to where the ball is usually kept, sometimes crying to play another round of his favorite game.

I'd tell him, "Simon, you destroyed it. You tore your ball to pieces."

That would get his attention, as in the picture below.



But as Wendy would point out, "You know he only understood the one word."

Yeah. *sigh*





8 Comments:

Blogger Jan said...

That whole "responsible for your actions" thing seldom cuts it with a dog.

7:10 PM  
Blogger Lynilu said...

LOL @ Jan!!

I hope next time his people bring more than one ball for him to destroy! How short sighted of them!!

7:17 PM  
Blogger CiCi said...

Sounds like you both had fun playing ball. I would have thought you would have gone out and gotten a few new balls to have on hand. He sure is cute.

3:05 AM  
Blogger Big Dave T said...

JAN--Got that right. It's like he thinks that balls grow on trees or something like that. Destroy one, that's okay, go pick another.

LYNILU--They're not that cheap, at $5 a pop, but they were on clearance this week. So maybe I better stock up before they're all gone.

TECHNOBABE--I do have one more ball that he doesn't know about, at least I don't think he knows about. But once he's SURE you have another ball, he doesn't really leave you alone either.

9:11 AM  
Blogger Carine-what's cooking? said...

3 yrs since you lost your pup? hardly seems that long, except to you and Wendy. cute stand-in! We had the grandpups here for a night and the neighborhood grouch left us a nasty note for letting the girl bark for a couple of hours in the early afternoon.
perked up our old girl though-helped her rally out of her near-death experience.

4:15 PM  
Anonymous betty said...

Yeah, they tried to tell me that about parenting too. If you say, "Don't run!" all they hear is "run!". That was a tough concept for me to learn, but I'm more successful at communicating with my dog as a result of my parenting errors.

By the way, I work with someone whose facial expressions match Sinon's.

Hugs,
Betty

11:15 PM  
Blogger Big Dave T said...

CARINE--Simon's been busted as well for barking too much, not at our house but in his home town. But the local peace office there is a friend of the family so . . .

BETTY--I wish I could just teach Simon the concept of "no." At least kids seem to get that one eventually.

9:11 AM  
Blogger Merle said...

Hi Dave ~~ I think you enjoyed having the destroyer didn't you? It would get a bit costly if he destroys all the balls he comes across. It is nice to have a fine weekend here and to get my lawns cut.

I live in a city and so there are no kangaroos around here. An hour or so away you would find a few I guess. It is only rarely that they attack people, when looking for food. I don't think about Jaws either as I live inland and do not swim now. Take care, RegArds, Merle

4:22 AM  

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