Dogs do not understand TV. They hear a doorbell, a phone ring, or – god help us – a dog barking, and it’s all HERE AND NOW by Lionel Ritchie and we are in the MOMENT and we are REACTING and there is turf that needs defending. I had the misfortune of having the television on as background noise while I was on the computer last night, and “Cradle 2 the Grave” was on, high-quality stuff, folks. DMX, Jet Li & Tom Arnold, seriously – how could one go wrong? Anyway, I’m really not watching it because we tried to watch it before and couldn’t – and that makes it good background tv, I don’t even feel compelled to watch, really. But heaven help us all, there’s some scene with some pissed-off Dobermans, and that got Suzy & Polly ALL kinds of riled up. Heads up, ears up, alarm barking/burfing, respectively. I kept saying “TEE VEE” “IT’S OK” to them but they don’t know what the hell TEE VEE is, they just know they’re hearing dogs barking and it sounds like something we need to be worried about! We were on Orange Alert for half an hour as a result. Plus, when James is gone, I think Suzy gets more protective. Or else that’s wishful thinking on my part, but she does have that guard dog in her.
This morning, I thought I was getting up at the Crack of Dawn, only to be disillusioned by the cable box, which is smart enough to understand Daylight Savings Time. Anyway, I let the dogs out the back, they did their thang, and then we went back through the house to the front door & I let Polly out to get the paper. Polly, as a lab, loves to retrieve, almost more so than Suzy. She’s more competitive, I think. (Hm. Where’d she learn THAT?) She Love Love LOVES to get the paper in the morning. So off she went. Suddenly, Suzy broke & ran out to try to get the paper as well, because the Sunday paper is big, and it’s harder for li’l P to get it in her mouth. We had a Retriever Standoff over the paper, and it’s hard to command authority when you’re laughing as hard as I was. Suzy wouldn’t come, Polly was lookin’ all Rhodesian Ridgeback, with her ruff up from her neck to her butt, and then? Suzy trotted off! Polly won! I was amazed.
The funniest thing we’ve had Polly retrieve have been the plastic pots that blew away from the side of the garage all over the front yard. They’re easy to pick up – but they obstruct her vision once they’re in her mouth. So she does this drunken-weave dance as she comes back to you, trying to see where she’s going, bobbing her head all over the place and from side to side. It doesn’t quite make sense in her brain, that as long as she has it firmly in her mouth, no matter where she moves her head, she still will have a big round blind spot – but the desire to bring it back is far stronger than the disconnect, and she does it with such enthusiasm, it’s touching and hilarious all at once.
On the non-dog front: My cold’s getting a little better – god, I would love to have this week off as well, but I’m also really charged up about starting my new job. A little knitting tease – there’s a finished sweater in the House o’ Jen! I’m so glad it’s done. I can’t say I love it to the moon at this point, but it’s still pretty fun & it will probably look better if I put it on over real clothes, and not pajamas. Yes, I’m talking about the FOLLY. I will get a picture up in the next day or two – because I think I might be the first person in the universe besides the designer, to actually finish this sweater. I’m gonna act like I am, anyway. This calls for a tiara! And I’m still planning on wearing this sweater, even if it’s just in Abbey’s basement with the a/c on full blast – Kim’s gonna wear her wool sweater, and Abbey will wear her wool Einstein, and we’ll pretend it’s December and snowing outside. Delusions and grandeur go together like pie & ice cream! Mmmmm. pie.
Take care, I-peeps. :)
