Sunday 5 May 2019

Am I Mad?

Sitting here, wondering what to write, there was a rhythmic kind of ka-chic, ka-chic, ka-chic noise coming from the other end of the house. It continued for long enough that I started to wonder what on earth it was. A couple of scenarios passed through my mind until I decided they were impossible and settled on the idea of a very large canine who has a habit of stealing things.
And there he was, two cans stolen from the recycling, one inside the other. As he licked the smaller inside can, trying to get every last drop of coconut cream, it would lift slightly in the larger can and drop back again ka-chic, ka-chic. Someone should feed the poor starving boy.

We have two dog beds in the house and a couch outdoors which serves as bed and watch point. The two beds have blankets, dog coats and stolen bits of detritus around them. It's a triumph of interior decorating..... 



Life without a dog was so simple. There was so much less picking up to do and can I tell you I hate picking up. There was more room and nobody walked in circles on my bed in the middle of the night. I could eat without being stared down and watch TV without yoyo-ing to open the door for an ungrateful young man.

I must have forgotten all of that when I gave my permission  didn't cry out in horror, against the idea of my daughter Briony getting her very own fur child (when did I start calling dogs fur children, for crying out loud?)
I must have forgotten when I accompanied Briony to the local shelter. I must have forgotten when I met the puppy.....the puppy who will come here tomorrow....

I wonder will Harry teach her bad habits or will her own bad habits be enough? Will she steal food? Dive in the bins? Chew shoes? Dig in the yard?
She's an Australian breed I've never heard of before, a Bull Arab, designed as a pig hunting dog: big, strong & fast. I see why she hasn't been claimed, our work will be cut out. Her name will be Millie and what's not to love?



38 comments:

  1. A pig hunting dog? I guess that are lots of pigs in the Sydney suburbs - just strolling around waiting to be hunted. It will reduce your meat bill substantially. Where will the butchery happen?

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  2. All dog lovers are slightly off kilter. Trust me, I should know. But, only slightly.

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  3. I live with the same issues, and yet only this morning I was thinking about getting another one.
    Every chair in my house is a dog bed.
    Sx

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    1. Of course they are! If you get another dog you'll have to get your own chair 😉

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  4. So funny - especially "a triumph of interior decorating"! It's the same with cat people. All of our upholstered furniture has to a greater or lesser degree been shredded. When a cat decides it wants something, it will drive us foolish with whiny meowing. One of our cats loves elastic bands and dental floss, both of which could be big trouble if she swallowed them. The cat that has since gone to live with our son was drawn like a magnet to bags with handles, which he would inevitably get wrapped around his neck. But somehow we forgive them all that.

    Millie looks like she has been into the mascara! I love her face! I hope she doesn't see Harry as a pig ... do you think there will be any problem that way? Good luck and enjoy the new girl :)

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    1. Cats, dogs, rabbits... They are all humans with fur and destructive tendencies.
      Harry and Millie have met twice. It was the greatest unrequited love story ever seen and Harry had muddy paw marks all over.

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    2. Awww :) I can't wait to hear more!

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  5. As someone who isn't into dogs it's easy for me to resist the temptation of having them in my house. :D

    Enjoy your new dog.

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    1. How could you not love dogs? All that joy, devotion, mess & inconvenience....

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  6. Wow my niece is in the same boat and her husband doesn't want another dog as he is allergic and they just lost as he thought the last one. I'd get another one in a heartbeat.

    XO
    WWW

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    1. Being allergic to dogs is a cruel fate!

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  7. Echoing jenny_o. Cat people's decoration is dictated/created by the cat. The late lamented Jewel loved acorns and my earrings. I have found both in some unlikely places. Jazz is food oriented and will make life miserable until he gets the 'right' food.
    Yes you are mad, but not alone.
    Welcome Milly.

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    1. When I was a child our cat ate anything he was given. All the cats my parents and siblings have owned since then are very fussy. I wonder if people are just paying more attention now?

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  8. You're right the critters can train us A dog would certainly train me to do it's bidding.

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    1. They just have to look at me with those big eyes.....I'm a push over

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  9. i get the dog stare down all the time, even if u am simply drinking coffee. Enjoy Millie

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    1. Harry looooves coffee but he doesn't do a stare down, he just helps himself!

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  10. I had vague thoughts about getting a dog when I retired but realizing I love my complete freedom I decided against it. Maybe later, who knows.

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    1. Yes, it's expensive to have them kenneled or anything like that. We still have four people in the house so there is most often somebody home

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  11. Re "Am I Mad?": Probably.

    In addition to our Abby, our nearly three-year-old rescue chihuahua-terrier mix, we have now also been unofficially adopted by one of the neighborhood cats, not feral exactly but not tame either. He/She sleeps on our patio doormat for hours on end, drinks water I have begun setting out, stretches out in the shade of the big table's umbrella. I haven't fed him/her yet even though either God or Satan (possibly both) works on me by recalling to mind scripture verses such as if you give a cup of cold water in His name you will not lose your reward and the one I'm resisting to date about being not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unaware.

    To recap, I say probably for you, definitely for me.

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    1. both of us definitely!
      you better start feeding that kitty, you never know who it could be in disguise! it will never go away again but how could you mind, you have been chosen

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  12. Bizarely I though I'd left a comment on this post when I first read it. Obviously not. Probably because I just couldn't thing what words to use. After all, not being a 'pet person' you seem a trifle bonkers taking all that on. But then I'm doubtless in the minority.

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    1. Hi Graham!
      I regularly think I've left a comment but can't find it. Sometimes I really did leave one which hasn't been moderated so I leave another!

      I could do without the headache pets cause but the unadulterated joy of a dog is just irresistible.

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  13. Peggy aches for a dog, but we know that the odds of our four cats welcoming a new family member are so low that I would put them at about 50 to one against. Anyway, we sometimes go to the shelter "just for fun," and look at teensy-tiny dogs. Well, last time, I flipped--positively flipped--over, of all things, an adult Rottweiler, which is not a breed that I have ever once been tempted by. I wanted that dog so bad I could taste it, but can you imagine how our cats would respond when a 100-pound Rottie walked into the house, and we said, "Hey, guys, say hello to your new brother."?

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    1. There was a young adult rottie at the shelter the day we went, he was a handful but gorgeous! I'm sure you could find a cat friendly dog but I shouldn't encourage such madness 😂

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    2. We're not concerned about how a dog would treat our cats, but how our cats would treat a dog.

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    3. well yes, there is that.

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    4. Your response to my response is proof-positive that great minds think alike.

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  14. Best of luck with your new acquisition. I think if Jenny and I had a dog all the associated aggravation would drive me crazy. I'm far too selfish to give endless attention to a demanding quadruped. A demanding spouse is quite enough! :-)

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  15. I posted a comment yesterday but it's vanished. Something to the effect of not wanting a dog because it would be too demanding and I wouldn't have the patience. Jenny is quite demanding enough!

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  16. Ah, you seem to have introduced comment moderation....

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    1. For a long time now I have had comment moderation on any post over a week old, simply because I tend to stop looking at old posts and can miss late comments. Comment moderation is confusing if you think you have commented and it doesn't get published quickly, I don't know how many times I have got tangled up with it

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  17. I could not bear to have an animal in the house. Visiting my sister was a trial since she had a dog or two, a cat or two, and birds.

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    1. I have to admit, not having animals in the house is a LOT less trouble!

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