Sunday, February 13, 2011

Son of a pup


With gloom I greet the ending of the weekend. Every weekend I have big plans. This is the weekend I am going to straighten out my life, finish my book, clean up the house, work out my bank account, do my laundry, pay my bills, catch up with my Leonard Pennario correspondence and plan the next week's menus.

Plan the next week's menus? Did I say plan the next week's menus?

My friend Gary has a phrase for that.

He says, "Well, THAT's not going to happen."

Oh well. At least I have my memories. One funny thing was Saturday morning. My brother George comes over a lot on Saturday mornings and Howard comes downstairs and we all sit around drinking coffee and eating oatmeal and reading the papers, kind of the way I described yesterday only in this case there are two guys to ignore me instead of one.

OK, I am just kidding. We do talk. The other day the conversation turned to this dog my sister and brother-in-law, Katie and David, have that will probably have to find a new home.

Originally there were two dogs, Sophie and Brutus, both yellow Labs and I loved them. They would lurch around under the table at Christmas dinner, their big tails whacking this way and that. Brutus had to go to a new home because he did something, I think bit some kid in the neighborhood. Sophie is still there but she has started to whine and cry at night, I am guessing because maybe she misses Brutus. She wakes my sister up and it now looks as if Sophie might have to go.

George was suggesting we take Sophie. I looked at Howard hopefully.

Is there anything cuter than Labs?





Maybe black Labs.


But whatever, the point is moot.

"Well, THAT's not going to happen," Howard said. He did not say so in so many words but that was the gist of it.

"But Sophie would match the kitchen floor," George joked. He pointed to the kitchen floor which is yellow.

"And the dog-do would match the carpet," Howard said. He pointed to the carpet which is brown.

George said: "Howard, I thought you were thinking about getting a German shepherd." Howard was thinking of that, a couple of years ago. He was going to order one from Germany where it would have been trained and ready to behave and be of service.

Those a German shepherd puppies at the top of this post! I put them up there because that would make my Web log irresistible. Who can resist puppies and kittens?

Howard can, that is who.

"There are already too many Germans in this house," he told George.

George said: "But I thought you were going to order a pure-bred direct from the Fatherland."

"I did," Howard said. "I married her."

Woof!

1 comment:

seamonkeyavenger said...

I realize that this response may miss the primary point of your blog post, and I apologize for that; however, when I read this post, I couldn't help but be concerned about your sister's attitude toward her dog(s). Dogs are smart, sensitive, sentient creatures; they should not be tossed away simply because they become somewhat "inconvenient." Yes, dogs require commitment, work and training. People who are unwilling to put in that time and work should not even think about owning or adopting dogs. It's just that simple. And, frankly, a person who would get rid of a dog -- simply because the dog is lonely and barking -- probably has no business being a dog owner. Really, I hope that your sister doesn't have any children. I mean, what sort of message does it send when Mom is willing to casually jettison a family member, simply because the poor dog doesn't automatically meet all of Mom's behavioral expectations? Please ask your sister to work on training her dog before she puts it through the trauma of giving it away.

Again, I understand that this post might be a tad "off base," but I volunteer with several rescue groups, and I see far too much of this heartbreakingly casual and careless behavior on the part of dog owners. At the very least, should your sister ultimately decide to give her pup the proverbial boot, please beg her to never, ever get another dog.

Thank you.