I had one more load of laundry to finish this morning. In the process of running up and down stairs, bringing up clean, folded laundry to put away, I noticed Speedy standing at his dog door. He looked back over his shoulder with this really pleading face. "I have to go out, but nobody will open the flap for me."
"I'm on to you," I said. "You were running in and out of the house all yesterday afternoon. Just because it's cloudy outside today doesn't mean the flap won't open."
"Like I said, NOBODY will open the flap." and the eyes turned up the pathos of doghood to way past woeful.
Since my hands were empty at the moment, I pushed the flap until the magnets let loose. He put his nose under and went on out to find a squirrrel or cat to annoy. I went down for more laundry. Before I got back upstairs, I heard the clickety-click of his paws on the dining room floor. Probably won't be the last time for this performance, either.
After I got settled down to write, Speedy took his lookout position. He suddenly started barking like the mailman was outside. The doorbell rang, so I went to answer the door. The young couple who just moved into the neighborhood had a Jack Russell on a leash. They said he was a stray and wanted to know if he was ours. "We have a flight in a couple of hours," they said. "But we didn't want him to just be loose on the street."
"Nope, but there's a family down two blocks who have a Russell that looks similar to that. You might try there." I hope those are the dog's owners. Still, a Jack Russell gets a premium price at the Humane Society, so even if they turn him in, he'll probably have a good home within a week.
The word of the day for November 23, 2008 is "piteous" — Pronunciation: \ˈpi-tē-əs\
Function: adjective.
Date: 14th century.
: of a kind to move to pity or compassion
— pit·e·ous·ly adverb
— pit·e·ous·ness noun
Our quote for the day is from William Shakespeare (1564–1616), British dramatist, poet. Prospero, in The Tempest, act 1, sc. 2, l. 13-5:
;^)Be collected.
No more amazement.
Tell your piteous heart
There’s no harm done.
It's amazing how pitiful they can look when they want us to do something for them. Speedy sounds like he's learning to use the flap, but still likes the idea of getting you to wait on him. Hope the neighbors down the street were the owners of the stray dog. (Hugs)Indigo
ReplyDeleteSpeedy is so darn cute!
ReplyDeleteI have two Jack Russell Terriers...and they are queens of the pity party!
My brother has a JR Terror (LOL) whose name is Turbo and his brother was named Dynamo. My brother lives in VA and the dog would be on a run between two trees. My brother decided to put up a privacy fence and he worked at fence building a bit each day. The neighbors had a cat that would come into the yard and just tease the dog by just being out of reach of his lead. One day, after the fence was finished, Tubro was now off leash. The same cat jumped into the yard and Turbo took off after it. The cat was sooooooo surprised and flew over a six foot wooden fence with Turbo on his heals. I think the cat must have lost about five lives that day. Turbo is now fifteen and starting to slow down, he walks rather than constant running.
ReplyDeleteClaudia