The Dog Days of Summer

This weekend I am dogsitting for a friend. Not a very CLOSE friend, mind you. This should give you some idea just how insane I am. I barely know this person and have opened my home to her two strange little animals. Let me tell you how insane I am: we have seven kids (five of whom who are still at home), we already have a dog,and it's a four-day weekend.

Thursday afternoon we welcome into our midst "Fluffy" a male Bichon, and "Nikki" a female Lhasa Apso. They had come to visit one time and I had gotten the impression that Nikki was the friendlier of the two and Fluffy was just a little stinker. Apparently that wasn't quite the case.

Nikki is actually little more than a throw rug with legs. She will walk out back to do her doggie business, she will stop to eat on the way back into the house and then she resumes her position in the middle of the wall-to-wall carpet in the living room. If we could get her to sleep in front of the couch she would make a good footstool.

The Fluffmeister now, well, he is just adorable. My four year-old is in love with him. They sit together on the couch. Today they sat in the baby's little play chair together while my little one "read" to him. He is nice. HOWEVER (this is capitalized because it's a big however), Fluffy is a compulsive barker. I don't think he can help himself.

Fluffy barks when cars, trucks or motorcycles drive past the house. Fluffy barks when people walk past the house. Fluffy barks when he sees other dogs outside, when birds fly past the windows, when someone stands up, when someone comes downstairs, when someone turns on the water in a sink, when the dishwasher changes cycles and when I leave the room.

Fluffy barks when someone looks at him while he's eating. Fluffy barks when someone is eating and he is not. Fluffy barks when he thinks he should be eating but for some reason the stupid humans he is staying with have not set up the buffet table. Fluffy barked when it rained last night. Fluffy should be in therapy.

We are just beginning day three of this four day doggie extravaganza and all I have learned is that if day four does not end quickly I am the one who will be in therapy. Wait, I should not say that too loudly: Fluffy will bark.