Tuesday, February 09, 2010
The Storm Before The Calm
It is snowing today. This is one of those storms that will last for two days and make leaving the house a quite unpleasant experience. Fortunately, I do not have to leave the house.
Last fall, we acquired a new dog. Being the Spakowiak household, we couldn't get a new pet in the usual way, where the family discusses whether or not add a new pet, makes an affirmative decision, then goes to the local shelter and chooses one that looks friendly and suitable for their tastes. There has to be a more complicated story behind it.
Actually, the dog is Luke's dog. One of his friends from NAMI (a mental-illness support group) had an 18-month-old dalmatian This fellow was planning on being away for a week and asked Luke if he would look after the animal for him. After discussing it with us, we agreed to let Luke bring the dog here so he could tend to it.
Now, for those of you who are familiar with the dalmatian breed, you know that they are very good looking and very playful dogs. They are full of energy. The problems is that the energy never seems to run out. This dog will run for hours, and then wants to run some more. It wants to run in the day. It wants to run at night. If it can't find someplace to run, it will start chewing on whatever is at hand. I once had a friend who's dalmatian chewed up his mattress AND box springs all in the space of one day.
We discussed this all with Luke
, and Luke agreed to keep a keen eye on the dog, and he did indeed live up to his word. He made sure that the animal was well fed, walked it several times a day, and played with it while it was indoors. Truly, the dog spent most of his time with Luke, even sleeping next to the boy at night.
When the week was over, we waited for the dog's owner to return. However, we didn't hear from him that day. Nor the next. After three days, Luke and I took the dog over to his owner's place. It was empty. We called this fellow's cell phone. No answer. Luke asked around at his support group. No one had heard from him. The fellow was from out of town, and we had no way of reaching his family. We came to the realization that this person had permanently left town and abandoned his pet.
I did not particularly wish to have a still-maturing dalmatian living in my house, afraid that the furniture would become this dog's next chew toy. Naturally, the rest of the family just assumed that we would adopt the animal. Even Angela was becoming attached to it. I was outvoted.
Therefore, we now have a new addition to the family. His name is Flash. He came by this name because of his ability to seemingly appear out of nowhere, especially when you least expect it. Flash can go from the third floor of the barn to his supper dish in ... well ... in a flash. The dog will be no where in sight, but if you touch his leash, he will instantly be at your feet, ready to go for a walk. Indeed, one does not really take Flash for a walk, but rather he takes you for a drag.
We live on a fairly busy road, and our yard does not have a fence. Our last dog, Wacky, was also rather exuberant, however, he was also pudgy and hairy. He did not like to be more than fifty feet from his food dish, and so we never had to worry about him getting into the street and being smushed by a passing vehicle. Flash, however, will run until he gets tired, and he never seems to get tired. I was afraid that he'd be killed by a car. So far, however, when he does wander near the street, if an automobile is coming he is back by the house in ... well ... you get the idea.
So since it is snowing today, Flash, Luke, and Colette are outside frolicking. Indeed, the snow does not seem to slow Flash down at all. He charges through it like a four-legged plow. One can see numerous furrows in the snow where Flash has been, and periodically you'll see his black spots come bouncing up only to bury himself into more snow.
I'd best get this tale completed as it appears that I'll be spending much of the next day or two running the snow blower. Hopefully, Flash will tire out before then. Perhaps I'll enlist Luke's help in training the dog to pull the snow blower, thus saving myself some work. But, for now, I'll finish my tea and wait for the snow to stop.
Or perhaps I'll sneak off to the guest house for a nap. And perhaps Angela will come and join me. And perhaps we can pass the time with some pleasant spanking activities while the others are enjoying the wintry weather. It will be a nice way to warm up on a cold day.
Last fall, we acquired a new dog. Being the Spakowiak household, we couldn't get a new pet in the usual way, where the family discusses whether or not add a new pet, makes an affirmative decision, then goes to the local shelter and chooses one that looks friendly and suitable for their tastes. There has to be a more complicated story behind it.
Actually, the dog is Luke's dog. One of his friends from NAMI (a mental-illness support group) had an 18-month-old dalmatian This fellow was planning on being away for a week and asked Luke if he would look after the animal for him. After discussing it with us, we agreed to let Luke bring the dog here so he could tend to it.
Now, for those of you who are familiar with the dalmatian breed, you know that they are very good looking and very playful dogs. They are full of energy. The problems is that the energy never seems to run out. This dog will run for hours, and then wants to run some more. It wants to run in the day. It wants to run at night. If it can't find someplace to run, it will start chewing on whatever is at hand. I once had a friend who's dalmatian chewed up his mattress AND box springs all in the space of one day.
We discussed this all with Luke
, and Luke agreed to keep a keen eye on the dog, and he did indeed live up to his word. He made sure that the animal was well fed, walked it several times a day, and played with it while it was indoors. Truly, the dog spent most of his time with Luke, even sleeping next to the boy at night.When the week was over, we waited for the dog's owner to return. However, we didn't hear from him that day. Nor the next. After three days, Luke and I took the dog over to his owner's place. It was empty. We called this fellow's cell phone. No answer. Luke asked around at his support group. No one had heard from him. The fellow was from out of town, and we had no way of reaching his family. We came to the realization that this person had permanently left town and abandoned his pet.
I did not particularly wish to have a still-maturing dalmatian living in my house, afraid that the furniture would become this dog's next chew toy. Naturally, the rest of the family just assumed that we would adopt the animal. Even Angela was becoming attached to it. I was outvoted.
Therefore, we now have a new addition to the family. His name is Flash. He came by this name because of his ability to seemingly appear out of nowhere, especially when you least expect it. Flash can go from the third floor of the barn to his supper dish in ... well ... in a flash. The dog will be no where in sight, but if you touch his leash, he will instantly be at your feet, ready to go for a walk. Indeed, one does not really take Flash for a walk, but rather he takes you for a drag.
We live on a fairly busy road, and our yard does not have a fence. Our last dog, Wacky, was also rather exuberant, however, he was also pudgy and hairy. He did not like to be more than fifty feet from his food dish, and so we never had to worry about him getting into the street and being smushed by a passing vehicle. Flash, however, will run until he gets tired, and he never seems to get tired. I was afraid that he'd be killed by a car. So far, however, when he does wander near the street, if an automobile is coming he is back by the house in ... well ... you get the idea.
So since it is snowing today, Flash, Luke, and Colette are outside frolicking. Indeed, the snow does not seem to slow Flash down at all. He charges through it like a four-legged plow. One can see numerous furrows in the snow where Flash has been, and periodically you'll see his black spots come bouncing up only to bury himself into more snow.
I'd best get this tale completed as it appears that I'll be spending much of the next day or two running the snow blower. Hopefully, Flash will tire out before then. Perhaps I'll enlist Luke's help in training the dog to pull the snow blower, thus saving myself some work. But, for now, I'll finish my tea and wait for the snow to stop.
Or perhaps I'll sneak off to the guest house for a nap. And perhaps Angela will come and join me. And perhaps we can pass the time with some pleasant spanking activities while the others are enjoying the wintry weather. It will be a nice way to warm up on a cold day.
