Dog Days of...Winter, or Something at 11:27 AM

I’ve taken the week off for having been sick.  I think that’s what my problem was last Monday and Tuesday.  It was like foreshadowing or something.  Anyway, as my mom mentioned in the comments, our nephew was sick when he came out here (the “wetness” she refers to is snot and spit…hope you’re not eating), and so that’s making its rounds at the house.  But now I feel better.  It wasn’t so bad except for Saturday, when I had to get up at 5:00 to go to work.  I usually feel better in the evenings than the mornings when I have a cold.  

So back to the story I was telling.  Thanksgiving went really well, and then my dad and sisters stayed till Saturday morning.  We all played “Scene It?” on Friday night, which was fun.  If you know my family, you know that it was not a quiet affair.  The highlight of the night came when there was a question about which “brothers” made Raising Arizona and my sister’s guess was Warner Brothers.  This caused much laughter, which led her to say, “It’s not that funny, guys”.  But it was, and it is.  So there.  Somehow my mom and youngest sister won, even though I am the movie guy of the family.  

There was another interesting thing that happened on Saturday night. We went over to Zimm’s place to bring some of my famous banana cream pie (which I screwed up this year, but it was still alright).  On the way home, we saw a little dog on the side of the road, trying to eat something in the street next to a stop sign.  If you know me, you know I’m a dog person, and this made me sad.  So I asked my wife if I could get out and put him in the car.  To my surprise and delight, she said I could (she’s a softie too).  So I scooped up the little guy (it actually turned out to be a girl) and put her in the back of the Explorer.  Luke thought it was great to have a dog to look at from his car seat (he still faces the back, so his view is usually pretty boring).  

We got the dog home, and she was wearing a collar with a tag that had a number on it referring to her rabies vaccination, so I called the animal hospital where she got the shot and left a message with the number, description of the dog, etc.  By this time, we’d given her some water and she was exploring the surroundings and having a great time with it.  Luke wanted in the worst way to get down on the floor and play with her, but there was a distinctive odor emanating from her fur that I identified as excrement, if you know what I’m saying.  She was smelling pretty ripe.  So faced with the prospect of keeping a poop-smelling dog in my house until Monday when the animal hospital would call back, or giving the pooch a bath, I chose the latter.  Needless to say, my wife thoroughly disinfected the tub when I was done.  

I was thrilled with all this.  I had a dog in the house for the first time in a while, and it was fun.  She was a really good dog, too.  Very obedient.  The only thing she had a problem with was that she wanted to get on the furniture to lay down.  I’d tell her “no”, and she’d listen, but then she’d look longingly at the very comfortable leather couch again, and she wouldn’t lay on the floor.  So apparently she was a furniture dog at home.  This was actually surprisingly easy to fix.  I grabbed a couple of pillows and put them on the floor, and she happily laid herself down.  

So by this time it’s about 9:00, and the phone rings.
Caller:  Hi, is this Tha Docta of Love?
Me: Yeah.
Caller:  This is Dr. So-and-so over at the such-and-such animal hospital.  I think you have my dog.

It turned out that the guy that owns and runs the animal hospital lives right next door, and that little Mattie is a habitual yard-digger.  Dr. So-and-so checked her usual haunts for when she runs away, but obviously she wasn’t there, opting instead to scrounge for food at stop signs.  So although I enjoyed temporarily having a dog, I was glad that she got to go back home, because she obviously came from a good place with how good and obedient she was.

So in honor of dogs, the song of the day today is “Ol’ Red”, by Blake Shelton.  Yes, it’s a country song, but it’s not like you’re thinking.  The main character doesn’t lose his dog or anything.  Red is actually a bloodhound that they use at the prison where the character is incarcerated.  It’s a fun song.  Check it out.

By the way, I’ve finally posted my essay on mixed martial arts, or “ultimate fighting” over on the sports blog, in case anyone’s interested.  I was hoping to spawn a conversation and answer questions in the comments section, but perhaps the lack of comments left should tell me something.  If so, I won’t advertise it anymore over here.d