lundi, juin 08, 2009

the antidote to a funeral

When I got home from a memorial for a friend's husband this afternoon, I was feeling totally down and my eyes were so sore that I simply couldn’t cry any more. I sat there, dazed, trying to wrap my brain around how my friend, a 36-year-old woman with three children under the age of 4 (the youngest was born just 6 weeks ago), was going to face each day without her partner and best friend.

A few minutes later, Ruby came over, licked my elbow, flirted with me, and ran out of the room. I followed her to the front door (her sign that she needs to go out), grabbed the leash, and took her for a pit stop.

We ran into my new downstairs neighbor, who has a very young (just old enough to be adopted) German Shepherd puppy. Ruby took care of business out front and couldn’t wait to come back and play with Leysi, who weighs about 10 lbs and is about 12 inches long and 8 inches tall. They played for a while in the courtyard, with Ruby play bowing then laying down so that she didn't totally freak out the puppy.

The puppy was scared at first, but curiosity and moxie won out ... she started boxing with Ruby (who feinted left and right), hopped into my lap (I sat on the stairs and watched with my neighbor), and even barked back at Ruby once. When another neighbor's adult dogs came down and wanted to roughhouse -- first backing the puppy into a corner, then growling -- Ruby stepped in and regulated the big dogs, stopping the adults from overdoing it with the puppy.

Dogs are the best. And my pup is a very special pooch indeed.

1 commentaire:

Sandra Younger a dit…

Pity the person who doesn't believe in dogs. What would we do without them?