SHE was here again, and I was on my best behavior

I had to babysit Sadie again. Her parents wanted to go see a Van Gogh exhibit or whatever, so Mom volunteered us to take care of Sadie. Why does she do that? I like my days to be full of whatever Mom and Dad are doing, and with HER here, nothing happens. In fact, the pack watched television the entire time SHE was here. Mom took us out to pee-pee and stuff, but boring. 

I'd had my day all planned out, too. Around dawn, I chase the deer out of the front yard, then watch over Mom as she gets her emails handled. Then we have breakfast and coffee, which means snackies for me. After that, we go outside and do garden stuff, or walk, and then it's chores. Once chores are done, I get to nap while Mom is at the computer again. That was MY plan, which Mom shot all to smithereens. None of my plan happened. Nada. Nothing. Zippo. Zero.

I guess it wasn't all that bad, though. Sadie laid down and napped, so I did manage to snap a nap, too. Not my usual, but it had to do. Even though SHE wasn't too bad and didn't smack me in the face this time, I was glad to see Cousin Dave show up to take her home. Does that make me a bad dog? 

Mom and Dad praised me for being a good dog, so that settles it. DEUCE IS A GOOD DOG!!!!

Deuce's Day, black Labrador Retriever, dog sitter, rural living, country lifestyle, whitetail deer, doggie naps, dog treats, writers on writing, Springer Spaniel, Van Gogh

Not again!

Cousin Dave... I love Cousin Dave! He looks out for me all the time! And he always tells me I'm a good dog, too!

Where was I? 

Oh, yeah. Cousin Dave had to go to a visitation, and he asked Mom if Sadie could come up and stay with us while he was gone. Mom didn't ask me, she just said "sure!" 

Really, Mom. You could've asked me first, you know. Sadie makes me nervous. She jumps all over me and you know I don't like that. What's a guy to do? Cousin Dave looked out for me when Dad was in the hospital, so of course, Mom had to look out for Sadie. I do get it. 

So Sadie came up and she was all excited to be here. She went round and round and round until I had to show her my excellent teeth. I didn't snap at her or anything, but she saw my lip curl up and she stopped making me dizzy. 

We had a little chat, and then everything was okay. I stretched out beside Dad's chair and we touched noses, and then Sadie went over and sat on the other side of Mom's chair. 

I think Sadie is finally growing up. She didn't jump on me - not once! That's so much better than before when she'd paw at my face. I don't like that. But this was fine. Well, until she sniffed my rump. That was rude, but I smacked her with my tail so she might not do that again. 

Cousin Dave came and got her and they walked home. I guess it'll be fine if Sadie comes to visit again. And maybe we'll go on walks together this summer. Heck, I might even like if she plays in the water with me. We'll have to see how that goes. 

I was never that young

Sadie

Sometimes I wonder if Mom will ever learn to consult me before she agrees to do something. I mean, I could head her off at the pass and save us both a lot of aggravation. Yesterday is a prime example of what I'm talking about. 

What am I talking about? Or should that be barking about? Maybe whining. Let's go with whining. (Mom says the correct word is "whinging" but I don't know that one.) ANYWAY, we babysat Sadie yesterday so Cousins Dave and Sharon could go out to dinner for their 40th wedding anniversary. 

I helped. Mom and Dad made me. I had no choice in the matter. 

Okay, so Sadie is a pretty little thing. She's family and I'm snipped and now Mom is glaring at me. Hey, I'm laying out the facts. Sadie is also very perky. She has a lot of energy whereas I'm more reserved as befits a descendant of the St. John's Dog. 

I should have known something was up when Mom walked down the driveway without me. She went to get Sadie so Sadie wouldn't see her Mom and Dad leave her behind and get abandonment issues.

What about me? Mom was quick enough to abandon ME! She never goes on walks without me but off she went. And she came back with Sadie! What about my issues? 

So Mom brings Sadie inside and Sadie jumps on me. I showed her the old pearly whites but she didn't seem to notice. Instead, she beat me on the nose with her paw! I did not like this and told her in no uncertain terms to stop it. She seemed really surprised and sat still and stared at me. 

Once we established that smacking me in the face wasn't okay, things settled down. Sadie stayed with Mom and I guarded Dad. It worked out really well. Sadie and I could discuss things from a distance, which we did. And then Mom took us outside.

You know what? I sort of figured it out. Batting at me with her paws is how Sadie tells me she wants to play! So I played a little and even wagged my tail for her - twice. Mom said that was a good start and took us back inside for treats. 

Having Sadie come for a visit was okay. We got everything figured out, but we're dogs from different packs. We'll have to sort of figure it out again the next time we see each other. That's the way it works when different packs meet.

I think when Sadie is a little older and stops smacking me with her furry feet, we'll get along better. She just has toooooo much energy for a mature guy like me. I gotta tell ya, I was never that young.