Routine

When I was in college my parents bought my younger brother and sister a Collie, who kind of herded around the house.

My first dog was a retriever and she would look at her basket of toys by the front door anxiously to pick the right one with which to greet the friend or family member whose car she heard outside.

For the past ten years I’ve had an Aussie/X herder, also from the shelter. She has one bed with a view of the front door so no-one can leave. Every so often if she’s up around 4:00 in the morning she’ll come up to my pillow and lay her spine along mine so I can’t leave without her knowing about it.

Today I gave her a bath. She loves baths and has one at least every two weeks. Hair dryers are a no-no so I let her air dry for 24 hours then comb her out with Dee’s Torture Chamber of Horrors. Furminator, horse curry combs, oh no!

What herders love is ROUTINE. Also, if a herder likes something, once is not enough. So we go out before and after breakfast as she holds on for the second trip for me to bag the prize. I used to drive my husband to work in the morning in Texas, because it was so hot and he needed to be fresh for meetings. It became ROUTINE to take Zoe in the back of the car. My husband would get out across from his building by a bus stop. Zoe would jump into the front passenger seat and sit down like a human. Inevitably, everyone at the bus stop would point and burst out laughing. One time two police horses were behind us and she was in back. She looked back and freaked out as they were huge and about two feet from our rear bumper. That may have been the day the Federal court sentenced the Enron thieves.

After the bath, she gets to go for a quick walk as her prize. We just returned from that trip. Her daddy gets back this afternoon from a week on business so she and the house must be clean. Now all I need to do is fix myself up and figure out what to get for dinner.

I don’t know what I’d ever do without Zoe. We got her from the shelter at six weeks and she’ll be ten years old in January.Her routines have become mine. She knows that I’m the morning walker and Jim is the late night walker and knows how to set the stare, whine or paw. She knows I’m the food wench so twice a day I’m always on the hook.

While no dog can ever replace her or my first dog, I’m thinking no undercoat (fur all over the floor, tumbling tumbleweeds). Jim’s allergies are always an issue. Labradoodle? Portuguese Water Dog? I’m loving these little French Bulldogs but don’t want an accessory, I want a dog. Sorry, Frenchies, you can still call me Aunt Dee.

Not to worry. Zoe is healthy, and the happiest dog I’ve ever met in 20 years of working with pets. She’ll be around for years. Now she just has to dry so she can be combed out. Right now she’s on the floor six inches behind my office chair. Yes, try carrying an armload of laundry with her doing a serpentine in front, ready to trip you at any moment! But we love her. Tell me a story. Dee