My Dog doesn’t understand Social Distancing
Covid-19 is no laughing matter, but that doesn’t mean we can’t chuckle at ourselves! Who among us hasn’t discovered something new and humorous now that they’ve spent countless days at home?
Much can be learned from a stay-at-home directive.
For example, what would the dog do without me?
She once roamed the streets of the San Souci neighborhoods near Greenville so she is accustomed to having her independence. Yet, two years after rescuing each other she suddenly won’t let me out of her sight. When I Zoom, she’s either in my lap or sleeping near my shoulder on the back of the sofa.
If I go to the restroom she comes in and settles on the floor. Today she did leave the restroom only to go to the sunny deck where she could watch me through the window (hey, we live in the woods; it doesn’t matter if the blinds are open!) If I go to my desk she positions herself either between my feet or directly behind my chair (and this is only because I learned her typing skills were atrocious).
I realized this week that she gobbles her food down quickly so she can make sure she hasn’t been deserted while she was eating. Once the bowl is empty, it’s a mad dash around all the rooms until all humans are accounted for. I remember friends talking about finding a place to hide from their small children for 30 seconds of solitude. I get it.
The most success I have getting away from her is that sometimes she is so frantic to FIND me that she can’t SEE me! She can literally look right at me and keep running, trying to find where I might be hiding. She once lost me in the cul-de-sac. At night. While I was holding the flashlight. Standing beside her. I may have detected a slight sign of embarrassment on her part that time. (Perhaps I’m not the only one in the house who couldn’t find the mayonnaise with a yellow and black label, in the refrigerator door, on the second shelf from the top.)
She used to at least leave my lap to chase the squirrel gang that is terrorizing our bird feeders. But lately she stays in my lap as I activate the speaker on my security camera and she barks into the microphone. What was it my dad always muttered about the younger generation??
Yes, she has some severe insecurity issues. But don’t we all in times like this? We all have abandonment issues when you think about it. So be a friend to someone who may be struggling. Give them a call to let them know you’re thinking about them.
By the way, has anyone seen my wife? I think she disappeared while I was eating my lunch. I hope she doesn’t have the mayonnaise jar.
