January 27, 2013
-
Annie’s New Job
Annie has a job now. She is diligent. Devoted. Coming up on tired because there is no rest, no break, no period of relaxation. Annie reports every move that Ilah makes. Bark! Stranger in the house! Movement–she’s moving… trot trot trot grr grr grr
Nancy’s mother is 95. She uses a walker to traverse the house. She is so hard of hearing I suspect in another week I will be shouting at everyone from sheer habit. (“Maybe this will make you stop mumbling,” Nancy says, and while I would never claim not to mumble, I use this as an example of how hereditary hearing issues can be.) Nancy’s mother is at that stage of aging where sitting down anywhere might require a much longer stay in that position than originally planned. And while we installed a taller stool designed for the weak of knee (or thighs, perhaps) it still remains a challenge for her. This is where Annie comes in.
7:30 this morning Nancy and I are sleeping soundly when bark! bark! bark! She’s moving! Unauthorized bathroom entry! Home Invasion! And Annie flew off the bed and ran to the bedroom door to bark. Riley, who sleeps in the living room, was not barking, so Nancy and I were able to determine that whoever was invading our home was a.) between the living room and our bedroom and b.) only dangerous in the eyes of one of our dogs.
It was Ilah, running her morning errands. Nancy got up, checked on her, making sure she was able to leave the bathroom as easily as she entered it. She came back to bed, but Ilah was still wobbling about. Annie was ON IT. Cheryl! Nancy! She’s moving again!
We are not 100% pleased with this behavior (the barking, not the wobbling) but it does not appear to worry Ilah, and it can come in handy, because not only is Ilah hearing-impaired, she has a frail, wispy old-lady voice that my ear is not tuned to hear. I will no doubt learn eventually to pick it out, much as I now hear the clattering of dog nails on the kitchen floor, the slurping of dogwater, or the crack of plastic in the mouth of a bulldog.
Because we are on high alert,however, The Thing in The Back Yard is back. We have to trot to the window and growl at it. And then we have to go to Ilah’s room and stand in the doorway and look in on her. And then we have to go tell Nancy what Ilah is doing. And then we need to nose-bump Cheryl to keep her in the loop and then we have to share reports with Riley who would be completely ignorant of everything that happens in the house because he’s a lab and he sleeps too much…
This is such exhausting work for a young dog.
We’re going to need more kibble.
