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November 21, 2005
My Hairy Little Sister
From Whitney Gaskell, November's Guest Literary Chick!
“You’re not going to believe what your sister has done now,” my mom said, when I called her one night. “While we were out, she chewed through the screen and ran off down the street."
I was fairly sure that she wasn’t talking about my real sister. My sister may be many things -- have I ever mentioned the time when I was three and she shoved me into the back porch stairs, cutting my forehead so badly it required stitches? -- but I’m sure she’s never chewed through a screen.
Well. Mostly sure.
“We had to chase after Lucy for two hours before we caught her,” my mom continued.
Ah, Lucy. Lucy is not actually my sister . . . she is, in fact, my mother’s dog, a black shar pei who has a tendency to act naughty when left on her own for any length of time. My mother even has a license plate holder on her car that reads: LUCY’S MOM.
When I pointed out that she could have selected a license plate holder that said, oh, I don’t know, WHITNEY’S MOM, my mom looked surprised.
“I never even thought about that,” she said.
And while I’m certainly a dog lover, I’m just not sure that I’m ready to recognize a puppy as a full-fledged sibling.
We have a new dog in residence at our house. We recently adopted a pug from the local humane society. Tallulah Bankead, a.k.a. Lulu, has settled in happily here at Casa Gaskell. And if she has a tendency to nap on our bed, even after being told four thousand times not too, it’s understandable.
“She was living on the street before the dog catcher found her,” I pointed out to my husband, George. “She needs a little TLC.”
“She was probably on the street for all of twenty minutes,” George said.
And he does have a point. Pugs have an uncanny ability to adapt quickly to any situation, putting a premium on landing an overflowing food dish and a soft place to sleep.
Margo Kaufman documented this phenomenon in her book, Clara: The Story of the Pug Who Ruled my Life. Kaufman noted that pugs seem to possess a comfort gene. For example, if they’re put in an empty room with three socks, they’ll quickly push the socks together to form a comfy bed.
Our late pug, Madeline, was particularly gifted in this area. We once left her for a few days with a dog sitter. When I called to check up on how our little girl was doing, the pet sitter said, “She’s wonderful! She slept with me last night.”
“You don’t have to let her do that,” I said. “I did drop off her dog bed.”
“Oh . . . she doesn’t normally sleep with you?” the dog sitter asked.
“No.” Maddy shed more than a sheep dog. Letting her under the covers would have been like wearing a hair shirt.
“I just assumed she did. I came out of the bathroom last night, and she was already up in the bed, looking like she was settled in for the night. I just assumed that’s what she used to.”
See? Comfort gene.
This blog was brought to you by She, Myself & I, Whitney Gaskell's newest release about three sisters who prove that blood is thicker than gay ex husbands, raging hormones, and racy secrets.
Posted by Whitney at 1:22 PM | Comments (5)
Comments
LOL on the pug comfort gene. My "absolutely no dogs on the furniture" pug always seems to find the loophole - that she can be in my LAP on the furniture. So I always seem to be wearing a hair shirt . . .
A.
Posted by: Alesia Holliday at November 21, 2005 2:48 PM
Oooo--no pugs at this time, but plenty of other dogs with that same philosophy! My newest addition (strangely enough also named Lucy!) has never been shy about making herself at home. We did rescue her off the street so I have always felt sorry for her and want to make her life radically different than what it was. Problem is she was only 6 weeks old when we found her so I am sure the trauma factor is only in MY head! LOL! She has ALWAYS slept on the bed, and now that we realize that she is actually a small dog living in a big dog's body (that's a whole 'nother story) we are somewhat regretting that decision! She is the first one to bed at night also, so at this stage in the game I think she wins! Now as long as she doesn't turn into a shedder....
Posted by: Sheri at December 4, 2005 11:43 AM
howdy whitney
Posted by: alec at June 10, 2006 12:19 PM
Naked Pictures ?
Posted by: James at September 27, 2006 12:04 PM
get some naked pics up's girls
Posted by: annomyns at December 17, 2006 6:54 AM
