A year full of changes

It’s been over a year since my last post. Considering I’m a dog, it’s not really strange that typing a blog just isn’t on my mind very often. And Susan was terribly distracted this year too.

First of all, about a year ago, she got out that nasty suitcase again and left me for a long long time. I stayed with my aunt and uncle, which is always nice, so I didn’t mind very much. I just figured I lived there now and made myself at home, lying on the couch and helping myself to food whenever I could. Oh yes, I’m not ashamed to admit I stole quite a few tasty things, even something called ‘chocolate’! That made me feel weirdly excited and then I had to go to the vet. No regrets, though.

Anyway, Susan came back and brought home the strangest smells. I could smell all kinds of people from the past on her, like grandma! But there was something else too… disease, and even death. I could also sense that even though Susan was very happy to see me and husband again, she was also sad. She remained sad for a long time and even now I know she’s down often. Poor Susan. People are so weird, if you just live in the moment, like we dogs do, you have way less to worry about! For the rest of the Summer we had loads of dogs staying with us again, but it made Susan a little bit too tired. Especially with the heat!

When Autumn came, I started to get itchy again! I ended up biting my tail until no hair was left because I just couldn’t handle it anymore; it drove me crazy. As this was the second year in a row I got itchy around the same time and it went away again, Susan and the vet suspect I’m allergic to some kind of ‘seed’ or ‘flower’ that’s outside in Autumn. And that it’s actually not a food-allergy, thank goodness! But I had to go to the vet quite a few times. Booh!

Christmas came and went with more dogs and then for a while we didn’t have any dog guests at all! It was nice and quiet in the house and I loved having Susan and husband all to myself. The three of us took many long walks, especially in the evenings, which was very interesting because it was dark, so I had to rely on my amazing nose even more than usual. But what I didn’t like was being left home alone…. Susan doesn’t leave me very often, but sometimes she has to (or so she says). I get so sad when I’m alone, I figure the best thing I can do is call out, so people or dogs will hear me and come to keep me company! Once I start howling I just have to keep on doing it, telling the world: COME BACK, COME BACK, COME BACK TO ME! I have to say it actually works, because so far Susan always listens and comes back! Even though I suspect Susan is not very happy with my lovely sad songs. Weird.

Then one day in Spring, we went for a long drive to a place called Hong Kong Dog Rescue. It was covered in a million dog smells and many dogs were barking. And there I met my new brother: Flanders. He came home with us in the car. He’s a weird dog. He always wants to play when I’m tired. And when I want to play, he doesn’t understand me! He also likes to follow Susan around in the house and even outside too. Off the leash! He doesn’t even run away to the garbage bins! Although he does like to chase cats, that is very entertaining (Susan doesn’t agree here). Once he actually gets to a cat, he doesn’t know what to do, and I don’t know either: cats are funny to chase and their poo is tasty, but they are really scary too. Let’s see, what else…. He eats his food very slowly and I have to stay in my kennel until he’s finished. And when Susan had to clean Flanders’ ears twice a day for a while, he just let her and didn’t try to bite her, even though I could tell he really didn’t like it! So strange. But I do enjoy his company and I don’t mind being home alone anymore, as long as he’s with me.

Sometimes other dogs still come and stay with us, but not as often as before anymore. And that’s fine too. Especially now that it is getting hotter again: Summer is coming!