SIR BAXTER AND SEPARATION ANXIETY
A good friend of mine who’s in her 30s just left on a trip to a national park. I offered to take care of her English Bulldog, Sir Baxter (this is an alias just in case Sir Baxter has an attorney) while she was gone.
A good friend of mine who’s in her 30s just left on a trip to a national park. I offered to take care of her English Bulldog, Sir Baxter (this is an alias just in case Sir Baxter has an attorney) while she was gone.
The following was our conversation about me watching Sir Baxter for three days:Me: I'll take care of Sir Baxter if you want me to.
Young friend: No, I don't want to be a bother.
Me: It's no bother, really, Husband and I like dogs.
Young friend: Well, there's a problem.
I stopped, looked at her, trying to figure out if she was worried that I’m not capable of taking care of her dog. (Well, yeah he is a pedigree, cost a kajillion dollars, and I do have this attitude that I don't "give a damn" but my God, I could watch a dog for 3 days without any disasters, right?) Paranoia strikes.
My young friend’s face contorted with worry.
Me: I'm responsible enough to watch a dog! Really I’ll do a good job.
Young friend: No, no it's not about you. Sir Baxter, well you see . . .
Okay, now I’m getting pissed. I mean I raised a child who went to a prestigious college, I cook for Husband, I write novels, I edit and ghost-write books, I meet deadlines, I don't set the kitchen on fire, I haven't lost my car lately...I can make sure a dog is alive in three days when the owners come to pick it up.
Young friend: You see, Sir Baxter . ..
Me: What? The dog doesn't like me? (Okay, honestly this dog is a pain in the ass. He's one of those rich dogs who knows he’s special. My friend and her boyfriend buy him expensive food, toys out the you know what, he swims in their huge pool, takes some kind of lessons…he’s a friggin’ snooty dog.)
Young friend: He loves you, Mary (news to me) but we need to take him with us on the trip. He gets separation anxiety when we leave him.
Me blank stare thinking: What the hell…I don’t know a lot, but do dogs get separation anxiety?
Young friend: We’re taking him with us and during the day he gets to go to the Doggy Dude Ranch so he’ll have a vacation too!
Next blog: Doggy Dude Ranch Or Bust
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3 comments:
Love the new Blog look! And your blog was a
riot about the doggie, etc. Too funny!! I
always look forward to all of your blogs...
Love,
Chris
Doggy Dude Ranch, what a hoot! But separation anxiety is real with dogs. We had one, not spoiled like this dog and not a pedigreed dog. If she had to stay at a kennel for any length of time, she wouldn't eat, or drink. She laid in a corner and sighed a lot. No kidding! Depression deluxe. But she was too big to take with us when we went on vacation. So we just found a person she liked to take care of her. A doggy babysitter!
Sir Baxter is a hoot. I should hear about the dud...I mean dude ranch episode soon. Next post. Mary
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