Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Henry

I'll tell you a little story about my dachshund Henry, because he's my other kid. We wake up early, really early every morning. I make the coffee, he goes outside to do his business. Then we get Julia up and get her ready for school. He sits in the front yard and waits for the bus with us. Always has, even as a puppy.

His big treat every day is a walk around the block. One day in the fall I forgot he had gone out front after a neighbor had stopped by, and later couldn't find him. I frantically combed the neighborhood, drove around the block with my head out the window just hoping he'd show up. Sure enough, he was on the sidewalk taking his own little walk without me. I tried to get him to come to the car, but he became scared and ran off. I drove up the house and there he was on the front porch waiting  . . . as if it'd never happened. "Did you notice anything missing?" I asked, picking him up. "Like  . . . me, for instance?"

A few weeks ago he got out when a salesman came around, and an hour later I hear a bark at the door. I let him in, just sure he'd taken his own little walk again. "Oh hi Henry. How was it?"

He was going to do it again today. I saw him heading for the sidewalk, ears all perked and legs in a jaunty trot. "Oh no you don't. Come here." I slipped the harness around his neck and tied him up. All he had to wait was about five minutes for Liam to get on the bus, then we—WE—would take our walk.

Anyone else have a dog story? I know Cro might! Lay 'em on me.

12 comments:

  1. Mom and Dad had a musical dachsie....Dad would knock out "shave and a haircut" and Cleo would bark the "two bits" right on tune.

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  2. Cute kids, cute dog. The last time I went out into the yard to 'do my business', I got arrested.

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    1. It's like they're waiting. Seems like such a stupid thing for them to arrest people for.

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  3. We have a wiener dog, too. Malcolm lost his two pug companions to old age recently, and now he rules the house. He has his own bed now, but enjoys the suitcase under the bed the best. It's nice to come home and hear his scratching and barking at the door for me. Dogs must know the difference in engine noises. But sad to stay, he has to go live with Jim the brother-in-law soon due to house renovations. But, Jim promised that he has a bar-stool reserved for Malcolm at the Daiquiri Hut where he frequents daily. Malc will make lots of new friends! He'll be missed ...

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    1. I think they know the difference between engines too! Does Malcolm bark at doorbells on tv? That's something I notice with dachshunds, they hate doorbells, haha.

      May he have a nice transition, and may you get on okay without your little guy.

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  4. Pretty much the same story. They all want to be free, but always come home. Just like us all.

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  5. My first scruffy mutt, Hamlet, would feign tiredness every morning when I said 'walkies'. Then when I was about 2 kms from the house (thick in the woods) he would suddenly turn-up saying 'see, I found you!'. He did it every morning.

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  6. Tippy was my childhood dog. She was a mixed terrier that we adopted when I was about 5. The summer I was 16, Tippy and I went to stay with my sister and her family who lived in a rented farm house about 8 miles out of a small town in central Kansas. They had a beagle named Red who tolerated the visitor, primarily because Tippy was an indoor city dog, while Red spent most of his time outside. One night the entire family (me,my sister, her husband and 3 kids) go out for the evening. When we returned, Tippy was gone. We had neglected leave her in the house. We all good to the edges of the farmyard calling into the wheat fields for her. With no response or sight of her we were all close to tears. Someone, maybe my brother-in-law, who knew about such things, made mention of coyotes. While we were all calling into the night, Red the beagle, was sitting there seeming very bored and disinterested. He didn't have much use for his city cousin. After a while - it seemed like forever - he got up and ambled into the wheat field. About 5 minutes later he calmly returned with a somewhat bedraggled, but obviously happy Tippy dog trailing him. That was the last time we took her to the country.

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    1. Wow, that's pretty funny. Tippy got shamboozled!

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  7. Aw, Henry! How cute! I can just picture him strolling down the sidewalk, so proud to do it all on his own...

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  8. That's so cute! We have three dogs that also see the walk around our block as the highlight of their day. :-)

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