Thursday, July 07, 2005

It's a dog's life

The life of the #2 Dog can be humbling, although Toby is an exceptionally cheerful spirit and he bears it well.

Last week, the poor fellow was quite ill which resulted in the unfortunate disposal of one of the two dog beds. (Don't ask - let's just say that it was unsalvageable and that Enrico deserves a special merit badge for toxic waste disposal.) Since Toby is #2 Dog, he just lay where the missing bed used to be, while Nelly hogged the remaining bed. In other words, the moral of the story is: If you're the Alpha Dog, you get a bed; if you're the #2 Dog, you must settle for the imaginary bed.

I replaced the bed today, so that particular equilibrium is restored; but now a new trial has come along for poor Toby. His allergies are quite bad, and he will literally scratch and lick himself into a big oozing sore if we don't keep a tight watch on things. So, when the going gets tough - when I'm out of Benadryl (which he consumes in doses sufficient to tranquilize a horse) and I can no longer stand to hear myself saying "leave it, leave it, leave it Toby, STOP LICKING YOURSELF" - the dog wears tie-dye. And then has his picture posted on the Internet for everyone to see. Really, is there no end to the humiliation?


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3 comments:

Laziest Girl said...

You're lucky he'll wear it. We bought Sarah the Springer Spaniel a fancy coat for winter which was immediately christened "The Coat of Doom". As soon as it went on, she could no longer walk normally and had to stagger about on an angle whilst trying to rub the coat off on the coffee table, the wall, your legs, the couch, the cat etc.

In the end, we just put an old woollen blanket on her bed.

Cousin Flora said...

Welcome, Laziest Girl! I'm a longtime fan and it's a pleasure to see you here.

Laziest Girl said...

Trust me - the pleasure is all mine. It's nice to get out of the house once in a while. And I'm glad to see you came back from Italy. I guess the lure of reliable and unlimited hot water should not be under valued.

But seriously - I love that you love life so much - that you are aware of the endless opportunities. Sorry, I accidentally started channelling Oprah there for a minute.