Angry

I have been really angry latetely. Angry and difficult for no reason. Writing this post (in my head first) helped though. I am OK now. I think.

I was angry with Puil, impatient with Lily and even angry with the poor dog. I was angry with him just for being a dog I suppose.

But let me tell you his guilt-list:

1) He is whining and whinging constantly. It seems to be his default mode. He whines when he begs for food, in fact he whines during the whole of meal times. And meal times last long in this house (ok, flat). He whines despite the fact that his own food is waiting for him in his tray. He whines when he wants to go for a walk (we take him out four times in total) or when we do not throw his ball for him as soon as he puts it down (a whole meter away from us). He is is really bad with that ball as he puts it to places he cannot reach and then cries until I get it out for him. But worst of all he whines really loud when I carry Lily! I suppose that is just the love he feels for her and the rest is normal dog-nature. So it is all forgiven.

2) He barks when someone comes near our door even if it is Puil coming home. He will not stop when I tell hime that a friend came. He barks whenever Lily cries. Even during the night when she cries for two seconds then continues to sleep. We are afraid that the barking might wake her but actually it does not so it is all forgiven. Well, again barking is dog nature and I suppose he might think we did not hear her cry.

3) He never listens to me. He tries to go in to Lily's room and puts his ball on the bed. I usually walk him without his lead as that is what I was told to do. It is OK in most cases as there is a lovely little nature reserve area two minutes from us and most people walk their dog without a lead there. However some have their dogs on a lead and even though I call him as soon as I spot a dog on a lead he won't come and won't let me put his lead on. Instead he causes trouble. He loves annoying bigger male dogs. But maybe it is all my fault I should just walk hime with his lead on and all is easy then.

4) He has a poo all the time! As said before we take him out four times: Puil in the morning and evening and I during the day. Just yesterday he had a poo three separate times at one single walk so I nearly ran out of waste-bags. Worse than that he had a poo in our living room. Just an hour after his last walk. I couldn't beleive my eyes. After all he is over 10 years old so should know better. This one is not forgiven. A poo in my living room! I will be cleaning and cleaning for days after he's gone.

5) I cannot go out when he is here. Last time we had him I went to a baby group with Lily and during that time he howled that bad, that our poor neighbour complained. I cannot blame her. I heard that howl myself and it is simply horrible. The problem might be that he is not used to our flat and is really scared that we might never return. Apparently it is better to do dog-sitting in the dogs own house. But that is miles away.

Ok, rant over it felt good. And why do we all love him after all? Because he is so warm-hearted, and friendly. He can be made so happy with his ball or with a nice walk. His ears flutter in the wind when he runs. But most of all there is pure love between Lily and him.

Lily's face lits up when we take her out in the morning and she can see that the dog is still here. It is hilarious to watch her as she crawles towards him with a huge smile on her face. She learnt to stroke gently and learnt to throw his ball. I hope she won't miss him too much. At least I can compensate her with going to some baby-activities.

The dog leaves today and I will be half relieved, half sad to say goodbye. It is nice to be a casual dog owner for a couple of weeks every half year. But having a dog is a lot of responsibility.

We will meet him again soon when Valerie, my sister-in-law comes for a visit. He is her dog.