December 2004

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Oh my. Zoe the office Golden Retriever is having to learn to deal with no longer being the complete center of doggie attention near the mailbox kiosk in our segment of the complex. Oh, she's had other canine competition, but never one over whom the humans cooed quite so much.

His name is Bugsy. He's about three months old, and is a mix of yellow Labrador Retriever and something else I can't recall at the moment. Anyway, Bugsy is small and cute and wears a harness made of purple ribbon to which is attached a purple lead. He really looks like a little Advent present, freshly brought forth from one of the doors of an Advent Calendar.

Bugsy was found a couple of weeks ago, apparently quite shortly after being abandoned. He didn't seem to have suffered any for the abandonment, and certainly has landed in a good situation. His finder's family couldn't keep him because too many family members are allergic to dogs. But his finder's family includes an attorney in our complex who happens to have a dog-loving, non-allergic assistant.

Said assistant adopted Bugsy on the spot, and Bugsy is being raised on weekdays in the law offices one building over. He's fitting quite nicely into a carton from reams of paper, which serves as both his bed and a puppy carrier as needed. The bed contains a sweet little fleece blanket, and is just the ticket on breezy days when it's just too much trouble to walk all the way from the building to the nearby parking lot.

Other times, Bugsy is seen strolling with the assistant or with her husband, who also works in that building. Remember that Bugsy is still quite small, so what is seen first is the bright purple of his lead.

Bugsy is very much into humans. He's at that stage where he wants to explore with his mouth, so most of us have had our fingers tasted. And he's a little fascinated that so many of us seem to smell like dogs, but we don't bark right.

Zoe, on the other paw, is used to being the princess dog. She's not used to having to stop in mid-walk to allow her humans to coo over some little thing that she isn't really sure is old enough to be at work yet (after all, being an office dog is a job). Since he seems to be staying around, she's tried covering his scent with hers, to protect him from harm, but he isn't old enough to know he's supposed to appreciate that gesture.

In fact, according to what I've been told, Bugsy is underwhelmed with Zoe. He ignored her at their latest encounter. Which did not please Zoe. Zoe is as much into polite as is her Aunt Becky, and we know ignoring your elders is just plain wrong.

If Bugsy knows what's good for him, he'll begin to pay the necessary homage to the princess. Because Zoe has a bark that will not fail to alert him to the error of his ways, and I suspect on their next encounter she won't be so startled by his rudeness that she'll keep her mouth shut on the subject.

I am delighted to be participating again in Holidailies. In addition to those participating in the portal, there are writers who are doing "Holidailies at Home." A list of those participants, as well as other information about Holidailies, is available through the link.