[Dailydrool] Young Charlie on his own

[Elizabeth Lindsey]

This week young Charlie is getting to see what being an only dog  
feels like. Over the last couple of weeks we've had major plumbing  
issues that on Monday and Tuesday resulted in a crew of three coming  
over to replace the entire waste-line pipe from the basement through  
the back yard and on out to the alley. At one point we had a waist- 
deep ditch running the length of the back yard, making it look as if  
we were preparing to reenact a WWI trench warfare battle. But I was  
very happy to let the plumber destroy our backyard if the end result  
was going to be the use of our plumbing again. We were without  
bathroom, laundry, and kitchen facilities for eleven long days. Those  
eleven days featured TV dinners (no dishes to wash) and a bucket,  
plastic bags, and scented candles in the bathroom. It wasn't good.

Once the pipe had been laid in the ditch, we had to wait for codes to  
come out and inspect it. That meant we had to leave the automatic  
back gate open, which wouldn't have been a problem except for the  
fact that the crew had removed the middle section of picket fence  
that keeps the dogs in the back yard proper and out of the parking  
area that the automatic back gate opens onto. Young Charlie knows  
that feral cats live in the alley beyond that back gate, and feral  
cats are tremendous fun to chase. So he lives for the moment when he  
can slip into the alley and start looking for cats to chase. It's  
happened only once (careless handyman left the gate open), but he's  
sure it'll happen again someday, and he wants to be in the right  
place to take advantage of the opportunity when it arises.

But young Charlie wasn't the problem with the temporary lack of back  
yard fencing. We have a small fenced-in front yard that we can make  
do with during emergencies like this. One of us has to be out with  
the dogs in the front yard at all times to ensure that no one  
unlatches the front gate as a joke or foolishly tries to pat the dogs  
through or over the fence, but it's not too much of a hassle letting  
the dogs use the front yard when they have to go and standing around  
on the porch until they do go.

The front yard with mandatory supervision, however, just isn't enough  
for our Elsinore, who got her very own doggie door a year ago this  
month. Elsinore very quickly embraced the whole doggie door culture  
and spends her days going in and out of the house at will to check on  
things. To be trapped inside with me as reluctant doorman ("You don't  
*have* to go out again, and you know it") would have made her  
miserable. She would have climbed the walls with boredom and  
inactivity. And when Elsinore is miserable, everyone else is doubly  
so because she doesn't believe in suffering alone. She believes that  
the more miserable she can make me with her misery, the more likely I  
am to give her what she wants. And she's often right.

Charlie, on the other hand, doesn't have a need to pop in and out of  
the house every half hour to make a quick sweep of the yard and shout  
obscenities at the neighbors. He spends his morning asleep on his bed  
on "our" desk, and the afternoon dozing in various beds around the  
house, in the patch of sunshine that creeps along my office floor,  
and in the sun on the back deck. He still manages to do something  
naughty every day, but he isn't anywhere near as active as he was  
just a couple years ago. He's gone from being a destructive puppy who  
never napped to a mildly disobedient adult who naps away the better  
part of the day. Who would've thought?

To keep everyone sane during this week of indoor plumbing but no  
outdoor fencing, Elsinore's been staying at our friend Jennifer's.  
Jennifer not only has Elsinore's basset friend Owen, but she also has  
a doggie door and, even better, a chain link fence in her back yard.  
Elsinore has a six-foot privacy fence that keeps her from seeing most  
of what's going on. It's very frustrating for her. She loves  
Jennifer's fence, through which she can see and comment knowledgeably  
on everything that goes on in that neighborhood. I've spoken with  
Jennifer several times this week, and she says Elsinore's a happy  
girl, going in and out of the house whenever she wants, beholden to  
no human for her relative freedom.

So young Charlie has been spending the week as an only dog, and he's  
doing all right with it, but he'd rather Elsinore were here again. I  
explained to both of them what the plan for the week was going to be,  
and I've told him that Elsinore will be coming home tomorrow because  
the plumber restored the fencing last night. But just because you  
know what the plans are doesn't mean they make you happy. Charlie's  
been subdued all week, not his usual merry self. He hasn't asked me  
to play with him and his toys even once. In fact, he hasn't gone  
through his toy basket at all. He seems to be enjoying the extra  
attention an only dog gets, but it's like part of him has sort of  
shut down. Ken calls him a mama's boy because he doesn't seem to be  
able to go anywhere I'm not. But I think deep down young Charlie is  
really Elsinore's boy.

When I return from a trip, Charlie usually greets me enthusiastically  
at first but then obviously ignores me for a day to let me know he  
wasn't happy about my leaving him. It'll be interesting to see if he  
treats Elsinore the same way when she comes home tomorrow.

Elizabeth