[Dailydrool] Sometimes We Must Make Allowances for our Hounds

[Kr1204]

Sure you don't want a flying Loki hound to make things a little more 
challenging?
Kathy

-----Original Message-----
From: Pat Dill <padill at starband.net>
To: dailydrool at lists.dailydrool.org
Sent: Sun, Jan 16, 2011 10:20 am
Subject: Sometimes We Must Make Allowances for our Hounds

Carol was off in NY on Thursday night, so I was home alone with the 
hounds.
I wanted to eat my dinner surrounded in peace by my four hounds in 
front of
the television after a tough day at work. Remember that Rosie is 
senile, and
Sampson likes to lick her incessantly if he can get to her; Lucy will 
whine
piteously at an increasing volume if there is a human sitting anywhere 
in
the house -- a lap must always be provided; Sampson will share the love 
seat
with a person and Lucy, but only if Lucy is there first (otherwise he 
will
become territorial and prevent her access); Bailey just wants a soft 
place
to lie down but must be settled in the room where the person is before
Sampson gets settled, lest Sampson defend his territory from his 
position.
(Is this sounding like an algebra problem yet?).  When Carol is there 
and we
choose to eat dinner in front of the TV, she is basically held captive 
with
Lucy on her lap while I jockey everyone else into position.

To accomplish my goal solo I executed the following plan:

Got everyone out for a potty break
Waited for Rosie to land someplace then carefully surrounded her with
appropriate barriers so that Sampson could not lick her
Led Bailey into the living room and convinced him to lie down on a dog 
bet
Heated my dinner plate, poured my beverage, taking it with a coaster 
and
napkin to the end table adjoining the loveseat and turned on the 
television
Lured Sampson and Lucy into the living room by holding my dinner plate 
in a
position where they could sense food
Carefully placed the dinner plate on the back part of the end table 
JUST
long enough to scoop up Lucy and sit down on the loveseat with her in 
my lap
Grabbed my plate and coaxed Sampson up on the loveseat beside me

Aha!  Mission accomplished!  All will nap while I watch TV and consume 
my
dinner.  Nothing to it!

Then the problems began.  All the preparations took so long that the 
show I
wanted to watch was over and the remote was on the other side of the 
room.
Sigh.  I can live without it.  Let's tackle supper.  Uh-oh.  Forgot the
fork.  Hmm.  Can't get up to get the fork with Lucy in my lap.  If I 
get up
now, I will never be able to get everyone in place again.  Let's see.  
The
fish pieces and Brussels sprouts were reasonably finger-friendly. The 
mashed
potatoes, not so much.  Oh well.  At least I have a napkin.  Three 
mouthfuls
in, I see that Bailey has gotten up from his bed and is walking slowly
around in that "scooty" position that generally precedes a bowel 
movement.
Can I get up and get him out in time?  Unlikely.  And he doesn't do 
well to
be dragged by the collar.  A disgusting choice, perhaps, but I chose to 
let
him do his business while I proceeded to eat, trying not to look.  Then 
I
noticed that it was diarrhea, and he was leaving it in puddles 
everywhere.
Ugh.  The smell is not nice.  I am thinking perhaps I simply must get 
up at
this point.  I shove down the rest of the plate's contents and try to
carefully move Lucy aside without rousing her so I can deal with 
Bailey.
That's when I notice that Lucy's spay incontinence has struck again and 
my
lap is soaked with urine.

Didn't turn out exactly the way I'd planned.

I had just finished cleaning up the diarrhea and changing my clothes 
when
Carol called.  "How's it going?" she asks. "Oh just fine," I say.  
"Typical
night with the hounds."

No, we aren't slaves for our hounds.  Not at all.

Pat Dill