Unrequited adoration! I was out walking with Max last week when a little ray of sunshine happened upon us! We were briskly making our way along a lovely Crescent when the cutest little bull dog came running up to us. At first I was a bit worried, one is never sure how things will go when one dog is off leash and the other one is tethered. When Max meets another of his kind, he has been trained to lay down and allow the other canine to pass by while he waits patiently. Miss Cutie Pie came running up, Max did his thing, and lounged in the grass waiting for her to move on, but his handsomeness was not to be over looked! Our new friend wasn’t interested in heading back from whence she came, nope, she had taken a shine to Max! She was utterly smitten by this aloof giant. Basically his new admirer had a strategy, the minute he got up to move she would throw herself at his feet! It was too funny, Max this big lug of a Irish Setter weighing in at about 100 pounds, was unsure of how to deal with advances of this of a thirty-five pound female swooning before him. He would get up and try and pass her, she would drop in front of him, belly and legs in the air and he was flummoxed, he was not trained in how to handle these sort of advances. I handed off Max and went door to door trying to figure out where our tag along belonged. The first door I knocked on, the man scratched his head as he took in the scene before him, he had no clue where she was from! I mentioned she had a blue collar on with white Daisies…he said “that’s her name, Daisy, I think she belongs next door.” What I learned from this encounter was, individuals who aren’t “pet people” are not tuned in to the comings and goings of the four legged creatures that inhabit their street! I rang the bell of home next door to this gentleman’s and realized that yes in deed, a dog lived next door…two in fact and they were both inside, neither one was named Daisy and I had disturbed their people’s dinner. I don’t like to disrupt people at meal time, but ten minutes had elapsed and we were going no where until we found out where our cling on lived. I apologized for the disturbance, but requested if the woman could take a few minutes to come out and look at the dog to see if she recognized her so we could get on with the task at hand (I was being paid as a dog walker, which wasn’t happening). She came out to see Max with his girl friend draped in front of him on the sidewalk, the bull dog was like Kryptonite , Max was incapable of getting around her . The lady exclaimed “That’s Sunny!” and pointed to the house where she belonged. I rang that door bell and a young woman came to the door, I asked her if she was missing some “Sunshine?” She looked puzzled at first and I smiled. “Your side gate is open and I believe your dog is down the way laying before a handsome stranger hoping to be his date for the evening!” She came out front and spied her elusive housemate who had snuck away undetected. She bellowed the dogs name, but there was no hint of recognition or show of concern at being discovered off her property! Sunny was not going to give up on Max, she was determined, she wasn’t going to allow him to get away. The barefoot young woman had to wander down the sidewalk and retrieve her charge, Sunny watched us as she was carried away, with dismay and longing in her eyes. Max on the other hand seemed relieved to be rescued from the advances of this rather forward and presumptuous young lass. Poor girl, unrequited love is tough! I have to say, I admired her determination and unyielding commitment, she wasn’t easily thwarted, if she had not been carted off, I think we might still be standing there :o)
No Time To Paws 