Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Houseguest #1

Meet Murray. He's a nine-year-old black Lab who is staying with us until April 3rd. I'm in love with him, which is why his human parents thought of me first when they planned their cruise vacation.

Getting a dog of our own is impossible due to landlord request so I have to make due with the stolen snippets of puppy energy I get from strangers in the park or on the street.

Murray and I go everywhere together now - to the coffee shop, to breakfast, to the airport - everywhere. It's delicious to have a loving, if not slobbering face looking up at me no matter what is going on.

With Murray as my ticket, I've been going to Dog Park, which is like a big playground for canines. There, humans stand around either checking their emails or throwing slobbery tennis balls while their dog frantically runs around sniffing butts and generally celebrating their off-leash status. It's amazingly easy to make a dog happy and their communications with one another are so simple, I'm envious.

When I first let him run free, Murray ran immediately into a pack of four other black Labs and I thought I'd lost track of him. But Murray is a loyal pup and he checks in on me every few minutes without prompting so there's no chance of that. I felt like a proud mama. "Murray is the most handsome dog here, BY FAR," I kept thinking to myself. 

Thinking about turning over Murray next week makes me tear up. I don't want him to leave. Even our black cat, Boudreaux, has gotten used to him, I think.

5 comments:

Susie said...

Oh Heather I feel you on the dog love. I work with the office door open and they all come in to see me because they know they will get lots of love.

My landlord says no too.

I compensate by having the biggest cat anyone has ever seen, but he won't fetch and the whole riding in the car thing bums him out.

Some day....

SUEB0B said...

I love love love dogs. They make me truly happy. My girl Goldie is the light of my life. Though she is getting pretty creaky and old and deaf, she is still always ready to go do and explore.

hotdrwife said...

Well, if you ever need a fix, I have two Boston Terriers with boundless energy and love hanging out. Horrific gas, though.

Urban Earthworm said...

He IS very handsome. I'm am very much a dog person. I'm glad you're enjoying his stay! I wish we could find such devoted dog sitters!

I found your blog via your vegetarian kids post from 2009 on BlogHer - weird, right?

Heather Clisby said...

Colleen - Thanks for stopping by! Murray left yesterday and I cried - even the cat whimpered. I NEED A DOG.

I can't believe you traced me from that long-ago post. I always forget there are lingering parts of me all over the web.