Doggie Dreamin'

Last night Suzy's owner came over one last time before flying back home (she got a Thanksgiving Day flight, amazingly) and we went out to dinner with the doggie. I found myself feeling kind of sad that Suzy's owner was leaving, not because of our challenges with Suzy, but because Suzy's owner and I have such a great time talking whenever we see each other, and I've missed having a local single (i.e., not occupied with husband and such during times I'm free) friend with whom there's so much to talk about.

Anyway, when we got home at about 9:00 p.m., there was a message on the answering machine from...you guessed it: the neighbor across the way. (Did you guess?) She said she'd heard Suzy barking and wanted to let me know she was home and could watch the dog if I wanted. Well, I called her back and very politely told her she couldn't have heard Suzy, because Suzy had been with us for the past four hours! I told her there sure are a lot of dogs in our area, and it's likely she hears other dogs quite a lot. Whatever!

Bleah. I'm sorry we exchanged phone numbers; I certainly don't want her calling me every time she hears someone's dog barking. (BTW, Suzy doesn't bark; she whines, cries, wails, howls...but doesn't bark.) I suppose if I don't ask her to dogsit, the neighbor will eventually get the hint. I'm also going to tell her, the next time this comes up, that I'm treating the dog with various meds and want to see how those work for now. Suzy's owner said it's okay to take Suzy with us and leave her in the car sometimes (weather permitting) when we go out, since she won't mess in the car and will just hang out by the back window and whine for a while. Since the weather is cool enough, we might do that if the situation is appropriate. Although Suzy's behavior is a challenge, it all feels very workable.

Now I'm off to squeeze in some editing before the kiddo returns from his dad's house and we start celebrating Thanksgiving. Have a lovely day, everyone! :-)