Happy Dog

Multimedia message, originally uploaded by twitchycat.

This is Josie, our older neurotic dog. She's a lab/greyhound cross, best we can tell, and she's a loving, gentle soul (unless you are another dog). She and Miles have had a distant relationship, as Miles is not actually that fond of dogs from what I can deduce, and certainly not ones with big waggy tails that might thwack you. Now that he is above tail-wagging height, however, he has warmed up a bit. On Monday he and his daycare provider made bandanas for her dogs and ours, and he graced Josie with hers that very evening. Normally Josie would pull a face and expressively sigh, indicating how long-suffering she is and that life was so much better before That Other Dog and the hairless screaming puppies showed up.

This time was different.

Our dog, who does not like wearing anything, not collars, not booties to protect her sensitive paws, and certainly not any dog clothing, our dog preened in her boy-made and boy-gifted bandanna. If we had mirrors at dog height at our house, I swear she would have spent the evening gazing at her reflection, murmuring, "He made it for me."

We take the bandanna off when we leave the house and at night, to avoid any unpleasant bandanna-eating episodes. But frankly, if she didn't love it, she would have skulked off and torn it to shreds already. From this bandanna I have observed a subtle thawing in Miles' interactions with Josie: a kiss on the nose here; a lingering caress there; and a good ten minutes of brushing just the other evening. Such, I suppose, is the shared power of a home-made gift, that it enthralls boy and dog alike.

And it makes Josie, who is aging and awkward, with many, many bad habits, a very happy dog indeed.

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By the way, that is plywood in the picture, and yes, it is our floor. So now you know my deep-dark secret. I have plywood for floors, and it doesn't even phase me. I truly spring from the northernmost reaches of Appalachia.