BarkingProse

What the heck is concatenation? It’s a new word we learned. Before we looked it up me and Tess tried guessing what it means.

Concatenation has “cat” in it so Tess figured it was a nasty word. I saw “cat” and “nation” preceded by “con.”  I guessed it meant opposition to a cat nation. That would be Tess!

But when mom looked it up it wasn’t what we thought at all. Dictionary.com says concatenation means a string of things depending on each other, as if linked together. Wow, that’s the perfect word to describe how my life turned out the way it did.

It’s a long string of things but here’s how it goes. When Codie was a baby mom took her to see our friend Joani. In front of Joani’s house she met Carole, who was walking Reno. Yup, Reno was an Australian Shepherd puppy just like Codie. One thing led to another and soon mom and Carole were good friends.

Fast forward thirteen years. Reno is gone and Carole is ready for a new puppy. Carole tells mom about this blue merle puppy (me) in northeast Washington. Carole has already picked out her puppy Arrow. Mom and Carole drive to see the puppies and bingo! Me, Asher, is spoken for. Did I tell you Asher was the seventh son of Jacob and was promised a life of fulfillment?

Now we come home to Seattle. I lived with Codie in a real busy part of the city. Mom said city life was too hectic. She wanted to live in the country with chickens, goats and lots of mutts.

One day mom puts the wrong county in her online search for a new home. Up jumps Asherpark! Mom said she knew from the picture that was our home, but somebody else was living there. So we had to do all the financial stuff, sell our old house and move to the country.

Now we live in paradise, otherwise known as Asherpark. Funny, huh? Just remember, concatenation can be at work when you don’t even know it. Think about it.

 

I can’t vote but I still have opinions. I think politics has gone nuts. It’s like politicians don’t care what’s right for everybody. They just want to get re-elected.

Mom comes from a mixed family. Her mother was a democrat, her dad a republican. They used to laugh cause they canceled out each other’s vote.

Mom said they never got mean about politics. I heard they had some pretty good arguments around the dinner table, but they were always nice to each other.

Somebody gave mom this George W doll a couple of years ago. I wanted to chew it up right away but mom wouldn’t let me.

Mom brings W out once in a while for me to look at. You can see in this picture I’m checking him out pretty careful. I kinda like the red boots.

In the dog world we don’t vote on our leaders. When the pack is in harmony there’s a natural order to things. Take our pack at Asherpark.

Codie was an only dog for most of her life, but she had lots of dog friends. She got along with everybody unless some mutt had bad manners. Codie wouldn’t stand for bad manners and put more than one male dog in his place.

Even though Codie was appalled that she had to let me in her house, we never argued over who was boss. Codie was older and set the rules. I never challenged her.

When Codie left us I was alone and lonely. I followed mom everywhere and pestered her constantly. That’s when mom found Tess and brought her home. Tess had terrible manners. She attacked me over food and stuffies. Good thing mom was there to insist Tess behave herself.

Mom told me I had to show some leadership. There would be other rescue dogs coming to Asherpark and I had to show them the ropes. Tess said she didn’t want to be the pack leader, so she was happy with me being boss dog.

When guest dogs come to play I’m the host. I show them where the toys are and where to pee. I’ve only had one fight with a guest dog. Some big shepherd jumped me before I could even say hello. She never got invited back.

Darcy was so scared when he got to Asherpark that he peed himself. I felt real sorry for him. Tess and I tried to make him feel part of the pack but he was too old and sick. He was only with us a couple of months before he got called to cross the bridge.

Jack was a handful when he arrived. He came from a bad home and then spent five months in the slammer. He acted like some big macho ex-con. He tried to muscle me around and kept growling. I was kinda scared of him at first. I kept looking at mom to make Jack be nice. It took a while, but now Jack is my good pal. Yesterday he gave me a friendly body slam when we were running. That was nice.

We’re a happy pack. Each mutt gets special time with our people. Tess rides in the truck. Jack and I go on errands with mom. Once a year I go to the beach with my brother Zag. Life is good. If us dogs could vote we’d keep things just the way they are. Gotta run!

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s true I’ve led a charmed life. My birth and that of my six siblings was planned. My parents were chosen for their temperament and athleticism.

My first memories were of kind and gentle people holding me before I could open my eyes.

By the time I was five weeks old I had been spoken for. Because I have the flawed gene that makes my dark colors fade, I had to go to a home where I would not make puppies.

Mom came to see me when I was six weeks old. Even at that young age she said I was an independent little cuss who was always off exploring. I also displayed my affection for shoes, selecting the stinky barn shoes as my treasures.

I did not immediately have my own dog park. We lived for a time in the city, which was rich with smells and very confining. Mom would get up at 5am to take me to the dog park before she went to work.

I had the luxury of my own nursemaid. Princess Codie reluctantly allowed me into her domain but warned me repeatedly about looking at her food. When I was a mindless pup she nipped me on more than one occasion to reinforce the manners she was teaching me.

I didn’t care about the nips. With so much fur I rarely felt a pinch. Over time I could tell that Codie was beginning to enjoy my company. Soon we were a pair. The Blue Dogs, we were called.

If you’ve read the DailyBark you know we lost Codie in 2009. Soon after we rescued Tess, and later took in Darcy and Jack. It was after Codie’s death that I became the babysitter.

Tess, Darcy and Jack never had the stable home that I enjoyed. Bounced around, in and out of shelters and different homes, they lacked the confidence about their world that I have.

When Tess arrived it took the whole household to keep her calm. Either mom or dad stayed with her constantly for two weeks. Finally mom told me I had to take over as babysitter. I wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but I was willing to try.

One night mom and dad walked up the hill to have dinner with the neighbors. When Tess saw them leave she began to wail and threw herself at the door. That was pretty entertaining. Tess howled for over an hour until her voice gave out. She finally collapsed on the floor panting.

Tess still gets nervous when our people leave but now she sulks instead of carrying on. I don’t know what Tess would do if I didn’t stay home with her. I know she sticks real close to me when we’re home alone. Tess has come so far. I’m really proud of her.

This bark is getting pretty long and it’s time for me to run the fence line. That’s my reward for being the babysitter. I’ll bark about Darcy and Jack another time. See ya!