BarkingProse

It’s been four days since mom left us. Jack won’t sleep in the bedroom at night and he mopes all day. Ash lies in front of the big doors waiting for her to come home.

I’ve got dad so I’m okay, but the boys are having a tough time. Mom didn’t want to leave us but she had to go to a memorial service near Chicago. She’ll be back soon, but not soon enough for Ash and Jack.

Ash is funny. He’ll take off on an adventure whenever he can if mom
is home. He knows it worries her when he gets out of the fence, but he so loves to go solo. Ash won’t go anywhere when mom isn’t home. He won’t play ball, he doesn’t steal socks. It’s like he lost his spark. He still eats and gobbles his treats, but something is missing.

Mom says the pack needs everybody to be complete. If somebody is missing, even for a good reason, it doesn’t feel right. We need mom to come home. As soon as Ash sees her he’ll grab a ball and jump on her. Jack will start grinning and I’ll flop down in front of her so she will stop and pet me.

Homecomings are fun. We get lots of attention. Mom keeps telling us how much she missed us. Jack will get kisses and mom will play ball with Ash till he’s had his fill. Then we’ll all go hop on the couch and watch tv. We won’t have to ask where mom is anymore. She’ll be right where she belongs – with us.

We’re still getting mom up at 4am. She’s tried keeping us up later at night, changing our dinner time, making our walks longer, even pleading with us. We just can’t help ourselves.

It starts with Tess sticking that pesky nose of hers in mom’s face. She calls it testing the waters. I call it selfish. Mom whispers for her to go. Tess obliges but as she walks past Jack she flicks her big red tail in his face.

Jack is rudely awakened by Tess and her tail. Remember he didn’t hear Tess come in cause he was sleeping and he’s deaf. Jack begins to moan. It does no good to tell him to shush. As Jack’s funny sounds get louder Tess comes back into the room.

Acting as if she had nothing to do with waking Jack, she pretends to greet mom for the first time. While mom tells Tess to go, I jump on mom and pin her arms next to her. Then I very carefully begin to wash her face from ear to ear and chin to nose.

It takes about ten seconds for mom to cry uncle. When she whispers “okay” I jump off the bed and grab her slipper. Tess prances towards the door and Jack heaves himself out of his deep soft bed. I trot back and forth with the slipper looking for something better to swipe. Once I found dad’s wallet, but mom didn’t think that was funny.

Mom stumbles to the closet and puts on her heavy sweats. She lists a little when she walks cause she only has one slipper. We dogs try not to trip her on the way to the door. There she tells me to drop the slipper, which she insists on having in her hand before she opens the door. Next thing you know the door opens and the day begins.

One time I asked mom how she felt about us getting her up so early. She told me it’s hard to roll out of bed at 4am. She’d really like to sleep just one more hour. Then she told me something that almost made me cry.

Mom says our pack won’t always be the same. We’ll get older and one day we won’t be able to do all the goofy stuff we do now. Rather than force us house dogs to let her sleep later, she’d rather treasure the good parts of getting up so early.

Mom says if you change how you look at things you can be a lot happier. She says every minute of life can be special if we let it. So when Tess starts prowling in the wee hours of the morning, she’s just looking after her pack. When Jack moans he’s  asking for reassurance. Me licking her awake makes her laugh. What better way to start the day than laughing?

I think I understand what mom is trying to say. If you stop insisting on having things your way, you may find that your life is just the way you like it. Think about it. Gotta run!

I’ve come a long way since I arrived at Asherpark. The day I got here I was so distressed I peed nearly fifty times.

Mom thought I had an infection and took me to the vet the next day. Turns out it was nervous marking. I still do that sometimes when I’m upset.

I’ve got some challenges  – my border collie personality, red hair, and I was a stray. I go crazy around the goats and chickens, I bark too much, I tried to kill Asher’s little brother.

Mom says I’m too smart for my own good. Things have improved since I decided I belong to my dad. I still have all my bad habits but now I have my own person.

I lie by his chair while  he reads. I sit next to him on the couch and we watch the news together. When it’s time for my dad to get up I jump on the bed and lie real close to him.

Whenever dad goes anywhere in the truck, I go too. But one time he couldn’t take me because it was too hot outside. Mom felt sorry for me because I moped around for hours until he came home.

I’m afraid of thunder and gun noises, so mom got me some tonic from the vet to help me relax. I hate brooms and vacuum cleaners. Whenever I get a chance I bite the broom, even if it’s not moving.

Mom says I am real sensitive and she tries not to hurt my feelings except when I’m in the middle of a dog fight. Then she doesn’t care about my inner self, she just wants my outer self off the other dog.

Everybody loves Ash because he’s funny and easy to be with. People who don’t usually like dogs are crazy about Jack  because he’s quiet and gentle. Me, I’m in trouble a lot. Sometimes I don’t even understand what I did wrong. But mom says I have a good heart. She knows I want to please.

Every night before I go to sleep the people tell me that they love me. They tell me I have a forever home at Asherpark. Me and Ash, together forever. I like that. Respectfully, Tess.