The third cup 7/13

Sunday, July 13, 2003

Hi neighbors. You have to get up pretty early to drink your coffee outside before melt down hits. I don't know if the globe is warming -- but Nevada is. This week I went to see my daughter in Iowa. Every trip is a new adventure whenever I leave Nevada for the wide open spaces. One of the first concerns is what to do with Corey. Corey the Chihuahua, AKA Corey the Wonderdog, is old, hard of hearing, nearly blind, and completely indifferent to any human orders directed to him. He doesn't mind car trips, but my car has no air conditioning so he gets too hot. Leaving the vent open for a breeze doesn't help because he sticks his nose into the vent air flow and instantly has a sneezing fit. He gets bored pretty quickly though and will settle down to sleep in his restraints. He is a real "scardie-cat" for a dog though and the noise of passing cars will wake him up. If I have to wait for a train to pass, that noise terrifies him. If it's dark, the lights of other cars wake him up. It's just a problem to take him with me. The trip that usually takes five hours will end up being seven to nine hours long depending on how many times he feels a need to stretch his legs. The last couple of times I've gone without him, my beloved ex-mother-in-law has taken him into her home. Still, knowing Corey, I thought she could use a break this time. I called my nephew and asked if he wanted to dog-sit. He came over with his mom and brother and checked him out. "Does he lead pretty good when you walk him?" he asked. "Well, as long as it suits him, then he just goes where he wants to and I follow him," I explained. "Does he bark?" "Oh, yes, Corey is a very good barker! Endlessly so sometimes." "Does he do any tricks?" "Humm, he plays dead really well, particularly from one to four o'clock every afternoon." "Does he like to be petted or held?" I could tell he was beginning to wonder what he was getting into. "Usually, the less you bother him the better he likes it. He just wants a pat or hug while you're hooking on his leash. Other than that, he would just as soon you not mess up his fur." "Does he scratch at the door when he wants out? How will I know when he has to go outside?" I smiled remembering how Corey's whimpers turn to barks and howls if he isn't tended to within two minutes of his first stretch in the mornings. "Oh, you'll know. He's pretty hard to ignore when he wants something." "So he doesn't scratch at the door to go out?" "Oh, no! But if he wants back in, which usually happens by the time you shut the door and sit back down in your chair, he'll scratch the paint off the side of the house to get your attention." His eyes got wider -- my nephew's not Corey's. Corey was napping. "Don't worry though!" I added quickly. "He'll soon figure out where all the windows in the house are and go the one he knows is closest to where you are. He'll sit there and bark until you come out to get him." "I have to go out to get him? Why won't he come in?" "Because he is barking so loud to get your attention under the window, he can't hear you calling him from the door." "What does he eat?" "Only what he wants. It doesn't matter what he ate yesterday or all last week. You just have to experiment to see what he's into day by day. He doesn't like raw eggs, you have to poach them, don't forget to warm his milk to room temperature at least. He will eat hot dogs if they are diced up for him. He likes his hamburger medium well done. Oh, and he eats only moist cat food, he doesn't like dog food." My nephew's face was crunched up to one side, his mouth was puckered and he took out the money I had paid him to reassure himself it was real currency. "Aunt Nancy, does Corey actually DO anything besides bark, sleep and eat?" I smiled and handed him Corey's sack of food. "Of course dear! That's why he has to go outside every half hour." Until the next time friends remember; you may not be able to teach old dogs new tricks, but at least one of them is a real good human trainer.

To Read More
Subscribe Sign In
Continue reading with a subscription
Subscription options