I returned from a week in Las Vegas to be reminded that 2 dogs in the house seems very much like 100 dogs. Beau, the new foster dog, is so full of energy and eager and big – he’s gained 10# in less than 2 weeks with us (now 82 pounds) – a sorely needed weight gain and what an eater he is. A few days ago he took a bite out of my brand new IBM ThinkPad – really – there is a hole right through the cover and you can see the "guts". Ed says I lost a few lines of pixel (I guess it’s lucky he chewed on the corner only) but I don’t imagine I’ll notice this.
We reminisced that every dog has eaten something not included in their doggie diet – with Albert it was one of my dresses that he removed from the closet and shredded and Dakota ripped up the skirting of the sofa one day. Is this something dogs do to prove to themselves that we’ll love them (and keep them) anyway…even when they are very, very badly behaved?
This dog fostering business is serious stuff and difficult and we take only "difficult" dogs – due to Ed’s incredible talent and patience in working with them. Beau came to us exactly 2 weeks ago knowing not even the command to "sit" and already he can sit and stops at the threshold before going through an outside door and sometimes will "go to bed" when told. He seems to not yet understand "stay" and any other commands and yet for having learned nothing in 3 years, it’s amazing what 2 weeks of love and hard work and discipline can accomplish. And, of course, he adores Ed…these 2 follow him wherever he goes making like a thundering herd.
I am reminded that I wanted a good man, a smart man, a man who would make me happy and I got it all – what a good man Edwin is to serve as pack leader to these dogs and how fortunate they are to follow him.