Two Nervous Nellies

Our regular late afternoon walk today was a failure. We started off okay, but just as we rounded the corner, neighbor dog Pogo (a Jack Russell terrier) bounded up to us with the idea that she had discovered some new playmates. Initially we just did a lot of butt sniffing, but Coco was having none of it from the start. She was backing up and trying to pull out of her collar, so I scooped her up.

At that point Pogo decided she would have a good play/tussle with Mojo and before I knew it she was dashing around and inviting a good romp and Mojo was having a nervous breakdown. I was trying to hold onto Coco with one hand and my cell phone and keys with the other. As I tried to assure Mojo that all was well and she just wanted to be friends, along comes the elderly Boo Boo dog from the same household and Mojo decided he was a goner.

The little girl owner was ineffectually trying to call her two dogs off, but having no luck whatsoever. I finally desperately reeled Mojo in with the leash and scooped him up. We headed for home, but Pogo and Boo Boo weren't ready for the party to be over, so they started following us. We finally decided the only way to get them to leave us alone would be to escort them to their own home and deliver them into the hands of the adults. So we walked them and their little girl back to their house.

The father came and scooped Pogo up and the little girl got Boo Boo in hand and I was already half-way down the block, so I figured I would keep walking until I could safely drop my little ones back to the ground and continue our fractured walk.

While all this was going on, a big delivery van had crept down the street slowly, taking care to avoid the rambunctious dogs, and had stopped a few doors down to deliver a refrigerator. Mojo and Coco weren't too sure they even wanted to go near the van where two strange men were lurking, but I assured them they were safe. We were just beginning to settle down as we drew even with the van and then the delivery man hit the switch to lower the refrigerator to the ground.

Well. So much for Mom's assurances that she had things in control. Mojo nearly jumped out of his skin and Coco said "let's get out of here!". So we ran to the next corner and made the turn and ran the length of that block and finally settled back to a walk when we hit our own dirt road. At that point Coco was ready to go back to strolling and sniffing and taking her time. Mojo's ears were drooping, a sure sign of stress, and he was straining at his end of the leash in the direction of home. We made that last leg of the walk in record time and when we hit the corner of the yard, I let him off the leash and he was sitting on the doorstep before I had even straightened upright.

This followed a morning when I spent a couple of hours rearranging furniture again. I'm still looking for the proper arrangement for the family room in light of old furniture having departed and newer pieces having not yet found their final place. It doesn't bother the dogs too much, but the cats are unnerved when I move a magazine, much less shift everything into a new position. They are all exhausted tonight.

I, on the other hand, am much happier with my new antique television stand and the new location of the big red chair. I spent a very happy hour this afternoon piled in the big red chair, with a little black dog cuddled at my side and reading a new book that is showing great promise. My nerves are fine.




LSW