Paper Towels and Patience

Having a dog seems to require an ample supply of both. At least if he spends much time indoors. The former I can just get at the store but the latter item I have to dig into myself to find. Patience is a virtue, but it sure as hell ain't one of mine.

So I roar and rage when finding something he's left on the carpet, but my lost patience is usually soaked up in the paper towels along with the other substance being absorbed. And then we move on. Until next time anyway.

Having grown up with cats pretty much exclusively, this is my maiden voyage as far as dog ownership. I must say, dogs are much more high-maintenance. Besides the issue of "deposits" on the floor, there is the barking factor. And I guess I'm doubly lucky there, as my dog is a vocal 'barker' as well as a prolific 'depositor'..

In his puppy days, when he was too destructive to leave indoors, I'd have him in the backyard, where he'd bark at pretty much everything that moved--or sat still. This didn't augur too well with one particular neighbor who was home all day. My neighbor even went so far as to bring female dogs into my yard to mate with mine, as a means of calming him down--and thus of course barking less.

"I can't figure out why he's still so hyper, Rog", he told me, puzzled. "He got him some pussy twice"..

Now I didn't actually witness this, so it's strictly second-hand, but quite amusing and entertaining nonetheless. My neighbor has no idea how funny that really is..

Over the years, both my dog and neighbor have mellowed to a large extent. Having him neutered--talking about my dog here--helped to some extent, as does just getting some more years on him. But he is still, as the song goes, an 'excitable boy'. Still barks at pretty much everything that moves or sits still, but mostly from inside the house.

So the barking just drives me nuts as opposed to anyone else. But I work on my patience. And it's just a 5 minute drive to get more paper towels...