My in-laws
were away this weekend, leaving me in my usual position as pet-sitter. Now I
feel compelled to tell you about this atypical group of pets, because they
really are quite amusing.
First,
there’s the dog. At least, genetically he’s a dog – we suspect that he may
identify as something else. Possibly a sheep. Many dogs, he’s afraid of
thunder, but he also takes it a step further – he’s afraid of rain. And just
about any sounds, really, which is probably why he almost never barks. He’s
very sweet and friendly, though, and is very good about not jumping up on
people who have just come into the house – instead, he prances over and grins
at them, truly happy to see them.
When his
family is away, I always get a little concerned about him. He misses them so
much that he stops eating for several days – except for the treats he gets
every time he comes inside from his walks. Of course, I use every a little loosely here; he usually
gets a treat when he comes in, but I sometimes feel compelled to do a little
training.
You see, my in-laws came into dog
ownership later than many people do and, as a result, they aren’t as firm with
the dog as they could be. Therefore, when going for walks, he’s used to his
humans stopping and waiting for him every time he wants to sniff a tree or roll
in the grass. Having grown up with a dog, I have an expectation that the walk
keeps moving, and therefore the treat gets denied if I’m kept out in the cold
too long. He learned very quickly that I would tolerate nothing more than on
very short roll in the grass, and he may even have noticed that he got more
treats when he didn’t hold me up at all.
Then there’s
the cat. The latest, and currently only, in a string of abandoned cats the
family took in, he is always a bit “my way or the highway”. In other words, he’s
a cat. Yet, once the family has been away for a day, he starts begging for
attention. As I’m allergic to cats, he doesn’t get it from me, but it doesn’t
stop him from trying. He spends the time I’m in the house following me around,
meowing and pointedly rubbing against various objects and making me feel
generally guilty about my allergy.
He has,
however, given up on trying to sneak out of the house. Due to tome feral cats
he’s feuding with, he has been relegated to being an indoor cat, much to his
chagrin. I think that’s his greatest sorrow about my in-laws being away. He’s
used to a house full of people who are used to him, so they don’t pay him that
much attention, making it relatively easy to slip through a closing door
(luckily he can be summoned back into the house with the shaking of a treat
container – which is ridiculous; I mean, he’s a cat! Cat’s can’t be summoned
like dogs!). He has long since learned that this doesn’t work with me. He doesn’t
even try anymore. But he does watch me very closely, waiting for me to slip
up...
And,
finally, there’s my sister-in-law’s bunny. Now, apparently this bunny is pure
evil and hates everyone other than my sister-in-law. It certainly seems that
way when she’s brought out in public. She’s certainly very skitterish and
ant-social. This is common knowledge.
Yet, when
the family away, she becomes the sweetest bunny in the world. When I check on
her, she rushes right over to see me – she doesn’t cringe in corners or kick
aggressively as her reputation would have you believe. In fact, she’s so happy
to see me that she hops in circles!
I guess it
just goes to show that animals miss their families as much as they are missed.
Except, perhaps, the bunny. It is entirely possible she’s just luring me into a
false sense of security, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.
Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.
Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.
If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.
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