Dog Nurse for Hire

I’ve now become a doggie nurse. Our neighbors went away on vacation again. Several weeks ago they went to Nashville to hear their talented daughter, Sienna (www.siennamusic.com), showcase at BB King’s night club…while they were away we took care of Noel – a big, beautiful, old sweet dog.

We are taking care of Noel again – but now she has an infection on her leg. I go over at least six times a day because (1) I worry about her being lonely; (2) she is sometimes reluctant to “do her business” and I have to coax her into “doing her business”; (3) make sure she is drinking and eating; and (4) I have OCD.

Two times a day I make her a medical appetizer – pills crushed in cream cheese on a Ritz cracker. Three times a day I squirt topical medicine on her leg which she does not enjoy in the least. Andrew, our 3 year old, loves Noel. She terrorizes this poor creature. “NO L I love you,” he says while he tries to rest his head on her booty. “Andrew, Noel, doesn’t like that – she wants to rest.” “NO L need a hug maybe she need a bandaid too”. Andrew loves Noel but also loves the bells, wind chimes and other items of interest on our neighbors deck. I love the fact that their yard is fenced in…which makes me rest a little easier with Andrew running around like Flo-Jo. I would sell a kidney for a fenced in back yard. My husband wishes to wait until we can get a really nice one – I wouldn’t care if put up a chicken wire fence – he’s not the one that has to chase a 3 year old all day every day. It’s not the chasing – it’s the fear and worry of him darting away. I believe all creatures that can’t reason should be confined until such time that they can reason. I believe my 22 year old should be confined still.

Well, it’s 9:00 a.m. and everyone is now awake – Andrew slept in until 8, Jim until 9 and I got up at 6 a.m. to take care of Noel. That’s me, Dog Nurse for Hire.