Old Dogs

Hey!! The sun is shining this morning. A friend told me it has rained every day since July 18th. I haven't checked to see if that is accurate, but if it isn't, its close enough. It has rained a portion of every day for quite a while now and makes it hard to plan an outdoor day.

Most of the time that doesn't much faze me as I can change my schedule on a whim, but this week I have my 3 1/2 year old niece with me for what we call a 'girl's weekend'. She is as well behaved as a curious small child can be. She's articulate and pretty funny. (signs of Auntie abound).

Having a child underfoot (literally as she is currently under my desk trying to catch my dog, who does NOT want to be caught) is a interesting experience. She informs me on an hourly basis of how she is planning on playing (read torturing) Zia.

"Zia and I are playing tag." (Zia hasn't master the 'you're it' part).

"Zia and I are playing catch." (wherein she will throw a ball which will either hit me, the ceiling or the TV and thankfully miss the dog)

"I'm feeding Zia."... at which point I had to explain that dogs do not eat with spoons.

I've had to tell her a number of times that even though Zia is tiny, she is an older dog. (One who isn't used to children tormenting her).

Zia has taken to hiding in my bedroom on her own bed. When she hears footsteps she runs under my bed. She is so small she has several inches of clearance and is impossible to fish out though my niece will try. Yesterday, my niece was determined to get the dog and she went upstairs to 'see' what the dog was doing. I waited by the steps and watched as she attempted to carry the dog down the stairs. I had to save them both. My niece from possibly losing her balance, and my dog from being road kill in my house. I've checked her ribs for possible fractures and so far we are good. No unnecessary trips to the vet in my future.

My niece can't quite figure out why the dog will not come to her willingly. I've had to sit with her and explain that the dog does not trust that she won't be hurt. She is now trying to attract the dog with gentle petting. It seems to be working.

Maybe I have something to learn from this.