Expanding Our Family

Scooter

No, I'm not pregnant! (That joke never gets old. I'll probably be telling it on my death-bed. Heck, I'd probably still tell it if my shriveled-up womb were in a bowl beside me. Ick. Sorry. Look at the picture of the adorable doggy.)

My sister, Pat, and her husband, Ross, are moving to Switzerland (lucky them!) and have reluctantly realized that their geriatric dog will not be making the move with them. There are quarantine requirements and she has a docked tail, which Switzerland does not allow. (I should note that Pat & Ross did not have her docked. She came to them that way.) She has arthritis and takes estrogen supplements.

Scooter is a lovely, and much-loved, dog. We have offered her a home with our family. For now, she is with us for a week. This is actually her second visit - she came for three days in early July.

At that visit, she and our cat, Elly, circled around each other -- no growling or hackles, just cautious observation.

Cautious kitty

Today, they looked at each other with a "Oh, you again" nod, then went on with their lives. Steve and I went out for a show. (Cirque du soleil!!!) When we came home, they were both asleep in the living room.

It humours me how similar they are:

• arthritic
• white with brown-and-black spots
• submissive
• quiet

Ross, who has been Scooter's "Alpha" for her entire life, is heartbroken at leaving her, and I feel so sad for him. I suspect that, quite aside from his own sense of loss, he worries that Scooter may not be loved by us as much as she is by him. But she will. She's just that kind of dog.

She's already attached herself to Stephen (she really likes men), and I'm pretty sure that, in six months or so, the cat and dog will be licking each other and lying by the fire.

So that's the big change in our household. No babies. Just a menopausal old bitch welcoming a lovely dog to her home.