Wednesday, April 27, 2011

A kinder, gentler Daphne

Due to Daphne's health issues, our trip to Long Island this past weekend included our little friend. She is diabetic, and as such, she is a tough sell in the dogsitter community. Not everyone is interested in giving her the required two shots per day. My sister-in-law Joanne was gracious enough to include Daphne in our invitation, and so, off we went at 4:30 AM on Saturday morning. My dental appointment was at 9:00 AM, and we were perfectly on time. It's a quiet world at 4:30 AM, and we made good time. Gassing up and loading up on travel accoutrements takes some time. I have become a tea drinker in the past year, and if I have the choice, tea it is. The problem with being gluton-free is that there are not alot of choices in travel-fare. Most often I pick Rice-Krispie treats. Not a great choice for a diabetic, but I'm trying to balance a number of health issues and having SOMETHING to eat in the car for a four hour trip is my goal. Of course, I also had packed some gluton-free corn bread that I had baked, but having eaten this same corn bread for a full day I was growing tired of it. Variety, being the spice of life, is not finding a balance in my world. So, I did the rice krispy treat, and I was satisfied. Sometimes Jerry will get an egg sandwich with "meat", but the only part of THAT that I covet is his bread. I can't imagine eating a "meat" that is only identifiable by that name. If you can't tell me what the name of the meat you are serving, I don't think I need to sample it. But my point was this, sometimes in the car the odor of said "Meat" becomes a little overpowering and I have a sensitive stomach (among other things) so I am just concentrating on breathing IN and OUT. Trying not to hurl requires alot of concentration. Then Jerry will say "what's wrong?" and I will have to stop my concentrated breathing to answer "nothing, nothing!" It's a real challenge. But, I was talking about Daphne wasn't I? She was placed on my lap for the trip down the mountain, because she was fully awake and quite honestly, probably a little stunned that she had picked the short straw and was travelling with us, while the other two dogs stayed at home. A one-dog trip amounts to a lottery win in their world. Spoiled! When we made our stop at Stewart's, she was placed in the back seat, and after a few turns, she found her comfortable spot on my coat, and proceeded to sleep for the rest of the trip. She's a good traveller. She was also quite comfortable on a seat that she usually has to share with Allison. Did I say spoiled? We made our trip down and arrived at Dr. Lee's at 8:50 AM, with enough time to catch up and then set to work. It's always good to see the folks that we miss, and Dr. Lee and his staff are among them. Daphne was given a quick introduction and whisked out, lest OSHA get wind of a visiting dog in the dental office. Once we arrived at Clint and Joanne's Daphne was happy to meet up with her cousin TEDDY, a malty-poo who is quite friendly and happy to greet ANYONE! I don't think I've ever heard Teddy with a bark that says anything other than COME IN! So off they went to scamper all over the fenced in yard (new to Daphne's world) without a human in attendance. This was a big deal. Here we are always shadowing our dogs when they are outside. No such thing as a fence, just eagle eyes. So for Daphne it was a new experience. Running across the pool cover was also a new activity, demonstrated ably by Teddy, who lounged in the center getting soaked. Daphne was a little more reticent, just dipping her feet. The rest of the day went along like that, with bits of dog activity throughout. The the real love-fest was on Sunday, when two other canine cousins arrived for the Easter celebration. Cody who was from Connecticut, a pug terrier mix, and Blue who is really Daphne's canine-nephew, but in the dog world we don't quibble about relationships, we just sniff! This roving pack of small dogs (the largest being 16 lbs) was all over the house, happily traveling together and checking out the whole house. Lots of scrambling and tail wagging ensued, but never a growl! They all got along beautifully! We managed to get on the road at 6 PM, and Daphne slept the whole way home. That's a four-hour trip for those who haven't been paying attention. When we got home, at 11 PM (gotta love that Easter traffic!) Daphne entered the house like a visiting dignitary. Again, the tails were wagging and everyone was glad to see us. We often wonder what is going through the dogs minds, and Daphne's disappearance must have caused a few questions among the boys we left behind. But she was home, and all was well. It was a great weekend all in all, and our family visits were even better than Daphne's. Having an eighty degree day on Long Island was like a gift. It brought the onset of spring here as well. Today, we'll have another day where we break 70, and for us, that is extraordinary! The new Daphne has been much sweeter since we arrived home, I guess she knows she was given a gift-a private weekend with Mom and Dad. It kind of takes the sting out of giving those shots! Kinda.

2 comments:

Bob Sanchez said...

Hi! Just visiting everyone on my A-Z list.

How to paint landscapes said...

Thanks for sharing your experiences here! I like it! I will definitely come by more often! Thanks for sharing this!...Daniel