Of Furry Friends and Tiny Nurses by Konnie Enos

I went to get in bed and found my pillow occupied. I glared at the occupant. “Move.”

She stared back at me unmoving and unsympathetic.

“I said, move. Come on. That’s my spot.”

She didn’t budge. In fact I was all but on top of her before she decided it was best to get out of the way and moved all of three inches. She now sprawled herself into the small area between my pillow and my husband’s. Or at least that’s what I thought as I settled myself down to get some sleep.

Then my husband said, “That’s my pillow. Leave some for me.”

Then I laughed.

Admittedly, she’s tried to rule the roost when it comes to our bed since she joined the family, though she has never chased my husband or me out of it and up until the other night never fought me for my pillow (she is always on my husband’s pillow though). And she can be territorial. We’ve had discussions with her about letting other family members on the bed.

Since my daughter’s smaller dog is a Chihuahua and she’s more than twice his size, she scared him so bad it has taken months for him to even dare come back in my room. He’ll come now but that’s because he knows I’ll protect him.

Though generally you’ll find him with either his owner or my older daughter. You see that little dog thinks he’s a little nurse maid and we know someone is really not feeling well when he won’t leave their side. My older daughter has several chronic health issues so during the day he is often by her side. If not there, he’s with his owner, my younger daughter, who has a few health issues of her own. If he chooses to stick by his owner, we know she’s not feeling well.

Now remember his terror of my bigger dog but also his nurse maid tendencies as I tell this story.

Not too long ago, after one too many late night trips to the ER, I slept in. Then I made little to no effort to leave my bed other than when absolutely necessary. My husband even did all the running that day.

About mid-afternoon while I was sitting in bed, typing, like any good writer should be, I noticed that the only furry family member anywhere near me was the little guy.

I shrugged it off. For all I knew the others were outside out of necessity. Or perhaps just running around playing. After all we have a total of five dogs in our house.

Then my husband came in and merely walked toward the bed.

I kid you not. I thought that little dog was going to chew him up if he’d gotten any closer. He didn’t calm down until my husband backed up.

I then took note when he gave similar treatment to a couple of the larger dogs. Not my little lady but two of our largest dogs that are about five times his size. He simply was not letting anyone on my bed. In fact, he’d growl when people walked into the room. And yes, this included my little lady. Just like he’d do when someone he was “tending” is resting.

When my daughter (his owner) learned what he was doing she asked, “Are you sure you feel okay?”

“I’m fine. I don’t know what’s gotten into him.”

We eventually had to conclude he’d decided that I needed rest and was going to make sure I got it. Trust me, I got some that day.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

Animal Characters by Konnie Enos

Recently we were discussing using animals/pets in our stories. Bonnie mentioned she has them in a number of hers but I can only come up with two of mine that do, and only one of those has indoor pets. They both start on farms.

Considering I have a house full of animals, Bonnie found it surprising I didn’t incorporate them more into my stories.

Since we’ve moved into this house, a little over twelve years ago, we’ve develop something of a menagerie here. Dogs, cats, mice, Guinea pigs, hamsters, and parakeets. All of which have personalities all their own.

My own Mabel insists on joining me in the bathroom than stands, with her back to me, staring at the door until I open it. I haven’t decided if she’s standing guard or simply doesn’t like closed doors, but then she doesn’t do that when the bedroom door is closed. Maybe it’s the small space?

My husband’s dog will cower at loud noises. So the Fourth of July will find him either shivering in our bed or cowering under my husband’s desk. Though he could find another place to hide if he doesn’t feel safe enough there. The other day he climbed in our daughter’s bed and laid on her considerable amount of hair because something scared him. Took forever to get him off because we couldn’t find Dad.

Then there is said daughter’s own dog. He doesn’t like loud noises either. One time a neighbor kid was over here and he had a balloon.

You guessed it. Somehow that balloon popped, and near Gunner.

That poor boy was so terrified we could see the whites of his eyes. It was all I could do to hang on to him while yelling for someone to run for my daughter who was at the neighbor’s house.

Thankfully one of the boys visiting here ran fast to get her from his home where she was visiting with his sister.

One of our previous dogs (Rusty died nearly three years ago) was really laissez-faire. He was our largest dog and at the time we had two cats. He walked into this house and his whole attitude was like, “Oh you live here, I live here now too.” He was a huge sweet heart and he really loved our one cat.

Anyway as I was thinking about this total lack of animals in my stories, I thought of all the personalities of our pets. Each and every one of them, large and small.

And my one overriding thought was, “I can see how “The Incredible Journey” could be written.”

Including animals in your stories isn’t just giving your character a pet, but creating another character for your story.

They need a name, a description and a personality.

And just like with humans, no two are exactly alike.

My one daughter has now had two Guinea pigs. One really loved his green vegetables and loved being held and would pull on her zipper every time. Her current one doesn’t mind being held and petted, but doesn’t pull zippers and much prefers his fruits to his vegetables.

Even our dogs, each and every one has been different. You can get some idea of their temperament and personality from what bred they are, but that is never the whole picture. Just like with humans, you have to get to know each one individually.

I believe that’s why I don’t put more animals in my stories. I already have enough characters in them.

But then writing another story similar to “The Incredible Journey” might be fun too.

What do you think?

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

Fur Babies and other such family members by Konnie Enos

As I’ve mentioned before, we have dogs in this house.

Now being dog owners we tend to have noisy greetings when someone comes to our door. It’s impossible for anyone to ding-dong-ditch and run away before we can open the door and find them running away. (It helps that there is only one way to get off our property and there isn’t any place to hide while you make that rather exposed dash.)

It’s also impossible to get into the house without enthusiastic dogs greeting you and or trying to get out the front door.

For this reason when we return to the house we play what my daughter refers to as “soccer”. An exercise in blocking furry family members from exiting the house. Generally when you open the front door you have to expect to see one or more black noses.

Recently I was returning to the house with one of my daughters and fully expected at least two black noses at the door. Her three-legged dynamo and my energetic little lady. And quite possibly my husband’s big ball of fluff. There was also the possibility of my other daughter’s yellow cannon ball. Though her tiny guy was least likely he still might show up too.

I cautiously opened the door.

No noses.

I opened the door further.

No furry family members.

I finally opened the door all the way and stepped into the house, glancing though the clearly empty front room and kitchen and all the way down the hall to the back door.

Not one person or furry family member.

“Notice the decided lack of greeting.”

Daughter walking in behind and closing the door. “Yeah. But I can hear them. They must be blocked by something.”

Clearly. The only door in the hallway not closed was the hall bathroom and that was no dogs land, strictly for the cat.

So they were either in a bedroom or the backyard.

As we moved down the hallway my other daughter opened her bedroom door spilling out her cannon ball and tiny guy plus her sister’s dynamo. As they came out one of my sons opened my bedroom door and my husband’s fluff ball ran out with my lady.

There was our usual and enthusiastic greeting.

What was I thinking about through that whole experience?

With all the writing I’ve done I’ve never once given any of my fictional families pets.

Why?

I don’t know.

I do know animals add another dynamic to the family experience.

And there are so many ways they could be included.

Are they part of the family or just a pet, or a working animal?

In my household our animals are part of the family.

If the family lived on a farm, their animals could likely be working animals.

If a person is disabled, their animal is more than just a working animal or a pet. Or at least that’s what I’ve heard.

The other thing to consider when writing stories with animals in them is that they all have their own personalities, just like humans do.

With as many pets as I have, I should consider adding pets to my stories.

It is food for thought.

Have you written stories with pets in them?

I’d write more but my little lady needs her walk.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.   

Seat Dominance by Konnie Enos

“Hey! I was here first!”

“That’s my spot!”

“I had dibs!”

“Move it! I was there first!”

When you have kids, you’re bound to hear them fighting over something and it’s not uncommon for them to fight over where they want to sit, be it in front of the TV, in the car or at the dinner table.

I can’t think of a family meal where someone didn’t ‘dib’ a seat or tell someone to move out of a seat they’d only left long enough to get something that was missing from the table. I’ve had to mediate arguments and even had one kid sulk in his bedroom rather than eat because he couldn’t sit where he wanted to.

Going somewhere with more than one child can be equally as bothersome because only one of them can be ‘shotgun’ and there is only so many window seats, so someone isn’t going to be happy. (Well, if I only take two I’m generally okay, any more than that and I may have an issue.)

The funny part is when my husband finds someone in his place, he generally just moves to their place. When he wants to lie down in his bed and finds one of his kids sitting there, generally talking to me, he sleeps in that kid’s bed so when said kid wants to get in their bed they’re stuck with waking him up and making him move. So I hear more things along the line of, “That’s my spot.”

Since this sort of thing happened in my family when I was growing up, and in the places I lived while away at college, I’m sure it’s a dynamic common in most households where more than two people live.

Anyway, since my kids are getting older, things like this don’t happen as much as they used to. It’s almost like we have assigned seats around here, at the table, in the car, in the living room. For one thing, it’s a given where I’m going to be sitting, and the kids and my husband generally fall in around me in a predictable order, so hearing complaints about someone being in someone else’s spot doesn’t happen very often around here.

Then a couple of weeks ago, that particular complaint was ringing throughout the house.

“Hey! I was sitting there!”

“That’s my spot!”

“Move it mister!”

And I had to laugh, watching my oldest son stand over the chair he wanted to sit in but couldn’t because it was occupied. That was at least the third, if not the fourth time in a matter of minutes that someone had voiced that complaint, always against one of the dogs.

The funny part was my son was just standing there looking rather perturbed at the chair and its occupant while from my viewpoint, I could see the back of the chair, but not who was in it.

Considering my youngest child is 15, and I’m the shortest member of the family, I figured it was a dog, yet again. Of our five dogs only one wouldn’t have been able to get into the chair because of her age and arthritis, and only two of those could sit high enough for me to see them from where I was, though even they could just curl up on the seat.

I asked my son which dog was in his way and he glared at the chair. “None! It’s Tiger!”

I laughed. His cat was in his way, and that meant all our non-caged animals were trying to take over.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

Tribute

I know I normally write about twins and being twins but as I sit down to write this I’m thinking about the loss of someone near and dear to my family. Rusty walked into our lives several years ago when my husband spotted him walking the streets near our son’s school, clearly homeless. Jerry called him over to the car and he hopped right in and into our lives.

He walked into our house and greeted all family members, with and without fur, with an attitude of, “Oh, you live here. Well, I live here now too.” He wasn’t domineering. He didn’t try to boss or take over. He recognized Lani, our oldest and only female pet, was the leader of the fur covered family members, and he took an immediate shine to Jerry, understandable since he is the one who rescued him.

We called him Rusty Bear. Rusty because of the color of his fur and Bear because he sure looked like one. But he was the sweetest, gentlest one in the bunch, unless you got his paws. He had no collar and we had our vet check him for a chip. He had none. We posted notices everywhere and no one called. We tried finding him a home but before long we knew, he was ours for good.

He loved long walks and the kids said people in the neighborhood would move to the other side of the street when they saw him coming and often ask the kids, my girls especially, if they were sure they had a firm grip on his leash. The thing is, if you dropped his leash he’d stop in his tracks, unless he could see our front door, then he’d just go home. The only person he ever terrified is my sister-in-law and I half suspect he barked at her like that because she was drunk.

And even though all the pets are allowed on the furniture, he never did. He’d get on the couch for maybe two seconds. His preferred place to sleep was by the front door.

He loved human food and eating meant getting a wet nose nudging your arm as he asked for his share. We tried to get him to learn “Sit”, but he was never very patient and it had to be repeated several times during a meal. More than once I got frustrated with him and had him banned to the back yard so I could finish in peace.

Then again when he just wanted attention you could end up with a wet nose on you or he’d rub his head against you. Other than Lani, the one pet he got along with the best was Tiger, our cat. They were always rubbing against each other and he was the one dog Tiger got along with the best.

From the start He’d have problems with throwing up occasionally, then recently Jerry noticed he wasn’t as energetic as usual. He took Rusty on a short walk and it was too long for a dog who normally loves going for at least an hour. Then he threw up several times in one night.

A trip to the vet showed he lost a great deal of weight over the last month. After several tests we finally found it was a large tumor.

So on Sunday November 30, 2014 Rusty Bear Enos peacefully went to sleep in the arms of his dad (Jerry). He will be greatly missed by his whole pack (with and without fur).