|
| |
|
IT’S A DOG’S LIFE---
LET HIM GO |
|
I’ve got some exciting news about our two
little pugs---Lucy (the smartest dog in the world) and Rocko (the
stupidest dog in the world).
Actually, the big news is only about Rocko. He
doesn’t know it yet, because he’s the stupidest dog in the world, but
he’s going away to college!!!
We’re so proud. Or at least I am. My wife isn’t
so keen on the idea, but she’s coming around.
It all began when I noticed the big poop right
behind my chair in the living room. I happened to be talking to my son at
the time, who attends the University of San Diego and lives in a house
that allows pets.
"We really want to get a dog," he happened to
be saying, right before I noticed the poop.
"Not a chance," I replied, right before
I noticed the poop.
"Why not?" he asked.
"Because we don’t need any more dogs in
this family," I responded, finishing my sentence as I detected a bit
of an odor.
That’s when I looked behind me and noticed the
poop, hours old, left by the stupidest dog in the world.
"I’ll tell you what," I said,
"You want a dog so badly, how about you take Rocko for awhile."
Long silence. "You’re kidding, right?"
I took another look at the poop. Rocko had been walked
in the morning, and walked in the afternoon. He’s almost 10 years old.
He poops in the house about once every two weeks, just to drive me nuts.
And then there’s the peeing on the curtains.
"I’m serious," I replied, warming to the
idea with every sniff of poop.
"Okay, we’ll take Rocko," said my son, who
had obviously been away far too long. "We just want a dog, any
dog."
Done. But since the boys were coming home for the
summer in a couple of weeks, Rocko’s college adventure would have to
wait for late August, when the Fall semester begins. That was fine,
because it would give me time to convince my wife that it was a splendid
idea.
"Rocko is NOT going to college," she
replied when I announced the big news. "He is our responsibility, for
better or worse."
I’m not stupid, like Rocko. I had picked an
opportune time to tell her about the plan. She happened to be cleaning a
couch pillow that had been left on the floor and was used sometime during
the night as Rocko’s personal toilet.
"How can you stand in the way of his
education," I said, aghast. "You need to let go. You need to let
him spread his wings and experience the world."
She was scrubbing the pillow, then sniffing it, then
scrubbing some more.
"What about Lucy?" she asked. "She’d
miss him."
"He’ll be home for Thanksgiving, Christmas and
Summer, just like the boys," I replied. "Lucy will love all the
attention she’ll get as an only child."
Secretly, I was counting on the legendary "Turkey
Drop," which happens when high school sweethearts go away to
different colleges, feverishly missing each other, and then come home for
Thanksgiving and at least one of them realizes their romance wasn’t such
a big deal after all. Lucy will certainly pull a Turkey Drop. And it’s
doubtful Rocko will even notice.
She finished scrubbing the pillow and then went
sniffing around Rocko’s favorite peeing area to see if any other pieces
of furniture had been blemished by the stupidest dog in the world.
"I don’t know," she murmured. "It
seems kind of cruel."
"What do you mean?" I cried. "He’s
going to college! You can’t deny him this chance."
She looked over at Rocko, who was on his perch on
the top cushion of the couch, soiling it with his natural oils. He was
oblivious to our discussion about his future. But then again, he’s
oblivious to absolutely everything.
I could tell that my wife was beginning to
soften. A couple of more poops and pees in the house (and they will surely
come in the next few weeks) and Rocko would be off to college in August.
And if that doesn’t work, I’ll just order the
little USD doggie sweatshirt and visor and have Rocko parade around with
his school colors. That should do it. |
|
|
