A Dog's Life

Wake up.
Be taken for a walk.
Pee. Poop.
Wait while the poop gets cleaned up.
Return home.
Eat breakfast.
Run around the house.
Lick Dad's legs.
Run around some more.
Go for another walk.
Eat some more.
Sleep.
Play.
Chew up an unattended Polly Pocket doll.
Pee. Poop. Wait.
Lick Dad's face.
Bite Dad's fingers.
Run from Mom when she tries to stop all the licking and biting.
Sleep.
Wake up.
Start all over.

Sometimes I wish I could be Maya for a day or two.
Because no one ever cleans up after me.
No one ever picks me up and carries me to bed.
No one ever lets me bite their fingers.
Only rarely does anyone else prepare my food.
Very rarely am I allowed to bark for what I want.
It is even more rare that someone responds to my barks.
One thing we have in common: the man who likes when I lick his legs...

Sometimes I'm glad I'm not Maya.
On car rides, she still gets carsick.
A lot less than she used it, but she still pukes.
Yesterday she was vaccinated.
She had a fecal sample extracted.
Four weeks from now, she will have a baby tooth extracted
and get her teeth cleaned. Under general anesthesia.
Six weeks from now, she will get her rabies shot.
When she has indoor accidents, she gets put back into her crate.
And left alone for a while to think it over.

But she's learning.
She's getting cuter by the day.
And she's ours.
Until the day when our precious dog becomes a dog-gone.

A dog's life.
It's a good gig if you can get it.