Thanks and Giving

It's two days before Thanksgiving and the deer in Elkhart Lake are nervous! You can hear the shotgun blasts all over. There are four of them hiding in our woods, a mother and her babies....and Otto knows it. He is acting rabid and the windows are covered in Otto curses and ramblings.

Oh yes, life is all about Otto...except for 2 weeks ago when my sister bought an adorable 13 lb., 11 week old yellow lab puppy to stay with us for a few days. Then life became all about tending to the every need of Beasley, the world's cutest puppy. The most fun was taking her on little field trips in the car around town, it was like showing off a really really cute new baby! Everyone loves puppies, they make people smile. I love the way they run to the side, I love the way they smell. I love it that they are naughty.

I had expected the puppy to be intimidated by Otto. Otto expected the puppy to be intimidated by Otto. The puppy took one look at Otto and immediately charged into him nipping his feet. Otto looked at her as if to say, "Are You Kiddin' me??" He kept backing up and the puppy kept on coming at him. It was like watching a comedy show. Otto was very good natured and sweet with her even giving her a gentle KICK when she started chewing on his foot. I was proud of him. They were happily playing tug-of-war, my boy was gentle and kind, giving up his favorite toys with the tiny puppy thief.

One night during their stay, Otto was leaping over the puppy (and me!)Beasley was running and leaping after him, they were having the best time. Otto was putting on his best show, cornering tight and disappearing and reappearing, taunting her... until he cornered fast and came back she just jumped up and bit him....right in his privates! Otto took off straight up in the air like one of those hoovering helicopters yelping...from that point on Otto stayed clear preferring to remain up in my safe bed three feet off the ground and out of Beasley's reach.

I wonder what Otto was thinking when the puppy came in to his domain and stayed a few days. Was he wondering if he was being replaced by the cutest puppy on the planet? Was he happy to have a playmate (most of the time) Was he exhausted from all of the interruptions of his constant nap? I wonder if he thought that he now had one more thing to protect in his home...

I know one thing, I asked him for a kiss and I got one, just one, but it was the third one in four years so that tells me something.

Happy Thanksgiving, I am so thankful and grateful that I share my home with Otto.