No Puppies!

Did I say that the Boogie needs a pet? I was very, very wrong. She does not need one. She especially does not need a puppy. I especially do not need a puppy.

My last post was Wednesday. On Thursday morning as I was leaving, I noticed a trail of dog food from the back door of our building leading to or from Downstairs Neighbor's car. The lease we signed (and BIL/SIL1 signed and the R family signed so I'm assuming everyone in this building has signed) specifies NO PETS. Previous Downstairs Neighbor (who moved out after Christmas -- current DN was previous DN's roommate) had a cat which we all ignored as it was quiet and apparently trained to use a litter box. Dogs are not cats, though. They bark. This was definitely dog food. That night BIL1 said he had seen the puppy outside with DN's girlfriend. Very small. Very cute. Definitely canine.

Yesterday morning I woke up to whining and barking. After a couple of minutes I wondered if DN had left it there by itself, but then I could hear him talking to it and the barking stopped. When the Boogie and I got back from a walk after lunch we saw DN outside with the puppy. It was very very cute. It had short gray fur with some white patches. Its little tail wagged its whole body. It tried to kiss the Boogie. The Boogie was entranced. It was adorable. Until last night.

Last night the puppy woke me up around midnight. It seemed to be in a crate in the room directly below ours. It was whining. It was barking. It was thumping around in its crate. I heard DN walking around and heard his voice, I guess talking to the puppy. It did not quiet down. It got louder. After about ten minutes I got up, put on my robe, and went downstairs. I knocked on the door. I waited. No answer. I rang the bell. I waited. No answer. I could hear the puppy barking and whining. I knew DNs were awake. Who could sleep through the puppy noise? I knew they could hear the doorbell. I started getting mad because they were ignoring me. I rang the doorbell four times in a row which, I'll admit, was probably overkill. The puppy stopped barking. Downstairs Neighbor came to the door apologizing profusely. "I'm so sorry," he said, "I've got it under control now." (As if he had been trying to stop it the whole time. Yeah, right. I was wise to him.) He went on to say that his girlfriend was staying over and it was her puppy. I said, "okay," and went back up to bed. I calmed down and went back to sleep. There hasn't been any more puppy noise since. It's none of my business if DN wants to keep a puppy in his apartment. That's between him and the landlord. Honestly I couldn't care less if he has a puppy ... until it does something to disturb me. I guess that's why there's a No Pets clause in the lease. And I was reminded why I don't want a puppy now. Some day, sure. When we have a house with a yard and our kids are old enough to walk the dog and clean up after it and sleep with it themselves.

Yesterday was a really beautiful day. The temperature rose to the low-fifties and it was clear and sunny. The Boogie and I went for a stroll. She walked very slowly. She wanted to pick up every leaf and twig and seed pod she saw. Thankfully she ignored the trash. A truck went by and she exclaimed, "car!"
"No, honey," I said, "that's a truck." (I didn't even know she knew "car.")
"Truck," she repeated. Then she correctly identified every car and truck that passed by! That's my smartie-pants. Her newest thing is to say "oh, my" about everything. If she's excited it's with an upward inflection: "Oh, my!" If she is being dramatic it's a little slower with a downward inflection: "Ohhh, my ..." She is just so funny and she makes me laugh all the time!