Surprise! You May Have a Very Needy Pet

The Golden Rule--"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"--is a wonderful guide to live by. But what do you do when you have a pet that you love (and spoil) that "does unto you" to the point where it has to be with you all the time? You know who you are, and you will readily recognize how Beau, the "very needy dog," takes such easy advantage of my daughter and son-in-law.

Beau is a four-year-old Havanese (the name comes from their initial birthplace of Havana, Cuba)--a designer dog. Beau, as you can surmise, is very spoiled and demands to be with my daughter all the time. Beau insists on plopping down on her legs (not lap, mind you, legs!) while she is sitting on the couch or a chair with legs extended to the Ottoman. This position leads to almost instant dozing by Beau. He gets annoyed if my daughter shifts her legs or gets up for some reason. Bed time means the needy dog at the bottom of the bed. My daughter's talking on the phone results in Beau's show of displeasure by chewing on the edge of the rug ("Naughty Beau! Get away from that rug!") When my daughter or son-in-law want to work on the computer as in the picture above, guess who insists on watching from a perch on the desk!

Beau camps in his "house" (Let's be honest; it's really an open cage) with a view of the front door which eventually my daughter and/or son-in-law walks through. My son-in-law even drives home at lunchtime from his job to take Beau for his mid-day beauty walk. They used to have a webcam to check on Beau from their offices but eventually decided to abandon it after watching Beau eat and sleep (probably dreaming of their return when he can again be spoiled).

The very needy dog is a magnet for people wanting to pet and discuss him whenever my daughter and son-in law take a downtown Santa Barbara walk. Beau, of course, eats up all the attention. He is probably saying something to the effect that, "I am cute, spoiled and I expect your undying love and attention."

Beau is not about to go to "doggie jail" when his owners go on vacation. It's either a "take me with you" or leave him with Grandpa and Grandma in Fresno. Then we get to have him on our legs (not lap!), sleep with him at the foot of our bed, have him wait for us by the door until we return and, and....

Beau
You may be thinking by now, dear reader, that needy pets like Beau are a new experience to me and my wife. Not on your life! We foolishly thought, however, that more than two decades of wonderful Yorkies--Pudd'n and Jasmine--had prepared us for needy pets. But Beau is in a special class of his own: A super needy dog!

In closing, I encourage all of you wonderful people with your very needy (spoiled) pets to just remember that you are not alone. Those clever pets are also applying the Golden Rule to you.

Hail to our needy friends!


Coming Soon. . .

1. Where are our private sector leaders?
2. Public transportation and the tyranny of the cell phone abuser.
3. Fresno wants to become "Bike City."

Comments are welcome. Click on "Comments" below or e-mail abriancalhoun@gmail.com.