My Shadow
There comes a time in every girl’s life when there arises a need to own a puppy. I needed co-ownership however, since I could not keep a dog at Loki_Tingle homestead and fortunately, Mardy had been talking about adoption for some time now.
So it was that one dark and stormy evening in November, Marduk and Tingle took off to Katubedda in a tuk-tuk to fetch the creature home.
She was a flea ridden black fur-ball when we picked her up. Fat and practically immobile because of the creatures sucking on her blood all day, she would walk two steps and stop to scratch violently. It was amazing how much thinner she got once we de-ticked her. Finally she could nip at Mardy’s ankles without pausing to itch at three second intervals.
This was the picture that got Mardy smitten. Notice how it’s impossible to tell where her head ends and body begins. see what I mean? Ball_like. The other one is her sister, Ginger who was also adopted by a journalist about a month ago.
The name. Ah, that was difficult. After going back and forth several times and coming up with zilch, Mardy and I decided that Forge, being the sage among us, could properly endow his blessings on the dog by christening her. Forge happily accepted the assignment but things got a little out of control soon after.
At her first vet visit, two days after we brought her home, we needed a name on File 2704 at Pet Vet. (incidentally, Mardy thinks that the dog’s vet is hot and turns a violent pink each time she talks to him.)
Nice_vet_lady: So, what’s her name?
Tingle: *panics* er….we’re not so sure yet. err…we call her lots of things!
NVL: *frowns* you shouldn’t do that. You’re going to confuse her. Give her a name and stick to it.
Tingle: *tears hair out* oh no. but but….
NVL: *menacingly* decide!!
Tingle: oh alright. er. Shadow. Yup. Shadow.
*wonders whether Mardy will protest this unilateral christening*
[Later that evening.]
Tingle: Look Mardy, I made you chocolate chip cookies.
Marduk: oooh. yum.
Tingle: *ahem* so, like funny thing happened at the Vet’s today.
Marduk: yeah? Did she misbehave?
Tingle: Oh no. she was a hit. Everyone loved her and wanted to adopt her. Plays to the gallery, this dog.
Marduk: *makes cooing noises at “shadow”*
Tingle: so like yeah, *cough* I had to name her on the spur of the moment.
Marduk: what? why?
Tingle: *cough*the vet insisted that we do that so she could open a file. She also asked me to stop calling her different names because it would befuddle the puppy.
Marduk: So what did you say? *narrows eyes*
Tingle:
Marduk: but but…she’s female!
Tingle: Yeah and shadow is genderless as far as names go….
Marduk: *contemplates* yeah alright.
He promptly forgot the dog doctor’s well meaning advice soon after and has ever since referred to Shadow as “da mutt.” Needless to say, Shadow is quite confused and only so often answers to her actual name. I have also tried my best to abandon calling her “pooch_pet” and “cootie_kins” since apparently baby talk can be damaging to a dog. I have never held with that theory in so far as theories go, but I don’t like taking chances with living things.
Her parentage is still fuzzy, but the vet is pretty convinced her daddy was a german shepherd. There were a few hair-raising days when both Mardy and I were convinced she had pomenarian genes, especially because she had spiky fur and showed an inclination to dig up the garden. I had visions of my aunt’s pom puppy stealing her underwear and burying it in the garden with just about everything else around the house he could get his paws on and I was ready to disown her on the spot. I hate small toy dogs. -shudder- Mardy however loved her unconditionally and cast it up to me whenever he could that I was cold and heartless.
Fortunately it passed and she’s getting much bigger now. Her paws are HUGE. Also her ears are starting to perk up in distinctly Alsation fashion, something I am not too happy about, but anything’s better than a pom. We love our little bastard, but it would be helpful to know exactly what breed she is so as to prevent any accidents in areas that might be vaguely fragile. We keep reading up on alsations with bad hip problems and it gives me the shivers because already the dog’s been dropped, stepped on and generally mishandled a couple of hundred times. Just this morning I saw Marduk playing wheelbarrow with her - something I am sure will not bode well for her back legs in the future. -sigh-
Most vet visits are coupled with several minutes of pointing at black dogs also visiting.
Marduk: Hey Mutt, does that look like yer daddy?
[Shadow looks blank. Shivers a little confronted with the hulking Alsation which is by now glaring at her. Curls up closer on Mardy’s lap]
*NVL rolls eyes*
As far as puppies go, she’s pretty well behaved. Will sit on occasion when asked to, unless of course, Mardy’s doing the asking, but that’s just because he refuses to assert himself a bit. She loves an audience and perfoms like an angel. We have been training to her to sit and give her paw etc - decided to start off simple. She does it fine when we ask her to, but uses her paw to hold our hands down so she can bite them good and proper, so usually ends up getting whacked or shouted at a bit. Then my cousin comes home last weekend and she sits on command and politely offers her front paw without once attempting to bite. The deception is scandalous. She’s also a bit of a slut and insists on exhibiting herself while sleeping or demanding that we rub her belly. Naturally, she runs our lives. Drives us both crazy on an average day and then does something adorable to make up for it, the little minx.
Technically, I suppose, the dog is Mardy’s, since it lives upstairs. However I am designated nanny and generally end up disciplining her as well. Has lately developed a fondness for wires and keeps Marduk in constant dread that she will one day get to his Thinkpad power cord. So far she has chewed through the radio wire and Marduk’s famous mosquito repellent gadget. Good riddance I say. Now hopefully he will resort to a king mat like a normal person. Been trying to convert him for months, the dog’s finally done it. I patted her in secret for it.
So yeah, we now have a fully vaccinated, little black dog running around the house threatening to make sure our lives are never the same again.
And that’s how Marduk became a daddy.
P.S. Yes, it is true, Tingle has no clue how to resize pictures. -sigh-
