Dog Days of Summer
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| Mary Wakefield Buxton |
by Mary Wakefield Buxton
Urbanna, Va.— Hot weather has arrived sooner than expected in Middlesex County. Summer heat or “dog days” as I call the season, is appropriately named. It’s so hot even a dog has the sense not to move.
My dogs, Lord and Lady, lie like the dead in this kind of weather even inside the house in air conditioning. I marvel that golden retrievers can spend so many hours without moving a hair.
They seem to be asleep but always one eye, like Cyclops, can pop open at any new sound. I can almost feel dog brains assessing any new noise and figuring out whether it means something good is headed their way . . . Is she going downtown in the car and could I bum a ride? Is she headed for the cookie jar and might I get a cookie? Is she going on a bike ride and could I tag along? Is it time for my weekly bath and how can I dodge it this time? Has she got a blasted flea pill again and will she try to wedge it into my clenched mouth?
Dogs! How cagey they are and so adept to learning every little detail of our day . . . what words mean, what mood we’re in, and how to play us to their very best advantage.
Do you think dogs understand English? Of course they do! They understand English better than an Oxford graduate! Every dog has his own vocabulary, but mine know “take a walk” so well that we had to start spelling W-A-L-K because they would jump up from sleep dashing for their leashes anytime we made the mistake of saying the word. The bad news is they soon learned what spelling W-A-L-K meant, and now we have to say “stroll.” It won’t be long before we have to start spelling S-T-R-O-L-L.
Other phrases the dogs know: “Time for dinner, hamburger, hot dog, candy, cookie, treat. Let’s take a ride in the car. Who wants the first bath? (both head for the bushes). Here comes a car. Cat in the garden. (The latter said with real fear Cat might hurt my latest nest of baby birds.)
Phrases they don’t like: “No! Stay! Get down! Stop that! Bad dog! Stay home! And, time for bed.”
Phrases they do like: “Good dog! Good boy! Good girl! I love you. Want to jump up on Mom’s bed? Want to go for a swim?”
They also know, “Want to lick the bowl? Want some ice cream? Where’s Dad? There’s Dad! Let’s go!”
When Debbie comes to the “Pineapple Palace” to help me, all I have to say at the first sound of her car in the driveway is, “Here comes Debbie!” and they never stir from their sleep. They love Debbie. That simple phrase saves all of us a lot of “wolf-wolf” at the front door.
They also love their dog sitters, Katie and Amber. They can even spot Amber from across the street and I always know when they see her because a pair of long tails start wagging a mile a minute.
Then, there’s an adorable new golden retriever puppy named Lincoln down the street at Patsy’s house. The puppy has taught my dogs a new phrase, “I want a new puppy!”
When it’s hot we slow down here in Urbanna. The garden goes unweeded, grass goes uncut, and walks with the dogs come early in the morning before the sun is too hot, or late at night when a cool breeze comes in from the river.
Sometimes the dogs hit the river for a swim. Lady is happy wallowing in the shallows, but Lord swims along the marshes looking for action. He likes to surprise an egret or a turtle sunning on a log, and dares anything to hang around when he swims by.
Afterwards I hose the dogs off and give them a rubdown with a towel. I give their ears a good cleaning too. Did you know that dogs cringe when their ears are being cleaned just like children? They dry off on the back porch in the sunshine as clean as whistles. Then we jump in the car and have a ride about town, their smiling heads hanging out windows, their ears flat back in the breeze.
All this dog talk leads up to the fact that I’m taking off July and August for a rest. I’ll be busy this summer working at the law office a few hours every day but I’ll be back after Labor Day ready to write this column again. Be well everyone, count your blessings and have a wonderful summer!
