The BlogAdda Weekly: The Pet Project

It’s a Dog’s Life

Hi there. Welcome back! Today, we start a new The BlogAdda Weekly, titled The Pet Project, which is definitely our pet project. A lot of people in the world are pet lovers, and these fur babies are the apples of their family’s eyes. Animals show us what unconditional love looks like, and make us better human beings for sure. While we need language to communicate to other humans, the language barrier is really no barrier for our pets, who understand only the language of love. But really, what are they thinking? Do they think of us as big furless pals or their masters? We decided to hazard a guess, and that’s the beginning of The Pet Project. Each week we will feature a story from the point of view of our beloved companions. This week, it is the turn of the beloved furry canine companion, who has become legendary for his loyalty and playfulness. What would a day look like from a dog’s point of view? Let’s have a look shall we? Woof!

Yaaaaaaaawn! It’s a beautiful morning, and I’m woken up by my dream of running around in Boneland by the sun beaming down on my face. I lick my lips enjoying its warmth. I hear a bird chirping outside the window, signalling the start of a wonderful day. Wait! A Bird?! I’m thoroughly awake now. I jump up and run to catch this feathery intruder. Slam! I crash into the glass window! Grrr…I’ve never understood the sorcery of this window. I can SEE the bird but can’t catch it. I start barking loudly and warn everyone of the danger of the bird’s presence. I continue to bark until the bird flies away and then flop down near the window. Yet again I have saved my family from this vicious predator.

Now that the invasive bird has disturbed the sleep of Mommy and Daddy, I need to make up for it. So I jump up on the bed to lick their faces. After all, they are probably looking for a chance to thank me for saving their lives. I start licking Mommy’s face first, and she starts scratching behind my ears without opening her eyes. My tail starts wagging at warp speed, until she starts pushing me off her. She loves this game of pushing me far and me coming back to lick her, I know it!

Once she is successful in pushing me off, she sits up and takes deep breaths. I then get started on Daddy’s face. He also pets my head but then starts trying to push me back. I resist his pushes and try even harder to get to his face. That is until Daddy pins me on the bed and starts giving me a belly rub. Oh heaven, I can’t even describe what this feels like. Best. Morning. Ever!

Mommy then gets off the bed and I stare at her upside down as she ties her hair up. I then jump off the bed and follow her as she walks into the tiny, wet room. She closes the door before I can follow her in. I don’t know why she always closes the door and leaves me on this side. I hear water and I can’t stand being this far away from her for this long. So I start scratching at the door. I hear her mumble something soothingly, always the same words – Lilo (That’s my name)… bathroom… can’t come in. Hearing her voice just makes me want to run to her even more. I start whining and scratching at the door and I know that if I do it enough, the door will open magically.

See, it worked! She finally opens the door and comes out. I nuzzle her leg, afraid that she had been gone that long. She pats my head sympathetically. It’s Daddy’s turn to disappear into the bathroom now. I curl up in front of the door and listen to the sounds of the shower, remembering the time I played with the water pipe last Sunday. Oh that was fun! I wonder when I’ll get to do that again. I wonder if Dad will let me into the wet room to play with water now. Oh, there he is, back safely!

What’s that noise? My ears perk up. That’s Mommy in the kitchen, opening my food packet. Yay! Breakfast! About time, my stomach was rumbling. I run to the kitchen just as Mommy keeps my food bowl down. I gobble it up, after all dinner was so long ago. I lick my plate clean and she looks at me and blows a kiss and says ‘Good boy!’ but doesn’t pet me and that bugs me. She has her hands busy with something, but she can always give me my post breakfast scratch.

I leave the kitchen and go to find Daddy. He’s sitting on the fluffy thing called sofa, holding a big piece of paper in front of him. But he doesn’t chew the paper like I do, just stares at it and shakes his head like he has a flea on his ear. Humans like doing strange things, but it is a ritual for him. I love it because I get to rest my head as he sits very still with his nose in the sheets. Not today. I get a running start and jump on top of the sofa, skidding into him and making him drop the paper. Good riddance, now he can focus on what really matters, me, not on things that are black and white and boring.

I jump up on his chest and look at him earnestly, waiting for him to say the magic words. He knows what time it is. He looks at my wagging tail, laughs and says the word that I had been dying to hear, WALK. Bingo, just what I needed! I jump up to lick his face and then rush off the sofa and run around in circles until he gets up. Daddy needs to know that he’s made me happy, and me running around tells him that.

I go to the place where they keep the long rope that connects me to Daddy when we’re out. I don’t like it when I go running after a plastic bag and Daddy pulls me back with it, but Daddy says it keeps me safe, so I don’t mind. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I can’t wait to go out! Now I start pawing the front door, and magically, that too opens! The sounds and smells of the outside world are in front of me, and I can’t wait to explore, I think as I run out, I mean, I run as much as the leash allows me to. It makes my walk wobbly and weird, but it’s fun to pull Daddy around! Tee hee!

At the entrance of where I live, there is a shady person standing around. He is there every single day and I don’t trust him, also he wears the same coat everyday. Who does that? I thought humans changed the fur they wore everyday! Daddy calls him ‘The Watchman’, and I agree, I constantly need to watch that man. I lunge at him, growling and barking to warn him to stay away from me and dad. He backs away with a nervous laugh. I growl until Daddy pulls me away. He probably doesn’t want me to get my paws or my teeth dirty by lunging at him.

We then walk around near all of my favorite places: that plant I like to pull the leaves off of; that tree that I mark with my pee every time we come on a walk; and that fence I like to stick my head through. I swear there is this tiny furry thing with a bushy tail that runs up the tree behind the fence whenever I come close. Someday I’ll find this creature. I don’t know what I’ll do with it once I catch it, but I have this intense urge to run behind it.

Children on their way to school come up to me and pat my fur and talk to me in baby voices. I love their tiny hands and before I know it, I’m kissing their faces! Best. Walk. Ever!

After we come home, Mommy and Daddy start getting ready. They change in to a different fur than they were wearing before, and Daddy hangs something like a leash from the front of his neck. I hate this part. They leave, and I know that I won’t see them until it gets dark. I sit in front of the main door, where they left from and I wait for them to return. I don’t know where they go or why. Why would they spend the whole day away from home? And more importantly, away from me?

Laying there, I eventually fall asleep. After a nice long nap, I stretch my body and shake it awake. I’m starting to feel a little hungry, so I eat some of the food that mommy has left out for me and drink some water. Not satisfied, I open the door of the small cold cupboard in the kitchen and sniff around for some exciting food. Jackpot! Mommy has kept the peanut butter sandwich left over from breakfast! I lunge at it, tear off the yucky cover and gobble up the deliciousness. Ah, this is so much better than my regular lunch.

With the yummy in my tummy, I then bring out my favorite toy from the bin and toss it around a couple of times, but my heart is not in it. I curl up on the sofa and settle down for another nap. After another successful nap, I go to the window and stare out trying to see if I can spot Mommy and Daddy coming. All I see is a family of birds making noise, no doubt conspiring to take over my home. Grrr…let me at ’em! What do I do to get them away before they attack? Finally, I decide on a strategy of growling, then barking regularly, punctuated by pawing at the window. This takes time as the birds ignore me at first, but then I see them flocking to the other side of the tree, defeated in their evil plans yet again.

What’s that scent? That smells like Daddy! Oh yes, yes, I hear keys dangling at the front door. I run to it and sniff at the crack below the door. DADDY!!!!!  DADDY’S HOME!!!! YAY!!! I run and call out to him to tell him how happy I am that he’s back. He finally gets the door open, and I try to reach him. I jump up against the door, but it suddenly closes again. Why is he torturing me like that? He gets it open again and finally comes in. I jump up at him and try to lick his face. He tries to get past me, but he is not getting away that easily. He eventually gives up and sits down right there. I thoroughly kiss his face till he starts smiling and laughing and then flop down into his lap panting, finally content that he is back home again.

He picks up my toy that I had left near the door and tosses it. I run after it like crazy. I bring it to him, and he tries to take it from him. Oh you want to play? I don’t let go, I’m not some toothless and powerless weakling. After he stops tugging on it, I drop it and bark at him to throw it again. He obliges. We do this again and again until Mommy comes home. Needless to say, they now have to take turns throwing my toy and petting me. Both of them go to change their fur and wear looser fur before settling down with a cup of a hot drink. Why would anyone want to drink that hot, vile thing, I never understand, but the biscuits they eat with it make me perk my ears. Of course I want my share!

While mommy goes to the kitchen again, dad lounges on the bed, looking at a small thing that has light coming out of it. Other than the newspaper, this is another thing that he is often staring at. What’s so interesting, I think and jump up to settle beside him, eager to solve the mystery. Some black and white dots and figures are on the thing, and Daddy seems to think they’re important. After a while, Daddy gets bored and starts looking at moving pictures. I see and hear a tiny cat in his thing and immediately stand up. WHAT’S A CAT DOING IN MY HOUSE? WHY IS MY DAD LOOKING AT IT?

I try to run and catch the cat but I think she is hiding behind the shiny thing Daddy is holding. I peek behind the thing but don’t find it. But I can still hear that dreadful meowing of the creature. Where is she hiding? I look at Daddy but he just smiles at me and kisses me playfully. In some time I see some fellow dog friends on the thing. Oh boy! I would love to make friends with them, and thank Woof the cat is gone!

What? Dinner time? I can smell the food that Mommy is preparing. Mommy calls for dinner and I’m out of the room like a shot! I run outside to see the bowl of food that Mommy has put out for me. I sniff it. What?! This doesn’t smell delicious. But Mommy and Daddy are already settled with their plates in front of the magic picture box in the room and watching people in smaller boxes yelling at each other. ‘News’ they call it. News must mean fighting. We dogs also do ‘news’ when someone enters our territory by barking and huffing.

I don’t want my sad food. I place my head on Daddy’s lap with my eyes firmly on the beautiful, juicy piece of chicken he has. Daddy says No. Humph! Puppy face time! I’m no longer a puppy but I still make my eyes go big, raise my eyebrows and look at him unblinkingly like my life depends on it. He finally understands and says something to Mommy and laughs. Eventually he relents and sneaks me a piece of chicken from his plate. It disappears in no time. This cycle of me staring at him and him sneaking me food continues for a while, until he announces that he is done and the food is finished.

While Mommy and Daddy are cleaning up, I go and eat some of my own food. I then lie down in front of the kitchen and stare at them working together, laughing and smiling. I sigh with happiness. After they are done, they go get the leash, and I get excited again because it’s time for another walk.

The routine of the walk is the same, except it’s darker now and both Mommy and Daddy come. They even let me off the leash for a while, and I have fun running around on the grass and chasing the insects while they sit and chat. My tongue is out and I’m panting by the end, which is a great thing. Mommy Daddy see me smile and take me home. They start ‘getting ready for bed’ as they call it. Why does one need to prepare to sleep anyway? I just lay down and sleep comes to me automatically without preparation. I lay down in my bed looking at them, and they get into bed and snuggle close to each other.

Mommy and Daddy both say ‘Good night, Lilo. I love you!’ and switch off the lights. But good night doesn’t mean good bye, and their bed is much more tempting than mine. So I jump up on their bed and curl up near their feet, which makes Mommy chuckle and Daddy let out a mock sigh. And just like that, I’m off to sleep, dreaming of chasing birds and digging up bones. Best. Day. Ever!

So what do you think? Did you like the first installment in The Pet Project? What did you like, and what didn’t you like? Please don’t hesitate to tell us in the comments below. Also, did you happen to read our last The BlogAdda Weekly: A lot can happen over…? If you missed it, read the Part 1 here.