A Scene From Our Home Early Morning

A scene from Pocket’s and Foley’s house

Setting:  Early morning, cold winter day.

Pocket and Foley emerge from the bedroom with their Daddy Lackey. Pocket is being carried, Foley is waddling forward. Daddy Lackey goes over to the thermostat turning up the heat so the house is not freezing. Pocket shudders because she hates when the heat comes through the floorboards.

Pocket is placed on the kitchen floor while Foley licks up some water from a bowl. Daddy Lackey puts on a jacket, a coat, and a ski cap, then goes on porch making sure the dogs do not follow.  He grabs a poop bag, the dog harnesses and coats. He goes over to the kitchen table. He gets a sweater or shirt from the Hattie Mae collection that the pups’ Mommy had laid out for them the night before.

He puts the sweater on Foley who puts up her paws fighting to keep it from going on but finally she lets it be slipped over her head. Pocket, while Foley is being dressed, crosses behind Daddy Lackey headed to the bedroom.  Daddy Lackey calls her.  She stops, looking confused. She turns back to the bedroom, gets called again, and walks back to her Daddy Lackey. While the sweater is going on she turns, squirms, boxes, shakes and finally relents to it being put on.

The harness goes over the shirt or sweater. This way the beauty of the Hattie Mae collection is not hindered by the undergarment. The harness goes on simply but Daddy Lackey has to be careful. If you don’t put the harness on correctly then the dog can break free. If Foley breaks free she just continues about her business knowing she will be safely harnessed soon. If Pocket breaks free she begins darting back and forth as if she has become an untethered balloon. Daddy Lackey has to chase her down before she gets in trouble.

Then Daddy Lackey takes the two jackets and slips the leash through the hole in the jacket. He does this because it is very hard to find the clasp on the harness after you put the jacket on. By slipping the leash through the jacket and then clasping it the entire process is easier. And, by this time, both dogs, standing on the cold floor, and walking back and forth, really have to pee, so expediency is of the utmost importance.

Daddy Lackey then hooks the leash on to the clasp and put the velcro straps around their neck and their stomachs. Finally it is time for the dogs to go outside. They walk out to the porch. Suddenly a stricken look comes over Pocket’s face as she digs her heels in.

“What is wrong?” Daddy Lackey asks Pocket.

“Daddy, I know you spent all this time getting me dressed to go out in the snow but I have to pee.”

“That’s why we’re going outside Pocket,” Daddy said.

“Oh that’s good,” she says following him outside whistling a happy tune.