the Love-In: a dog and grandchildren

Snowden, Gizmo, Sophie

         Sophie & Snowden, our grandchildren, ages 4 and 8, visit.  A love-in for the dog ensues for 2 ½ days: constantly hugging and holding him, trying to train him to fetch (only somewhat successfully), worried about his water, food and treats, putting on and taking off the leash, being very very gentle and kind to the dog, but overwhelming.  Every moment their attention was on us or the television, Gizmo sighed and went to sleep. 

           And not once did the dog snap or bite or even gum them.  With a smile and a kindly disposition, he allowed and even encouraged them to do whatever they wanted with and to him. 

           At the end of the visit, there were more hugs and near tears, cries of “when are we going to see Gizmo again?”  There was a duet of “We love you Gizmo” and “we will miss you Gizmo,” along with requests to take him home with them.

         That night and most of the next day, Gizmo was exhausted.  He mainly slept, occasionally sighing as if the love of two young girls was perfect and completely enervating. 

Snowden and love friend

Sophie and Gizmo

           He did recover, although when we told him that he could not grab the soap dish from the bathtub and eat the soap, he released his biggest sigh as if to say, “Sophie and Snowy would not stop me from doing that.  They would encourage me to eat a little soap if I wanted to.”

         When Grace told him that he could not take all the tissue out of the garbage can in the same bathroom, he released another guilt-provoking sigh and walked slowly out of the room.  Dejection, thy name is Gizmo when the granddaughters who envelope him with love have gone.

     “Every boy who has a dog should also have a mother, so the dog can be fed regularly.” 
-Anonymous