Windows To The Soul

This is Harry.

Harry is not religious, but he is spiritual. Actually, he probably is part Jewish and he loves matzo balls. Harry loves to eat, meditate and sleep. The only thing he likes better than eating, meditating and sleeping is eating, meditating, sleeping and going for walks.

Another one of Harry's major pleasures is chasing squirrels. Sometimes he even catches one and that's not a good thing.

Harry was tossed in the night drop box three times before we finally got him. For various reasons, the owners who had adopted him before us decided they could not keep him. Rather than take him in and surrender him at the shelter, they decided to just stick him in the night drop box after everybody left the shelter for the night.

If this had happened once, I might understand it better. When we adopted Harry, the shelter worker said he actually prayed it would work this time. It was very upsetting to find Harry dumped three separate times.

Being abandoned three times before you were even 18 months old is very traumatic, I'm sure. As a result, although Harry is a wonderful dog, he has a lot of neurotic quirks. For example, he's afraid of trees. I am also afraid of trees. Harry is terrified of wind and rain and I don't like those things much either. Harry does not like the country. He is a city boy. I also understand that.

Harry barks at flies and tries to catch and eat them. Flies taunt him and look at him funny which upsets him no end. But honestly, does anybody really like flies?

Harry is about 8 years old now. He's slowing down a bit. We got Harry a new companion a while ago. Her name is Zoe and she's a puppy.

She is also a rescue dog. Zoe is very sweet, very friendly and very playful. Harry likes her but finds her very pesky. Zoe seems to take the song "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" very seriously. Harry get annoyed because when he's trying to meditate, Zoe comes up and bites his neck and licks his nose and ears until he pays attention to her.

Zoe's favorite thing in the world is playing "grab ass" with Harry. That is a game where they both run as fast as they can through the house knocking over everything in their path. This is always accompanied with growls and yips and howls.

Zoe has the body of a world class athlete. She is pure muscle and fast, very very fast. Harry is an older dude now and a little fat. He's not slow, but he cannot catch Zoe if she doesn't want to be caught.

So, after a while, Harry gets tired of playing the game and tries to resume meditation. Zoe comes over to nuzzle and chew on him and then Harry has had enough.

He takes his big body and knocks her on the floor. She throws all four legs in the air to show her submission. Harry stands over Zoe and growls for a few minutes.

Then it's nap time. What a life!