Published: June 17, 2008 11:49 am         

Ms. Takes: Life a little brighter when new pet arrives

TERRE HAUTE — I think it was last fall when Joe lost his dog companion of many years.

Joe, one of the regulars at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center, was pretty broken up about it. My Best Friend and I urged that he get another dog — immediately if not sooner. But Joe had valid excuses. He wanted an outdoor dog and didn’t want to break in a new puppy during the winter. He HAD a heated dog house for his deceased companion, but then he worried about getting a new dog oriented to life in the slow lane and how to assure that a new dog knew property boundaries and on and on.

Months went by. Finally, a few weeks ago, Joe came to exercise all smiles. Someone, a granddaughter I think, brought him a little beagle she had rescued. Joe and Alice allowed as how they’d give it a try and see how it went. Now, just a few weeks down the road, “Buddy” has wound them both around his paw.

An outside dog? Well, maybe during the day, but at night he comes in to socialize and sleep on a pallet in the kitchen where he has developed “issues” with the ceiling fan.

He knows about mealtime and he knows where the treat jar is located. Joe hasn’t said any more about property boundaries, but, in the meantime, Buddy is on a very long leash with access to that heated dog house in case the weather turns stormy or cold before his evening indoors with his new family.

Joe said the other day, “Buddy just isn’t a morning person!”

Joe likes to go to bed early and is usually up by 3:30 or 4 a.m. Buddy wants daylight before greeting the day and will stagger over to Joe to sit and enjoy a scratch behind the ears or maybe a treat before he finds his way back to bed and flops down for another few hours of sack time. Maybe he thinks Joe’s arrival in the kitchen is only a sort of snooze alarm?

There is no more talk of “seeing how it goes”. Buddy is a member of the family. He has learned that when he fetches a ball, he has to give it up before Joe will throw it again — none of this fighting over it. If Buddy wants to play fetch, he needs to know when it is his turn and when it is Joe’s turn.

Buddy has brightened a new life. By extension he has also brightened ours!

Liz Ciancone is a retired Tribune-Star reporter. Send e-mail to opinion@tribstar.com.