Nine Dog Day

I have a yardstick for measuring how good a day I’ve had, and yesterday was a pretty good day. It was a 9 dog day, which is almost as good as a 10 dog day, and better than an 8 dog day – standard numbering system of course.

Naturally, my two dogs were the first. They always are, and when charming husband got up today they refused to get up with him. Instead, they stayed with me, and when I woke up, they were both there, waiting for me. I’d like to think it’s because they’re devoted to me, but it’s more likely that they just like to sleep in longer. Like me, they’re not early morning people. Or dogs. Ash was sleeping on the bed, all the better to be close to me, and Honey was at the foot of the bed. A 2 dog day is pretty standard around here.

I told them it was time to get up, and when they realized that I meant all of us, they tumbled down the stairs as if they’d just met. They are not sedate.

I had several visits to make to clients, and the first one I went to has a dog. But today, they also had another dog visiting. Two dogs! Already I’d doubled my RDD (recommended daily dog). The visitor dog was soft and cuddly and I held her in my lap while I talked to the client. The home dog always barks when I arrive, but usually stops once he realizes I’m not there to cause trouble, and then he lets me pet him. People always apologize for barking dogs, but I’m the one who invaded their territory, so it’s not as if it’s the dog’s fault.

Then I went to meet a friend at her office so we could go have lunch. And there, in her office, was the boss’s dog, Coco, a friendly lab with a wriggly butt astounding in its perpetual motion. Unfortunately, Coco could not accompany us to lunch.

After lunch, another client, this one at a pet store. The store owner brings her two spaniels to work (which is why a pet store would be a perfect work environment for me, if I were to have one, because you can bring your pets), and so I had two more dogs to entertain me.

And then just one more client who has an office at home, like the first one of the day. A golden retriever lives with this client, and his name is Jackson. He also recognizes me as a friend and I’m happy to corroborate that for him. But today Jackson had a houseguest staying with him, so this upped my daily dogs for today to 9. Both Jackson and his houseguest are pleasant company, enthusiastic and excited to have me around. I’m very popular with dogs. They think I smell good. I’m not sure what that says about me, but I don’t really care.

Eventually I made my way back home, where Ash and Honey regarded me with no small amount of suspicion. I smelled funny, like multiple dogs, and they were quite insistent on smelling me to determine what sort of dogs I’d been hanging out with. They’re generally suspicious when I smell of other dogs, being the jealous types, but eventually they calm down and let me off the hook. It helps that I bring them presents from the pet store.

I don’t have much hope of having a 9 dog day again anytime soon, which is too bad. But it’s a pretty high standard, after all, and I can’t hope to have that every day.