The Weekend of Yorkies and Croup (a Play)

The Weekend of Yorkies and Croup

The players:

Kodi
the eldest with a troubled heart but a youthful spirit

Kira
persistent and bold old mama despite lack of hips

Morti
young freedom seeker

Molly
tiny as a berry and ten times as sweet

Act I: Acclimation

My Aunt and Uncle went away on a camping trip for four and a half days and asked me to pet sit for them. At first, Meo was not thrilled of the idea. The cats were okay, as long as the dogs were confined. Otherwise Kodi liked to bark in their faces and the cats did not care for that. The dogs, with their tiny bladders, had been accustomed to toileting on puppy pads. Therefore, we restricted them to the non-carpeted portion of the house: the kitchen and dining room. I had a pen from my dog-walking and pet-sitting days that we set up to keep their food and beds in and to contain them in when Meo was feeling particulary overwhelmed. For the most part we left the pen open and they would just choose to relax in their on their comfy beds. Occasionally Robbie or I would take one of them out to sit with us in the living room with us.

Watchful from the tower

Home base

Theta doesn't mind them so much if they are in their pen

Act II: Outdoor Adventures

Everyday, we took the dogs out 4-5 times. Molly and Meo quickly took to each other, and Meo especially enjoyed walking Molly when we took the two youngsters on their daily walk.

Kodi simply loves to swim, and it was impossible to keep him from constantly jumping in the pool. He transfromed from a grumpy old man to a crazy puppy as he chased Meo's pool toys around.

Act III: Bonding

Day two.

Kira

Morti

Molly

 Day 3.

 

Kiss for Molly

Act IV: The Predator and his Prey

When my Aunt said she was worried one of the dogs would get carried away by hawks, I giggled a little. But then on two occasions our resident Cooper's Hawk made an appearance while the dogs were playing in the yard and I had to gather them up as fast as possible to save them from the watchful hunter.

Act V: Croup

For whatever reason, every time Mattimeo gets a cold, it begins as croup. The doctor's think he's just more susceptible to viruses causing his airways to be affected, and it will hopefully pass as he grows older. So when I saw his nose running Saturday when we were playing outside at Fort Williams, I wasn't terribly surprised when early that morning he developed a croupy cough, was wheezing, and would cry unless he was held close and nursed frequently.

We took him to the weekend clinic, and they gave him the usual steroid which alleviated his symptoms immediately (he stopped coughing and weezing). While he was there, he requested, "Go eat, eat! Maccaroni and Cheese, yum!". Who could say no to that? So we went out to Panera Bread and took care to sit away from other people, and he did great.

Act VI: Recovery

Meo wasn't acting himself for a few days. On Sunday, he watched the Lorax with Papa, and on Monday he watched Ponyo with Mommy, because anything else made him cranky or cry. He ate homemade watermelon popsicles and I tried to keep him cool by putting him in the pool on occasion. It was really hard to take care of all four dogs by myself on Monday while Meo was sick and fussy, but we managed.

Act VII: Comfort and a Peaceful Coexistance

Even though the dogs sometimes stressed him out, Meo grew quite fond of the dogs. And the dogs seemed to adjust to living in our house. Kira whined and barked and woke us up at night (not unlike a newborn babe), but besides that they were all very well behaved and seemed happy. Kira was just used to sleeping with her Mom and Dad and that was not something we could allow her to do.

Act VIII: Farewell

Meo became pretty attached to Molly in particular. Molly spent her last hour or so with Meo and I in the living room (mainly because she was so small she could slip past the gate), and Meo gave her lots of pats and love. When it was time to go, all on his own Meo sang this song:

Bye-Bye Doggies
Bye-Bye Doggies
We'll see you again

Epilogue:

For the next week, when Meo woke up in the morning, after requesting to nurse, he would say "Go downstairs, see doggies?". It was kind of heartbreaking to see how much he missed their presence in our house. He soon also learned the phrase "doggies home" and seems to have to have come to terms that the doggies don't live here. But we are hoping to bring him to visit his doggy friends soon.