Foster Dog, continued
I promised to tell you more about Marci, a dog from The Bill Foundation who is staying at my house until she gets adopted. I have tons to say about my own emotions as I've taken on this project, but the more interesting stuff is about her. The really freaky stuff, I'm finding, is about people's reaction to her, or dogs in general. I'll get to all of that, in posts to come. (Like it or not. Heh.)
Marci was chosen for me by the rescue place for her probable ability to get along with my cats, for Marci is not what you'd call a high-energy dog. The rescue place claims she's four years old, but I don't believe them. She acts like she's 90. She's basically cheerful but in general, her emotional range seems to start at "indifferent" and max out at "Huh." She's not a real fast mover, either. I jokingly call her "Lightning." A couple of times a day I take her out for a stand.
Okay, I'll admit: the above paragraph exaggerates. I included it mostly because I wrote it earlier and thought it was funny. I've spent more time with Marci since then, and she does indeed have her (relative) extremes of feeling--she gets happy and wiggly when I come home. She will sit on command before I give her a treat, but waves her paw urgently like "hurry UP!" She is discovering how much she likes snuggling and petting. And she can actually move faster than a snail's pace...even if it's only for a microsecond and she could still be outrun by a sloth. There's a lot going on in this little dog.
Especially in her nose.
She has the WORST sinus problems I've ever heard. As someone who also has breathing issues, I want to take her to a specialist. She isn't constantly noisy, but when she sniffs the ground on a walk she makes little pig snorting sounds. When she smells around the base of a tree I think she's hunting for truffles. When I'm not calling her Lightning, I'm calling her Snuffleupagus. She also makes these loud random honks at odd times. But none so alarming...
...as when she's SNORING.
Holy MOTHER OF GOD does she snore! Like, louder than people! When I live in a situation where I have to take the dog out to pee, I find it easiest to have it spend the night at the end of my bed. The dogs I've had sleep obediently through the night and then are right there to wake you when they have to go out. But NOW...even with earplugs, I just lay there all night thinking of analogies to describe her snoring to other people: she snores like grizzly with a head cold. She snores like a yeti. She snores like a Cessna in need of a tune-up. She snores like an old riding lawnmower. She snores like a flatulent tuba. If she were in a band it'd be called D.V. Ated and the Septums. At least thinking up jokes gives me something to do.
She also is having trouble meeting strangers--even nipping at them at times--and isn't in love with me leaving. And then there's the saga of the cats, who, as cats, are not big into the concept of being noble and helping out the less fortunate. They're more like "Noble, schmoble, you ruined the house. When do I get your lap back?"
I'll tell you about it soon.