Life With Alfie

Having Alfie means...

• Always having someone to keep an eye on me -- almost literally!  When I open my eyes in the morning, he's standing there, wagging, watching me...when I come out of the bathroom he's sitting at attention.  Okay, it might drive some people crazy, but it makes me laugh. 
• I know someone is always listening to what I say.  I don't mean to say that he obeys every single word, at least not immediately (he has amazing obedience skills, but also a healthy mischievous streak!)  Still, it means that he's constantly picking up new vocabulary:  kitty, neighbor, buffalo, and Grandma's room are some of his latest.  More to the point, he understands things without my saying them:  like that I'm about to get up from the table, put on my shoes, or make a phone call.  It's quite uncanny!
• Resigning myself to reclaiming stolen items from him several times a day.  He has still not outgrown this!  I've learned that a single stern look usually does far more than the verbal command, "drop it."  He's just doing it for attention...but really, really doesn't want me to be mad at him!
• That if something needs my attention, he'll be sure to tell me.  Whether the kettle's boiling on the stove, the kids are having a spat, or a bottle of detergent fell over in the garage...he'll rush up to me, poke me with his nose, and make sure I check it out!  Funny dog.

Every puppy I've raised has been a real individual, but Alfie takes it to a whole new level.  He's so smart and observant that he has easily been the most challenging of all my  puppies:  not difficult to train, because he learns things with few or no repetitions; the hard part is keeping him from learning the things you don't want him to learn!  But by the same token, he's bonded to me like some kind of canine crazy glue.  He is intensely curious about everything we do and just wants to be in the middle of everything, all the time...participating, giving his opinions, working his hardest, and just enjoying life. 

In other words...no, he's not a "perfect" dog...just the perfect dog for me!  He makes me laugh, keeps me company, and probably teaches me just about as much as I teach him.  A pretty good arrangement, wouldn't you say?

My, What Big Ears You Have...

...not literally, of course.  Alfie's ears are pretty standard-issue medium floppy dog ears.  But he sure listens well with them!  And you don't have to be talking to him, for him to listen.  He's a confirmed eavesdropper.  I've got tons of stories but I'll just share a few.

Currently, we're staying at my Mom's house while waiting for the Austin house to sell (good news:  it's under contract again, should close by mid-April.  Yeah!!)  All that to say, our living arrangements are a bit makeshift.  Charissa's bunking in Mom's office, where she's got a nice air mattress set up on the floor.  One night she was talking to Tim, Alfie resting a few feet away, seemingly asleep.  She remarked that although Alfie's really good about staying off normal furniture, she thought it was cute how he liked to curl up on her air mattress since it was on the floor...he  always puts his head on the pillow, just like a person would.  Now this may be a coincidence -- but at that, Alfie stood up, looked at her, and quietly walked down the hall to the office, nudged the door open, and curled up on her bed...head on the pillow...as if to say, What a good idea!  Let me demonstrate!  Tim just shook his head and said:  "Umm..that's creepy!" 

Ah...this is the life!  Maybe when we move I'll get my own air mattress with pillow and stuffed bunny rabbit...

Then one day I was talking to someone -- can't remember if it was Mom, or Tim maybe -- and mentioned that "Paul's coming over."  Immediately Alfie, who loves my brother Paul, jumped up, tail high and wagging, and proceeded circling expectantly at the door...my attempts to explain that I didn't know exactly when Paul was coming over fell a little flat and in fact, only resulted in getting him more excited! 

On another occasion, Alfie was being naughty and stole one of Katharine's stuffed animals.  We were doing our level best not to reward him with the attention he desired, and I told Mom, "Just don't look at him, he'll drop it when he sees we don't care."  So we were ignoring him totally, and Mom remarked to me, "Well, it's sure a good thing he never grabs books!  We have books everywhere, and if he got one of those we'd have to get it back from him."  Ohhh noooo...that was SO the wrong thing to say.  I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes, but Alfie just looked at her...then this mischievous gleam came into his eyes as if, Oh what a good idea!  I'd never thought of that!  He trotted to the other room...and pranced back triumphantly with, oh YES, a BOOK.  And I do believe that is the very first time he'd stolen a book! 

So, all I'm saying is, if you ever come to visit me just watch what you say.  Don't say how great it is that Alfie doesn't chew socks, or steal the remote.  One more thing: tell me exactly when you're coming, so I don't accidentally mention it to Alfie an hour ahead of time!  I promise, we'll all be much happier...