Thursday, March 18, 2010

Carmen

Carmen with slippers

Carmen has found her forever home.  She’s a sweet, quiet, calm girl who is slowly discovering love and even a little foolishness.  We’ve had her for eight days now.  Her tail wags more, her eyes meet ours more often, and she responds to her name most of the time.  When she doesn’t, it’s probably because she has better things to do than because she doesn’t remember her name. 

All of our major worries were for naught.  She will not be eating the cats, nor are the cats broken-hearted due to the arrival of a dog.   She will not be pooping and peeing all over the house.  She will not jump on us and knock us down. 

Miss T, the resident supervisor and crab ass, has a new lease on life and seems to think that her world is right again with a dog in it.  Billy is not as sure about that, but he is confident enough to take shortcuts by walking underneath Carmen’s body. 

So far, she has only destroyed an AARP bulletin and a plastic cat ball that the cats never played with anyway.  She does collect items to take to her bed, however, and these consistently include Sheila’s bedroom slippers.  I was flattered the day she added my red ones to the pile.  She has also rounded up Sheila’s book, a wet washcloth, and all the dog toys in the toy basket to carry to one of her two beds.   Nothing chewed on so far except the aforementioned AARP bulletin and cat toy. 

IMG_0668

Carmen’s new name (her racing name was “Where’s Rawbone”--yech) does not come from Bizet’s opera but was the name of Sheila’s late and beloved older sister.  It fits the sleek, exotic looking girl that she is.  However, I have made up a little song for her (all of The Pets always have a little song just for them), sung to the tune of  “March of the Toreadors” in Carmen:

I am a hound, a sweet greyhound/My name is Carmen and I’ll be around/I’m long and lean/just like a queen/My name is Carmen and I’ll be around!

9 comments:

  1. She is gorgeous!!! They are such sweet dogs. Funny how she hordes the toys and slippers to her bed....probably for security.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love that she collects the things. I often awake to find a gathering of toys in my study -- they are gathered where I spend my own time (I think in hopes that games may ensue). I'm so glad she's found a home, and that the cats have decided she may stay.

    ReplyDelete
  3. My life will not be complete until I have a You-Tube of Sharon singing the Carmen song!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Carmen is indeed a beautiful girl---and so fortunate to have found such a loving home with you and Sheila. I think it's very touching that she gathers those things about her. Perhaps she feels comfort in sleeping with the smell of her new beloveds.

    Your pets are so lucky to have their own songs. Who wouldn't love to have their own special song? And I would like to second what Debra Crow said. I want to hear the Carmen song sung! Please?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Carmen is beautiful and very lucky to have you and Sheila. How old is Carmen and does she hace to be muzzled when out for a walk? Here it is the law, but greyhounds always seem such friendly dogs to me.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Carmen is 2 1/2. We have stopped muzzling her when walking because it just doesn't seem necessary. From what I know, greyhounds are very sweet and loving to humans. Carmen is happy to greet everyone. Some greyhounds are very prey-driven (she apparently is not) and that is one reason they are often muzzled. It isn't the law here. We have been muzzling her when we go out and leave her alone, so that she can roam the house freely and drink water, but can't decide she wants to gnaw on the sofa or whatever.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Carmen is beautiful.. as is Your Blog! So enjoyed reading here today.. I just found Phyllis Theroux (sp?) and am so enamored with her story telling/journaling. cheers :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great little song! Took me back to when I was 9 years old and sang that tune to audition for the school choir at primary school. They said, 'Sweet little voice, but no projection'. I can hear the words today as though it were yesterday which shows how psychologically damaged I was. (It doesn't end there. If I sing at home people start talking about stray cats.)

    Sharon, you've been faithfully following my blog. You've got my new profile picture but I guess you're not getting the new posts from my relaunched blog. You might need to unfollow Being Miss and follow Being Me. Sorry to be a pain. Hope you choose to!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Fran, I bet you changed your blog to stay one step ahead of the law, am I right?

    ReplyDelete