Friday, November 27, 2009

Hollis Update

We’ve had Hollis three weeks now, and he’s fitting in quite well. In some ways he’s easier to have around than Recona, because Nock doesn’t see the need to kill him since he isn’t a female. He’s achieved his goal and now sleeps on the bed – although still ON TOP of the covers – and Lou and Nock actually seem to appreciate his company. The three off them are able to go out and wander around together, and we frequently find Hollis and Nock curled up together on a blanket on the floor. He sometimes uses grumpy old Lou as a pillow at night, and Lou doesn’t even seem to mind having Hollis’s head resting on his rump. Due to weather, business, and a general lack of motivation I still haven’t taken him out on a horseback ride, but I should have time to do that in the next week or so – and I think I’m getting over Cona’s death enough that I won’t burst into tears when I turn around to look for her plumy tail on the trail behind me and realize she isn’t there. I’m sure I’ll get used to Hollis’s white-tipped curly pig tail quickly enough.

The only problem we’re having is that with his brindle coat, he disappears. We’ve nicknamed him Camo Dog, because he can be in the jungle right behind the house, and if he doesn’t move so we see a flash of the white spot around his neck, he’s invisible. We think he thinks we’re crazy because we’ll stand in the driveway and call him, and then realize he’s just inside the trees looking at us. We’ve also found that he’s a quick study. When Scott and Elizabeth first came, he barked at them as intruders. They returned here for a night after they went to Guatemala, and he then accepted them without any problems. We just had another couple stay here last night, and not only did he not bark at them, but he was all snuggly with Kate and made her feel right at home – so he seems to be learning his job as watch dog at an inn, where intruders are bad but guests are good.

1 comment:

sandy a said...

Maybe put one of those neon-orange collars on him, like they do hunting dogs?