I headed down the hall to see what that pile of stuff was at the end. The tall bookcase looked like it had decided to sit down. I saw Ellie’s light go on, so turned around. She looked at me with relief like I had been long missing and she had just found me. I heard her fumbling around in her closet, then she came towards me with pants on over her nightgown and the leash in her hand. That didn’t seem like a good idea to me. After all there was stuff all over the floor and she isn’t as good as I am at sidestepping rocks and holes and other hazards. She cornered me and put the leash on. Then she picked me up–hey, I’m not a baby, lady–and carried me to the dining table. She got down on the floor with an oomph and pulled me under the table. It was like she wanted to cuddle in this strange place, surrounded by broken glass, some of which she pushed out of the way with her foot as we tried to get comfortable.

She kept shushing me and then after a while said, “We need to go outside, Foxy.” Sounded like a good idea to me. So out the front door we went. The big pot that sits on our porch was on its side. It was dark, but people walked around like it was the middle of the afternoon. There were lights in all the houses. Ellie went next door to the old man’s house and rang the bell. He came to the door, they talked, and then she shouted back and forth to some other people on the street. After a short pee break, we went back into the house.

Ellie took me to the bedroom and closed the door behind us. “This is the safest room,” she said. She picked some pictures up off the floor, went around with a broom sweeping stuff and then after giving me a squeeze, she left the room. Locked in. Too bad. I shut my eyes, but heard her muttering to herself and lots of banging and crashing for a long time.

When it started getting light, Ellie came in and collapsed on the bed. But not for long. Soon we were both walking around the house. She had cleaned up my food bowl and gave me some fresh food and water. The floor was kind of sticky and there were bags of smelly stuff everywhere–scents of vinegar and something sweet. The furniture had all moved, but as the day went by, she pushed it all back where it belonged. She spent a lot of time in the garage, where I got a quick peek and saw bags and boxes all around the car. It smelled like paint. She smelled hot and sweaty like when we used to go for long runs.

It was nice to spend the whole day with Ellie at home. That’s a treat, as she usually leaves me and goes out somewhere in the car. I didn’t get a morning walk, but in the evening she took a shower and then took me out. She was moving kind of slow and bent over a little, but I had a nice walk. Not much new pee to smell in the park that day–maybe everyone else had a clean up day too.

So Ellie was gone again when I started throwing up. My tummy didn’t feel so good. I wasn’t hungry, even for treats. Mark put some fragrant rice in my bowl, but even that didn’t appeal to me.

Then at night Ellie came through the door and I knew everything was going to be OK. In the morning, she put me in the car and took me to the doggie doctor. After he poked and prodded and stuck me with something sharp, we went home. She had a handful of little bottles…something yummy for me, perhaps?

At dinner time Ellie had a row of little pills on the counter. I saw her stuffing them into those little chewy balls she gives me as treats. Usually, I chomp them right down, but not that night! I just wasn’t hungry. It was late and I didn’t know why she was putting the leash on me until–oh, no–she pulled me over to her and forced a couple of those pills into my mouth. Gulp. I didn’t like that at all. She let me go then, but I could tell she was upset. So was I!

I had a good long sleep after the visit to the doggie doctor. In the morning Ellie got the leash out and I ran out my door into the yard. No more pills for me, thank you very much. “No, Foxy!” she yelled. “I just want to take you for a walk!” After a long time, I finally let her apply the leash and take me out the door.

Usually after our walk, Ellie takes the leash off me while we’re on the front lawn and I run to the door. That’s the best part of the walk. Today she left it on, even after we were in the house and she dropped it. I dragged it around while she fixed my breakfast. I ate a couple of bites but still wasn’t hungry. Then it was pill time again. She held the leash and tried to put them into my my mouth. I shook my head and the pills went flying. Ellie was not happy. I heard her mumble something about “liverwurst” and she was out the door. The car started and the garage door opened and closed. She wasn’t gone long. I looked to see what she was doing in the kitchen when she returned and she gave me a cheerful greeting.           “Hey, Foxy. I have something special for you! Yum, yum.”

Really? She held out a little ball. I sniffed. Smelled pretty good. I took it in my mouth and swallowed. Not bad. Another one followed. Ellie was really happy then.  I slept a lot that day and avoided the leash when it was walk time. I was afraid more pills were coming my way.

“OK, Foxy. You don’t want to walk? No walk, then.” She sighed and gave me my dinner. I sniffed and decided to wait to see what would happen next. I was feeling a little dizzy and not hungry at all. She held out a ball of that liver-smelling stuff. Didn’t smell good to me anymore. I turned away.

“What?” she said. “What am I going to do now?” Then she started banging pots and pans and opening and closing the refrigerator. She put a little bowl in the box that dings when things get hot. Smelled interesting. She was making a grinding noise on the counter. She stuck her finger in the little bowl.

“Perfect,” she said. She set the bowl down next to my food bowl. Smelled like turkey, nice and warm and liquid. I took a slurp. Delicious. I finished the whole thing.

At our old house one night Ellie opened the door to the garage and it came off, almost knocking her down. She leaned the door against the wall and went to the phone. Her hand and voice were shaking as she talked.  Our friend Roy came right over and fixed the door. That’s the kind of guy he is.

What I like the most about Roy is his dog, Blue. Blue is tall and dark, has short hair, floppy ears, and his eyes don’t match. One is light and one is dark–it gives him a wild and crazy look–and he is pretty wild and crazy. While Roy spends an afternoon in our yard sawing away at some wood or hammering nails, Blue runs in circles in the yard, whines, and wants to play with me. Usually Ellie keeps me in the house and Blue stays outside, so we just look at each other through the glass door.

Roy built the deck I like to get under and he has put in some windows and the glass doors on the back of our house. One day he came by on a motorcycle, without Blue, and he came in for a visit.

“I’ve been looking online,” Ellie said. “We’ve just had too many accidents now that he’s on diuretics.”

“Yeah,” he answered. “Be sure to get something sturdy. No plastic. Are you sure he’ll be able to learn to use it?” He chuckled when he said that. Roy was always chuckling at something. They were standing by the back door  and then Roy  got down on his knees, held up some metal tape under the window and scribbled notes on a pad of paper. There was smiling and hugging and then he was off.

The next time I saw Roy he had his saw and a big hammer (no Blue). I took cover under the bed when he started pounding. When it got quiet again I came out and found a hole under the window. Ellie brought in a big box from the garage and she and Roy worked together to remove what was inside. Roy worked at it all day, but when he left, the hole had been covered by some thick, stinky rubber.

None of this was really of interest to me–Where’s Blue? But then Ellie called me and she was crouched by that new thing in the wall. She had some little tiny treats, so I went over to her. She picked up some treats and pushed the rubbery flap open with her fingers, dropping the treats inside. It snapped closed with a metallic click.

“Come on, Foxy, come and get the treats. Yum, yum!” She coaxed me.   I was definitely hungry for something that smelled like peanut butter. I sniffed around the edge, but there was no way I was going to push the flap with my nose. Her finger pushed it open a crack and I could smell the treats. She held it open and I snagged one and backed off. We played this game over and over. Soon enough I was pushing the rubber open just enough to lap up the treats with my tongue. I had no idea what this was about, but I was enjoying myself.

Then Ellie took a handful of treats and went outside, shutting the glass door in my eager face. She crouched on the other side of the rubber flap and held up a treat.

Huh? Well, I’d get the treat if you’d let me out there! Very confused, I went to the other room to scratch myself. Later on, Ellie called me back to the hole in the wall. She got down on her hands and knees and put her head into the opening!

“See Foxy, your head goes in here, then you can walk through.” I just looked at her in bewilderment. Groaning from the effort, she got up, grabbed the treats and went outside, once again leaving me alone. Then she pulled the flap from the outside and put some treats on the tiny floor on the inside of the wall. I lapped them up, as usual.  Now she was holding the flap way up on her side and there was a treat in her other hand, right in front of my nose, but on the outside. I moved towards it. She backed up.

“Come on Foxy, you can do it!” I could see sweat on her face. She kept repeating, “Come on, come on!”

I lunged for the treat and found myself out on the deck. My back tickled where the heavy door had slid over it. Ellie beamed.

“Good boy! You did it! Good job!”

I was looking for more treats. She took me back in the house and repeated what we had just done–going out on the deck, putting treats on the floor, and holding one up on the outside. We practiced this for a few days and then Ellie put me outside and held up a treat on the inside. No problem! I went right in after it.

The next morning I did a good stretch and was ready for my morning outing, but Ellie was still putting on her shoes. I looked at that door. There were no treats, but it led to the backyard, so I went out and relieved myself on the grass. When I came back in through my door, Ellie was standing there filled with a joyful energy.

“You did it, Foxy! No more puddles on the floor. Good boy.”

It didn’t seem like a big deal to me at the time.

The next time Roy and Blue came to visit, Blue looked at me from the deck and I looked back from the house. He sniffed around my door and nosed the flap. He can’t get in!  The opening was just too small for his big body. I wagged my tail and went out to greet him.

Now that I’ve had my door for a while, I’ve discovered many uses beyond a quick trot to the grass. I go out to growl when I see a big cat on the fence. Or when Ellie is banging pots and pans. Or when the vaccuum cleaner is buzzing all over the house. Or sometimes, just to see what I can see.