Andy The Little Rat Dog House Guest

Today we have another guest post from the Dog Daddy at our house:  

Dorothy's Dog - Andy

Readers of this blog may have noticed that it has not been as active as usual lately. Sue’s mother, Dorothy, has experienced some health problems and is now in rehab preparing to be able to return to her home. 

Those of you who have been through such an experience will understand. For those of you who have not, there is no way to relate it in a single blog post. I will just say that blogging is just one of many things in our lives which have been impacted. 

As Sue told you in an earlier post, Dorothy’s dog, Andy, a Lhasa Apso, has come to live with us for awhile. This has been a real adventure for all of us, especially for Andy.

Having been a city dog all his life, he has never known the joy of being free in the yard without a leash. At first he wouldn’t leave the back porch without me leading the way.  Now he goes out alone.  He slowly maneuvers down the steps, does his business and explores the world going a little further each day.

With a 2 acre yard that’s a lot to explore. 

Andy only has one eye.  Unfortunately he's nearly blind in that eye.  His exploring is a slow process, but fascinating to watch. Sometimes he will get to the other side of the house and can’t find his way back. I call him, and keep calling him, so he can follow my voice back to the back porch.

One day he got lost in the yard and found Sue’s For Love of a Dog Jewelry studio, which borders the back yard.  He found the studio porch and it's door and was sitting there waiting to be let in. When I called to him he realized his mistake and followed my voice back to the house. 

So far we have kept Andy separated from our dogs as he has a“little man’s complex” and Jeffie does not like a strange dog in his house. Rudy, however, is fascinated.  He stands at the baby gate which keeps Andy in the mud room and studies him. 

I think that at this point Rudy has finally figured out that Andy is a dog, just a very strange little fellow. We think the two of them would get along okay but Rudy is still very much a rousting puppy. Andy is old and has mobility problems so we are afraid he could get hurt. When Andy goes out to explore the yard, Rudy goes from window to window to try and keep an eye on him.

We talk to our dogs a lot and we always end up giving them numerous play names. Andy is now known as Andyman, Little Dog, the One Eyed Wonder and Little Rat Dog. Sue says I shouldn’t call him Rat Dog because I could give him a complex. 

I think it is a fitting name. With Jeffie and Rudy both weighing around 100 lbs. and Andy weighing about 20 lbs. Andy is pretty much like a little rat!

We love dogs and believe that all dogs deserve the best care possible, so we will continue to give that to Andy.  At the same time, we're looking forward to Andy's return to his own home and dog mama.  And I'm sure the Little Rat Man feels the same way!