It Was an Experiment

When I get my hearing back, I’ll decide whether we’ll ever do it again

Photo by Robert Gramner on Unsplash

When my hubby announced his daughter was coming to visit, I was very happy. When he said she was staying with us, I was very concerned.

We have four dogs. The two youngest, the Basenjis, were untried with visitors. The older two, both Chihuahua mixes, do not have a good track record with people. One of them bit my son while he was petting another dog. My son hasn’t been back since. That was about 7 years ago.

Usually if workmen or insurance people come to the house, we put the dogs out, but there was no way that would work if this visit was going to be for several days.

The summer before I moved down here, I had a workman come to do some home improvements on my old house. He came six days a week for two months. The dogs barked at him every single day. If he went out to his truck for a tool, they barked when he came back in. I thought maybe they’d get used to him after a while. They never did. He wore boots, so I didn’t worry about him getting bitten.

She arrived in our driveway on Monday afternoon. We knew before we saw her car, because the dogs told us. One of us stood behind her as she came in to block her ankles from them. We had to do that pretty much any time she moved from one room to another.

We tried having her give them treats. They liked the treats, but they didn’t change their minds about barking every time she moved.

The Basenjis were good. Sadie actually allowed Cheryl to pet her. Sadie’s son, Sam, was shy and ran away from her. The two Chihuahuas did just what I expected them to do. They barked and snuck up by her ankles, so we acted as shields.

She left Thursday morning. She got to spend time with her father, which was the purpose of the visit, and she said the barking didn’t bother her. I think she is a very kind person.

I don’t expect her to visit again until her hearing has returned. It may be a while.