Doggie Fairmont 1

Outdoors it is -35 degrees Celsius at 7:00 a.m. by the swake while indoors the complicated heating system is working magic to keep us toasty warm.  By us, I mean all of us including Kanti.  She has experienced a first on her bucket list this week getting to sleep inside on the living room carpet three nights in a row.  Truly a luxurious arrangement by doggie standards.  Think Fairmont for dogs.  She knows it is very cold outside but I wonder whether she is able to associate the fact that it is cold with the kindness of her owners in bringing her into the house.  It is just one of several questions that have rolled around through my brain passages this week.

I imagine you are questioning how I know that Kanti knows it is very cold.  Well, the best test of that is when she is inside and barks to be let out.  We dutifully leave whatever we are in the midst of doing and go to the door to accommodate her wishes.  Remember, this is the equivalent of the Fairmont for dogs and we play the parts of Door Man, Reception, Concierge, Room Service, Wait Staff, and House Keeping with Kanti being our one and only guest.  The service standards are impeccable.  She barks, one of us opens the door.  At normal temperatures, she races off through the open door to take care of pressing business either chasing the deer away, relieving herself, or welcoming guests.  At -35 when she barks, one of us opens the door, Kanti moves forward to the threshold sticks her nose out, quickly pulls back from the door and sits down in the foyer.  Then she looks at us with a look that seems to say, are you freaking crazy?  I'm not going outside, the weather is not fit for man or beast.

Like any well-trained Door Man or Concierge, we do not yell at our guest for their indecisive ways.  We scratch her behind the ears and commiserate with her about the temperature then we all go about our business again.  Her business involves flopping down somewhere in the living room.  If she wishes to sleep more she finds her way to the carpet and sighs deeply as she stretches out again for just one more snooze.  If Kanti wants to participate in a little guard duty she wanders over to the windows positioning herself so she can see if any deer or coyote dare to venture out into the open meadow nearby.  This is how a day at the doggie Fairmont by the swake goes, then night falls.

Remember that we are not dealing with a Chihuahua here; we are talking about a large critter with a very thick winter coat that owns the spiffiest dog house ever.  The dog house is insulated and equipped with the latest in dog mattresses.  Plus the dog house is actually inside another larger shed structure.  Her regular sleeping accommodations are very suitable for our winters and when we do feel sorry for her there is a crate in the heated garage that has provided refuge on other extremely cold nights in the past.  So what changed?  Ah yes, another question.  How is it that Kanti ended up sleeping in the living room?

Well that story started on Wednesday night when the temperature plummeted.  Greg and Kanti returned from their evening walk very cold and frosty.  Greg took her into the garage intending to put her into her crate but she had no intention of going into the crate and the game was on.  Greg calling Kanti.  Kanti running toward him and then swerving away at the last possible moment. Around and around they went until Greg got tired of playing a game he wasn't winning.  She is very smart, very quick, very determined, and very very cute.  It is a lethal combination because you just can't stay mad at her.  And so, we upgraded Kanti's accommodation from a crate in the garage to a luxury suite in the house.  Like many guests that score an upgrade, she had the moxy to ask in her own way by letting us know the crate wasn't acceptable!  

That's installment number 1 in the Doggie Fairmont; I do believe there might be more.  Yes, we know our children think we spoil Kanti and that they don't always approve of our dog parenting skills but aren't they just lucky that we spoiled them too?  And, by the way the kids turned out just fine so I am hoping the dog does too.  

    

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