This morning, I was up early. This is not unusual, not by a long shot. When I wake up, no matter what time it is, my pup Izzy always gets up with me. If my husband gets up before me, Izzy waits. She’s my shadow and best pup ever.
But Izzy has picked up a bad habit recently. She’s not normally a loudmouth but the past few days she’s been unsettled by what we suspect is a cat that roams our area. While I love cats, Izzy does not. I think you can see where this is going.
Yesterday, very early, said pup was up with me as usual. She was alert, her floppy ears not so floppy and eyes wide. There must be a cat. Her single trademark “boof” (otherwise known as her pre-bark) on her lips woke my daughter’s dog (aka the loudmouth) and it was a barkfest.
Fun fact: Izzy is a fancy breed. She’s a Coton de Tulear. I had never heard of them either until a family in Bujumbura had a litter of pups and offered us Izzy. I’m so glad they did, boofs and barks and all!
Boofs and barks then silence
I tried to quiet her, she usually quiets quickly, to no avail. The cat had to be dealt with obviously, why didn’t I understand? It wasn’t until I picked up my pup and placed her back in my room that she reluctantly quieted down. Many moments passed before barks gave way to boofing which gave way to silence.
So this morning, I was watchful. 5 a.m. isn’t a time for boofs and barks. We got up normally, all was well until I sat here in my rocker to have my devotions and Izzy, looking intently at me, said, “boof, boof.”
I gave her a warning. Izzy is smart; I knew she remembered yesterday as well as I did. But she couldn’t contain herself and she tested me again.
Boof-boof…
That was all it took for me. We weren’t going to have a repeat barkfest so off we went back to the room for a bit. No back-boofing was heard.
It can be hard, not to react when something stirs our corn flakes in the wrong direction. I know the analogy of Izzy and the cat may seem like an oversimplification of our daily struggles but our struggles really are that simple.
Either we choose to make noise or not. We chase the cat or not. Life is all about choices.
Choose wisely today. Don’t waste your time barking at the cats.
