Neighbors

We are fortunate to have really good neighbors in our apartment building.  Several are dog lovers.  Sasha likes the other two dogs in the building to keep out of her personal space but she adores the dogs owners.  One in particular is doing her best to fatten Sasha up by always giving her dog treats every time she sees her.

A few of months ago one couple in our building agreed to take care of Sasha while I was in England.  They miss their dog that died of old age and have chosen not to replace her.  Sasha seemed to survive my absence and excitedly greeted me at my return. And my neighbors loved having her in their home.

After that Sasha took upon herself the task of checking on them every day. 

Every single time she and I pass their door to go outside she stops and does a merry little dance at the door.  If they don’t hear her paws dancing on the stone outside and the fierce wiggle of her whole body then she ups the door approach by whining softly.  Still no response, then she will lightly tap on the door with her front paw.  And then finally she will let out a howl to summon them. 

I get such a kick out of watching her body & tail dance around in excited anticipation that I usually won’t help her out by ringing the doorbell for her.

A day this week a decorator came to cover the hole in a wall in our master bedroom. (that had been made by the plumbers to find where the water pipe connected to our air conditioning unit was leaking.)  And to paint over all the mildew stains that was caused by said leak.  The paint, sealants, and aerosol quick-dry sprays were really smelly.  I did my best to close off the area and keep the fumes from filling our apartment, but it was still pretty smelly. 

After the decorator left I noticed that Sasha was not in the apartment. After searching thoroughly I went down stairs to R & J’s apartment.  Sure enough Sasha was there and had been there for almost an hour.  I have read that a dog’s sense of smell is 10,000 times stronger than a humans.  I guess the fumes were a bit much and one of the times the decorator came in and out Sasha had decided to escape to a less smelly environment.  Once I had determined she was safe I left her there till our apartment was more thoroughly aired out.  She and they enjoyed the visit.  And they have happily agreed to watch her the week of Thanksgiving when I go to Bulgaria.