Sherlock

"Il est très mignon," I hear that over and over about Sherlock, and yes he is cute and sweet. French would not see his resemblance to the 80s American TV alien star, Alf. Those that have, have not yet asked Sherlock for his autograph.

Last week, a friend "borrowed" him. She took him along with some of her friends and her own dog, Paddy, up the mountain to Madloc. I heard through the rumor mill, how people kept saying how cute he was. Because we were doing errands, she had a key to let herself in and take the dog with our permission. She "borrowed" him again on Sunday. My dog has play dates.

Usually I share the care and feeding with my husband, but he's away this week. Therefore, I provide all the feeding, walks (except when he's "borrowed"), lap time, ball throwing. I was always responsible for the "surgery" on the stuffed animals that are a little less stuffed when he over shakes them. I understand when my husband talks about the silence of those early-early walks where there is no one around on the village and the smell of baking bread comes from the boulangeries. I also understand his pleasure in crawling back into bed. Come to think of Sherlock crawls back into bed too.

If he has added work to our lives, the need for patience as he is trained in a number of things a well-behaved dog should do, he has added joy and laughter.

My daughter says the dog isn't spoiled, he's pampered. She's being kind.