Amused Musings On A Slightly Absurd World

I adopted my dog Jack about 11 years ago from the Atlanta Humane Society.  He’s a Jack Russell Terrier-hence the mind-numbing creativity used in naming him.  He was sort of whiny and restless, but I picked him anyway.  After he peed on my ottoman and I had his testicles removed, we pretty much bonded as if we had never been one without the other.  Truly a single gal’s best friend.  So now Jack is 13 and, as an elderly dog, he’s starting to exhibit some new behaviors.  For years, I have had Sunday dinner at my folks’ house.  On those days, I ask Jack if he’s ready to go over grandma/grampy’s house and he starts wiggling around knowing there’s a car ride ahead and the prospect of some good table scraps.  Over the past year or so however, when I have gotten ready to go home on Sunday nights, Jack has elected to stay at my parents’ house.  How can this be, you ask, he’s a dog.  It’s just that he won’t follow me to the door when I’m ready to leave like he used to.  I ask him, are you ready to go home, and he just looks at me or turns around and goes in the other room or pays no attention to me all. My family and I have surmised that he prefers not to be alone during the day and likes staying with my grandma, who’s home most of the day, and my dad, who is semi-retired and takes Jack to the park during the day.   So now, when I go to my folks’ house, Jack is all over me, sitting at my feet, placing his paws on my legs and cuddling up.  But when it’s time for me to leave, he’s like, “Deuces!” I feel guilty leaving him alone all day when I’m at work so I have not forcibly taken him home. Last Friday, Jack allowed me to take him home and we hung out Saturday and Sunday.  But after Sunday night dinner, he elected to stay behind with the fifty and over crew.  One night I was on the phone and asked my father how’s my dog and my dad commented, he’s our dog now.  Indeed, I’m now sharing custody of Jack with my folks.