tricks

It is nice to have a minute to catch a breath.
I haven't had a minute to catch my breath in days.
Weeks?
No. Maybe two months.
Even weekends have been filled to the brim.

Drakey wagged his tail all morning, through his unusual mid-week daylight in the morning run, and gave me a dirty look when I went to get dressed.
He is smart,
I think as I walk to the pet store to buy him some bling.

I strike up a conversation with the owner of the store.
You should bring him in! She says.
I go on to tell her that while he does have a tendency to eat other dogs,
he is smart.

In my head I am thinking... because he doesn't pee in the house while I'm at work.
And he knows the difference between a weekend and a weekday morning.
Oh, and he can sit, and lie down, and stuff.

She tells me about her customer who has a golden,
who can read.
The dog can read.

I go home with a new enormous rope-and-ball contraption, and my head hung low.
Some genius I've got.

And then, he surprises me again.

He has taught his turtle to sit.

I breathe a sigh of relief.
He is smart.