“I bet your neighbor’s somehow responsible. She planted begonias last month, didn’t she?”
“Yeah, but her plants always look great. She wouldn’t allow Miss Priss or Brutus in her yard long enough for them to eat them on their own. She hates both of my dogs. Yells at them to get off her lawn the minute one paw touches her precious grass.”
“You need a fence.”
“Yes, I do.” Tanya sighed. “I don’t understand how they ended up eating the plants. They’ve never done anything like that, and for both of them to suddenly start that behavior, it just seems odd.”
“Maybe she poisoned them. Put it in their food.”
“How would she do that? She hasn’t been in my house, and she doesn’t have a key.”
“You think she doesn’t. What if that old lady still has a key from before you bought the house? Then she could sneak in while you were away.”
Tanya gave a little chuckle. “I think your imagination is running away with you. You need to get more sleep.”
“Yeah, I do need sleep. But still, think about it. She could so sneak in, if she had a key from before. Did the vet say what begonias do to them? Is it lethal?”
“It makes them throw up and gives them diarrhea. But it won’t kill them; it just makes them very sick.”
“I’m glad they’ll be okay now. How are they doing tonight?”
“Fine, just clingy. I had to put Brutus in the other room, and he’s in there whining with his bunny rabbit.”
“Poor baby. You know he must still feel bad if he’s whiney and carrying Wabbit.”
Brutus, Tanya’s German Shepard never whined unless he was sick. Then the big strong guard dog was the biggest baby and wanted his Wabbit. Christie loved to go visit and watch Brutus bark at the mailman, and then turn when the man was gone and bring her Wabbit to play with. He could turn off his fierce dog face really quick, and then his tail wagged like a happy puppy. “Maybe I need a dog,” she murmured.
“What brought that on? I agree you should get a dog, and we’ve had that conversation before. More times than I can count. Are you feeling lonely?”
“No, not lonely. I just think having a good guard dog, like Brutus, would be nice.”
“Well, you’ve got to train dogs. Let them know you’re the alpha. Are you ready to be the alpha?”
“I don’t know.” Brutus was a big strong dog. Could she handle a dog that size?
“I’ve pictured you more with a lap dog. You get the cuddling as well as the guarding then.”
She chewed on her lower lip as she thought about that. “Yeah, but if there’s a prowler, a German Shepard would be better protection.”
“True. Look, if you’re serious, I can take you to where I found Brutus. You can talk to breeders about their next litter.”
“Yeah, I might want to do that.”
“All right. You get some sleep, and we’ll talk about it later this week. I’ll call them to see about a visit.”
“Okay. Thanks, Tanya.”
“Night, girlfriend. I’m real glad you’re still here to talk to. You’ll always be my bestie. I love you.”
Christie smiled. “Love you, too.” Tanya was her oldest and best friend. It felt good to be loved and appreciated. She didn’t know what she’d do without Tanya either. “I’m glad you called.”
“Me, too.”
“I’ll call you after work tomorrow.”
“Sounds good,” Tanya said.
“Good night.”
