MONDAY DIARY: IT'S A DOG'S LIFE

Great is my dog. Warrior is his name!

To tell the truth this past week with a couple of notable exceptions, which will come up in later posts, was pretty office oriented – LOTS of sitting. Nothing great to report for the Monday Diary entry.

Sebastian however is having a banner day.

I was once given a lecture by my vet about how hard it is to be a dog. I rolled my eyes. “You have to understand,” he told me, “that your dog is alone all day, has to fend for himself, has to hold on if he needs to go to the bathroom . . . it’s a long lonely day.”

I roll my eyes. He has no idea. Sebastian, being a rectory dog, is a celebrity.

Last night we went for our walk and ran into a friend of his. Notice I say “of his.” From across town people stop and say, “LOOK! IT’S SEBASTIAN.” It reminds me of when, in the 90’s, I played Barney (shudder) at a parish carnival, stepped out of the rectory, in an ill-fitting purple suit, and immediately heard screeches of excited children coming from the four corners of the earth signaling the beginning of a stampede and had to run for my life. Such is the reaction to Sebastian. Usually after fawning over him and petting him and speaking to him in baby talk his friends MIGHT look up at me and say, “Oh, hi Father.”

I think people in general just know if they are in our neighborhood that they should carry treats in their pockets. I barely need to feed the dog. His friend last night brought him a bone as long as my femur. Of course he was ecstatic.

This morning I took him for his early morning airing out. He took off and caught a squirrel. Caught it! Played with it. Then he would not put it down. “Look,” I said, “I can’t take you back in front of the school with that thing hanging out of your mouth. You will traumatize the kids.”

He was absolutely full of himself – prancing around with – well you can imagine. Let me tell you, it is not nearly as cute as when he trots around with one of his plush toys in his mouth. All of a sudden even that seems sinister. Finally he buried the thing – VERY CAREFULLY.

Back at the rectory when people start showing up I say, “Don’t accept kisses today. I would not recommend it. Don’t ask why.”

He is well loved. People all day play with him, pay attention to him, bring treats. This dog is not lonely during the day. And today he got mail. Yes, Sebastian got mail. And it is not the first time. One of his VERY BEST FRIENDS was not able to be here to bring him his usual treat SO SHE MAILED IT IN. Sebastian went nuts. I opened the envelope and he grabbed it out of my hand and trotted around the rectory with it. Finally I was able to get enough of the plastic off of it so that he could truly enjoy it.



Such is the lonely existence of a rectory dog.