Good Golly Miss Ollie

Odd thing happened this afternoon. We opened our front door to let some air in, and a dog walked inside our house. Just like that. He stopped to let us give him a pat, then plonked himself down on the rug. We offered him a drink of water, coz he was a big fat dog and he was huffing away and he must have walked a long way in the scorching heat. But he didn't want a drink. He just rolled over and lay there with a little doggie smile. We didn't know who he belonged to so I told him he'd better go out, coz his mum and dad would be looking for him. But instead he wandered into the loungeroom and parked himself in front of the television.

My sister and I just gawked at him in shock. I mean, he was just sitting there like he owned the place, so quiet and lazy. We're used to our dog Harry, who never wanders around, he bounces. He's never quiet, he's constantly making whimpery "talking" noises. The only time he sat still was on New Years Eve, when he ran inside and hid under a pillow while the fireworks rattled the sky like gunfire.

So we sat there talking to Mystery Dog, while Harry threw himself at the window to make sure we were still aware of his presence. We talked about how cool it would be if this quiet old dog could be ours, a friend for Harry, maybe then Harry would settle down a bit! We tried to get it to roll over so we could see if it was he or she, but it was so fat and covered in thick fluffy fur, we couldn't find out. It took us about 20 minutes to convince the dog to get up and come outside and meet Harry. They sniffed each others' arses for awhile, then Harry became his usual annoying self, pouncing on the dog, wrapping his paws around its neck, nibbling its ankles. Then they chased each other all over the yard, and ran through the sprinklers. Mystery Dog would put its mouth right over the jet of water and snaps its jaws as it gulped the water. Harry stood back and watched in awe, coz Harry's a bit of a pussy really, and stays far away from the sprinklers.

We watched our new little family play while we made plans to renovate Harry's kennel, worked out how much extra it'd cost to feed another dog, decided the new hound needed a haircut, and I suggested if it was a girl we should call it Holly, coz it reminded me of my little sister, kinda sweet and serene. We had it all worked out when we heard a female voice yelling, "Olly! Olly? Where are you?"

Nooo! This could not be! We were tempted to stash the dog in the garden shed and play dumb, but Olly ran up to the gate and wagged its tail at his mum.

"So there he is! I've been looking everywhere..."

"He just walked into our house," said my sister. "So it's a he, eh? We couldn't tell coz of all that fur."

I was pretty proud that I was only one letter off guessing its name. But was pouty that we had to hand it back over. We walked him back through the house and out to his Mum, but he sat on our doorstep and started howling, and of course Harry joined in. It was a most pathetic chorus.

"Looks like they've become friends," said Olly's mum. "I only live three doors down, maybe Harry can come over and play some time?"

Three doors down? So much for the dogs great pilgrimage.

So there was much barking and howling and goodbyes and we parted company. The three us sulked about it for hours. Harry missed his new friend, we missed how much less annoying Harry was when Olly was around. So if anyone's got a fat old dog they want to rent out, let me know, eh?