Is Otis at Your House??

Otis tells me he has a full-time job. He has barely enough time in a day to get to take in the neighbor’s new smells, potential children’s hands to lick, and familiar spots in Mentone to re-mark. Those of you who have met him have known immediately he likes you! It takes a matter of seconds to communicate.

He says he is rich! Rich in the routes he takes to visit those with whom he MUST check in. Rich to know they need him behind the counter at Little River Hardware. Rich to know the new faces on the porch of Mentone Market are waiting for him. Rich to smell the smells and get some attention from Moon at The Wildflower. Rich to have tidbits outside the dumpster at The Mountain Market and always a petting person. Rich to get the occasional cat food snack at The Log Cabin Village!

He says he is especially blessed to have an alternate home and must not be deterred from visits to his lady friends and their humans. Who are his female flirts, you ask? Gumbo and Dear Abbey in the Hoot Owl Hollow! They have worked out their respective roles when it comes to entertaining the Beau Friend! Dear Abbey presides over the tennis ball game, while Gumbo and Otis politely acknowledge whose turn it is to have tennis ball mouthing privileges. He announces his intentions to head on over at my front door with a single, directive, “WOOF!” If I dawdle, he tries the doorknob. If he’s lucky, I left it unlocked and he opens the door himself. If he is thwarted, he repeats his emphatic WOOF. Sometimes, but not always, he can be distracted and appeased by our own tennis ball retrieval game. Often, he takes the opportunity and with head down, and ears closed, runs into the woods. Invariably, I can count on him topping off his walk-about at The Hollow.

He is patient and stealthy about getting his way. He might seem to be happy hanging close while I work in my yard; however, when he notices I am preoccupied and disengaged with him, he makes the getaway! He will be incensed if anyone suggests he is “roaming” or “running away” or “‘lost.” He calls it his obligatory check-in with both his territory and the humans who inhabit it. If you are a little girl human, he is especially drawn to love you and be loved by you. He will be your Annabel Lee for five minutes. Then, unless you have an ice cream cone, he must be off. If you are a visitor taking in the “downtown” sites of Mentone, Otis might greet you with a tennis ball in his mouth, with which he just left home. He would appreciate your throwing it a bit and loving on him. But if you ask him to get in your car so you can ferry him home, he is onto you and will flatly refuse. He will quickly take his leave to continue. It is only when he is tired and ready for a thoughtful ride home that he will agree to be chauffeured.

I daily agree with him that he is a rich soul. He knows the more love he gives away, the more love comes his way. There is always a surplus and never a limit to how many new friends he can meet. If you see the travelin’ man, feel free to emphatically tell him to “GO HOME!” But don’t be surprised if he shifts his gaze away from you and yawns. Then sidles up to you and leans in for a good rub.

You can visit Otis on Facebook at the group Friends of Otis.