Clearly, based on their attitudes toward me, I’ve been ignoring the two women of the house recently. Work and other family pressures have caused life to fall into a regular routine, one that doesn’t offer much in the way of free time to spend with the girls.

The result has been some snippy looks and some rather outlandish behavior.

The looks are bad, but they pale in comparison to the verbal abuse I’ve been taking.

Far worse has been the hollering, if that’s what you call it. Interestingly, through my neglect by inattention, the pair has grown closer, perhaps than ever before — at least until food falls from the sky. That’s when all bets are off, and it’s every dog for herself.

Suzy and Alice, our family’s two dogs, still have it made, don’t let their sad whimpers for attention fool you.

Both are pretty much couch potatoes — though they’re not actually allowed on the couch.

Like princesses, they both come and go when they please, and they provide wife Julie, daughter Anna and me with countless hours of entertainment and exuberant appreciation.

Our dogs have definitely become a part of the family. Both, in fact, are snoring in the living room as I type this. They’ll be utterly mortified when I get up in a few minutes, an action that will most certainly cause them to stir from the comfort of the floor rug.

And if I dare step foot in the baby’s room, I’ll surely be followed by agitated barking. Let’s just say they are still adjusting to the addition of a new family member — the one who has been here for more than two years now.

It’s tough when you are no longer the center of attention.

Soon, though, Suzy and Alice will have a special day.

Each fall, we do our best to take the girls to their class reunion — the Natchez-Adams County Humane Society’s annual Bark in the Park fundraiser.

This year’s event will howl into being again on Sept. 19 at the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians.

It will be the 23rd year of the fundraiser, and it will be a pretty special one as the NACHS is nearly finished with the work on its new, long-needed shelter building.

Hopefully this year’s Bark in the Park will be the biggest yet so organizers can finish buying anything they need for the shelter.

Suzy and Alice are both shelter alums and look forward to a day in a park full of the aroma of dozens of dogs.

They appreciate the day for different reasons, though. They are very much the odd couple.

Even as I watch them sleep, their personalities come out. Suzy is always alert, always on guard and always tense. Alice doesn’t have a stressful molecule in her body.

Suzy will pull her way through the gates at Bark in the Park on the lookout for trouble — and a friendly head rub.

Alice will lag far behind, dreaming of the perfect shade tree she’ll surely plop under soon.

As life’s plight would have it, unfortunately, the dog who so desperately wants attention and works very hard to seek it out is not the dog who naturally attracts it.

Suzy, a social butterfly when it comes to free rubs, is a mutt. She’s pretty average looking as dogs go. Alice, who’d rather just lie down and be left alone, is a dachshund. Everyone who passes “that cute little wiener dog” seems drawn to touch her, much to Suzy’s disdain.

The folks who volunteer day in and day out at the NACHS work very hard to keep all the dogs — wiener or not — healthy and happy before adoption.

They are special people, and their work is truly special work.

I hope all of you who’ve ever enjoyed the company of a dog (or cat) will remember to take time to head to Bark in the Park, or if you cannot go, mail the shelter a donation as a way of saying, “Thanks.”

And if you see Suzy — the black and white, tense one — give her a head rub. She’ll love you forever.

 

Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.