小狗Deco安家记

养条小狗?这个问题,纠缠了好几年.直到狗狗来家里快两周了,我的态度很明显还是负面得很的.如今小狗Deco加入我们家已经三个月有余,当我抱起他来,口里叫着宝贝,儿子和女儿转过头来,我还得声明:"不是叫你们啦."-- 你就知道我爱他的心不知不觉已经溢于言表.这样戏剧性的改变,当然不在我的预料里面,过程和原因也已经在淡忘中,需要好好追忆...

 

抱怨篇

 

三个人硬硬要买条狗。只有我很不乐意，认准这是自找麻烦,也许这和我从未养过宠物有关.小时候养过猫的老公以前所未有的耐心说服我给孩子们一个机会.可我首先就质疑他们看中的这条狗的来路.狗是儿子ＫＪＩＪＩ找来的，上网没两天就看中,非要不可.他爹这种买个东西要比别人花三倍时间研究的人，碰上大活狗马上头脑停止思考，自己找理由说：“这是没办法的，孩子喜欢，看缘分的。”去了一看，养狗的人住的地方是我未曾见过的穷地方。况且17周的baby,吃喝拉撒玩，要多少培训？下面这堆问题谁来回答我:拉屎拉尿?睡觉问题?寄生虫问题?家里没人怎么办？

 

象很多其他事情一样,我最终敌不过他们,在有人回答我的问题之前小狗就进了家门.自从狗来了，这钱就哗啦啦地花出去了，狗食玩具尿布香波笼子项圈，再没停过。接下来还要打针，阉割，理发美容请人剪指甲。家里他爹当理发师省的钱都花在它身上了。"宠物不就是用来宠的吗？"恍然大悟又心甘情愿的嘴脸真让人看不惯。说这句话的时候他正以柔软怜爱的眼神看着狗,嘴角是上扬的微笑.

 

如果我爱它，它什么都按规矩来也就算了。可是它一来，别的没有，马上暴露了我的没有爱心。这不是叫我自找一个火坑往下跳吗？

 

接纳篇

 

上面的情形和问题持续到有一天--狗狗被带去改头换面梳洗一番,以令人惊艳的姿态凯旋!我越看它越爱.这件事的结论是:知道自己以貌取人总比发现自己全无爱心强吧?好惊险!

 

养了小狗顺带还发现,人了解自己怎么这么难呐?时至今日因为这条狗,才发现自己是严重的外貌协会的.狗到我们家头一周四处拉屎拉尿,严重考验我的忍耐力,它的样子也看着脏兮兮的,烦得很.当他美容后,香喷喷焕然一新戴着红领巾回来,我,从恨死它立刻360度转变成爱死它.对上眼以后,现在对它的外貌就没那么在乎了.关键呢,是一定要有过那惊鸿一瞥的时刻!

 

人气篇

 

自从狗狗到我家,我们家就人气大爆炸，小朋友象热浪一样滚滚而来，让人应接不暇,都是因为这只小狗。因为小狗,妹妹获得所有爱狗小朋友的羡慕嫉妒,不费吹灰之力!邻居各家各户的孩子多次登门,争相宠爱.家的后院连接着学校的操场,我们家那个估计很难考到第一名的妹妹,每天好几次带着半班同学,有男有女,乐此不疲来看后院她的小狗. 狗狗成了他们班的第三个"D"--另两个分别Derek同学和Daniel同学.这样无须努力的号召力,将来估计她不成功也难.

 

人不如狗

 

"连狗都不如”根本不是骂人的话，至少在我们家这是真理。每个人都“不如狗”，大家都爱它。

 

我们在院子里,狗狗粘着我坐着,老公自己坐远处的台阶.我们聊着狗的话题.我问:"它怎么这么可爱呢?"老公于是想出了个实验.他拍拍自己旁边的位置,叫道:"Deco!"狗立刻跑去坐在他的身边.接着他又拍拍自己另一边的位置,说:"老婆!"我把脸向上仰45度,朝另一方向望去,表明了不愿就范的坚决态度.老公下结论说:"你看狗狗,你看你 ..."真是的,妻不如狗!

 

一家人

 

现在不管谁回家,小狗都以离弦的速度来欢迎,摇着尾巴要抱抱.无论我们做什么它都要跟着.到地下室看电影跟着,全家出门跟着,散步跟着,睡觉呢也要跟着,满心欢喜全心信赖的跟着.好不容易把两个孩子赶出床中间的地盘,没想到现在这小狗挑的位置和两孩子的一模一样--爸爸妈妈的中间!

 

妹妹蹲在后院的地上捡掉下来的小红花,跟屁狗Deco围着她乱转.妹妹笑着柔声责备它: "Deco!"一会儿进到屋里,妹妹消失在餐厅的大桌后面,我走近一看,她正把捡来的小花贴在纸上,边是花的小绿竿围成的心型.心型红了一半,说花用完了还要出去多捡些.狗安静地躺在她的脚边粘着她.不知怎么我的柔情也碎了一地.

 

Deco就是妹妹的小走狗,这样说毫不夸张.狗狗虽然也经常敷衍我们,和哥哥又亲又闹,跟我们亲热要我们抱它,妹妹才是它认定的主子,那忠诚的样子常常让人忍俊不禁.走到哪里都跟着,没看到就心神不安.这会儿还和我们亲热着,一听妹妹移动了,立刻飞奔过去尾随.妹妹也以心相待掏心掏肺.这两个长像和脾气相似,在一起就是一道亮丽风景.我问妹妹:"狗狗是你的BFF(Best Friend Foever)吗?"她回答我:"不是,它是family."我敢保证,这也是小狗头脑里想的!--我们就是一家人.

 

名字的由来

 

Deco这个名字是它的原主人给的.取自2002年入葡萄牙籍的巴西人德科,曾经辉煌一时的足球明星.叫这个名字听说是因为狗狗相对于它的狗兄弟们显得很活泼,尤其喜欢玩球.因为他出生在4月中,会跑会跳时天气回暖,大概有好多时间可以在室外玩.原主人让我们尽快想好我们自己要的名字告诉她,好让我们一周以后来领它时叫习惯了.全家人想来想去,决定用它原来的名字.一来只有两个音节,叫起来铿镪有力;二来Deco和厦门话"短裤"的发音一样,奶奶叫起来肯定顺口.

谁是幸运者?

听说我们养了条狗,朋友特别带女儿来拜访.看狗狗集宠爱于一身感慨说:"Deco和你们在一起真幸运."我借用那位收养中国孩子的美国妈妈的话回答:"幸运的是我们."虽然听起来是调侃,实际上是我们全家的真心话.美国十八世纪的幽默家Josh Billings说:"A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself."Deco无疑是这样无条件的爱我们的.而我们爱它是不是因为他是这么活泼可爱温顺还富有幽默感?

 

结局

 

我可以想象自己现在看狗狗的样子: 柔软怜爱的眼神,上扬的微笑的嘴角.似曾相识啊,这不是老公三个月前的表情吗?--养狗,不知不觉改变了我.这是我始未料到的!

 

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(英文版本,不是中文版翻译)

Our Dog Deco

Three people in my family agreed that it’s about time to have a dog except me, for I was not ready yet. To tell you the truth, I thought I might never be ready.

 

My two kids, my son Brooklyn, who is now twelve and a half years old, and my daughter Alicia, who just turned eight, had been asking for a dog many times. Year after year, I always told them, “Let’s wait until you two can take care of the dog.” Not confident that I could handle more, I really didn’t want to deal with any pets. Life was already very busy for me without a pet.

 

On the other hand, my husband was not against the idea at all. Having a dog seemed inevitable this time. I made it clear that it was the kids’ main responsibility to take care of the dog. People wanting the dog should look after the dog, right? Being asked to write responsibilities in details, Brooklyn quickly came up with the duty sheet without hesitation. Everyone agreed to sign on it. Dad would help  bath the dog and I needed to purchase doggy necessities. The two kids would do the rest:  walk the dog, take out the dog to pee and poo, and feed the dog.

 

Brooklyn was the one that put in the time to do the research. First, he went to Kijiji to check what he could find. Seeing the dogs he liked, he used Google to find more about that breed. The three of them were all excited and had many conversations about the pet they were about to get. After doing the research, they found a couple of dogs they all liked and made a few phone calls. The night before our vacation to Chicago, we got the chance to see the dog they had picked.

 

The little dog, Deco, named after the Brazilian-born Portuguese professional soccer player, was 16 weeks old. He was a cute, gentle toy poodle. The kids and my husband all fell in love with him at first sight. I still wasn’t sure. The three decided to buy the dog, so we put down a deposit and planned to pick him up after we returned from Chicago a week later.

 

We had a very good time in Chicago. The kids couldn’t help talking about their new pet all the time. A day after we came back, Deco was in our house already! Of course, we had picked him up.

 

As already predicted, the trouble began. Deco was a 4 month old baby in need of potty training. Unfortunately nobody in the family had any doggy experience; as a result, Deco urinated and defecated all over the place. This really drove me crazy; however, it didn’t affect the love of the other three. Having agreed that Deco needed to be trained properly, we talked to the people around us who had pet experience, we checked YouTube for advice, we searched the web for help—most important of all, we bought Deco a crate! After one week of training, Deco was much less messy.

 

Next, it was time to dress Deco up. We decided to give him a makeover. Daddy brought Deco to a grooming store one day; and Deco came home all clean and handsome. This was the time that I fell in love with him.

 

Having been with us for almost 2 months now, Deco has become an important member of the family. He greets us when we come home, he follows Alicia and Brooklyn everywhere, he likes to play with us, and he can even do some tricks!

 

Having a dog is not such a bad thing at all; actually, it is a lot of fun to have Deco. I am happy that I gave in and welcomed Deco to our home.