Sparrow continues to be a nuisance. On Tuesday, he tore apart Draco's bed and got the foam filling all over our new rug. Draco and I try to tease him by sleeping in his bed, but he doesn't care - he's busy laying on the couch shedding black hair all over the place. He's such a disobedient pup - he needs discipline. His bed is really comfortable, so restful that I don't miss the couch too much when I curl up in it. Sometimes, his bed feels so cozy that I dream of the good old days when I was unemployed, and I don't mind my babysitting job as much. Sparrow should spend more time in that bed.

But he has so much energy. When Sparrow isn't resting on my couch, all he wants to do is go outdoors and play. One of our biggest problems, though, is that Sparrow runs away when he gets outside without his leash. Mom likes us to help with gardening, and I sit like a little statue in our yard while she plants bulbs, or cuts flowers, or pulls up weeds.

Sparrow has to be tied up because he can't be trusted. If he spies a squirrel or another dog, he goes CRAZY! He wants to chase everything he sees, but if he gets loose, we wind up chasing after him. A trick we play is to say to him - "Do you want to go out?" (even though he's already outside!), and then tell him to sit and stay, so we can get the leash on again. This scam usually works - can you believe it?

Moving In

In my house, I rule. I have a mother and a pet cat named Draco. We lived on our own until three weeks ago. Mom and I go for a walk every morning and again when she gets home from work at 5 o'clock. On Saturdays, we walk to the park and I run around off my leash and chase the geese. Except for the lonely times when Mom was working, we had an ideal situation. Then, Sparrow and his family moved in with us and I got the permanent position of babysitter.




I've known Sparrow since he was a puppy, but it took me a while to get to like him.


Sparrow is my sister's dog. She used to take the train to work, but she got a new job and decided to come back to our house. So Sparrow left his own apartment behind and became a permanent resident at my place. He's two years old now. While he lived out of town he developed plenty of bad habits - like sitting on the couch (he's too big for that) and butting in when people come home so I have to bark for attention. He steals my toys and then chews them up - and he doesn't even think he did anything wrong. Babysitting Sparrow is hard work!