PayDay’s New Day
This morning, for the first time, PayDay presented himself at the back door, edging toward his doggie door and so letting me know that he needed to go out. In the past Lanny would jump up as soon as I woke and moved off the bed, urging me to run with him to go outside. If I had to use the toilet first, Lanny would follow me and stand nearby, urging me to hurry up. When we did get to the back door I’d have to shout “OUT!” to get PayDay off the bed to join us.
It’s been a little more than a week since Lanny died. In my hurry to join the July 4th fireworks party in my neighbor’s back yard, across the street, I left Lanny and PayDay in our yard and told them to go home. PayDay did, promptly, running back inside the house through his doggie door. But Lanny stayed by the chain-link fence gate. He was only seven pounds, a perfect weight for his breed, and I think he must have squeezed through the opening, probably looking for me. Lanny was always looking for me. He tried to cross the dark street and was hit by a passing car.
Today, after a quick look at me as I put on my shoes, PayDay walked outside on his own. Going down the deck stairs, he picked a spot to pee. In the past he would wait for Lanny to find “the spot”, wait until Lanny had relieved himself, and then pee in the same spot. I’m not sure if he was doing this to “one-up” Lanny or just following Lanny’s lead; Lanny, at half PayDay’s weight and size, was always the leader.
It was a beautiful Fall Day almost ten years ago when Molly and I, with Lanny on her lap, drove into the country, from Memphis to Ripley Tennessee. We were responding to an ad offering newborn toy poodle pups. When we finally got to the address in the paper, we saw that we were not dealing with the best — or the worst — of breeders. We were taken to a small building in which the dam and her eight-week-old brood were housed. It didn’t take long to see that one of the pups was the most active and, to our untrained eyes, healthy-looking; we picked him. After paying the breeder (who did provide legitimate registration papers) PayDay rode home in Molly’s lap, next to Lanny who seemed thoroughly confused.
PayDay was named, in part, after Molly’s first dog, a scruffy looking black and white toy poodle named “Pierre” and soon referred to as “Pey”.
(What else would one name a French poodle back in 1959?) But Pey didn’t bond with Molly; instead Pey fell in love with Molly’s father, David, who her cousins called “Uncle Day-Day”. And that’s how a little apricot ball of fluff got to be PayDay.
Lanny, then two years old, had no problem raising PayDay; as the “alpha” dog Lanny always knew he was in charge. And PayDay, even as he grew to physically dominate Lanny, always knew that Lanny was the boss. Even when fighting over a toy, PayDay knew not to try to grab it out of Lanny’s mouth (although he’d engage in a spirited game of “pull”, which he sometimes won).
After finding their pee spot Lanny and PayDay would wander around the huge yard, sometimes chasing a squirrel or barking fiercely at the deer grazing in the neighbor’s yard outside the fence. Mostly, they each found their own spot to poop, Lanny first and then — after walking and exploring a while — PayDay. A circuit or two of the yard later we’d head back in, always with Lanny running across the lawn like a deer and PayDay ambling along after.
Today, after doing his business, PayDay moved around the yard for a few minutes. Then he walked back up the deck stairs and into the house. Until today he would wander all around the yard in the morning; I think he was looking for Lanny. But now, it seems, he’d given up that search and accepted that Lanny was really gone.
In the house I wiped PayDay’s feet; even in the morning heat there was still dew over the yard. After wiping their feet I’d toss the towel across the room for Lanny and PayDay to run after and fight over. Today, after the toss, PayDay ran to get it but then stopped and looked at me. I had to go grab one end and take Lanny’s role in the faux-fight for the towel. I may not be a real replacement for Lanny, but I’ll have to do; from now on, PayDay and I will have to do for each other.
