Mus and I have long known that Yennka is a crazy dog. She's proven herself over and over in deciding to use our living room as her own personal carpeted water closet and her insistence on periodically humping Mus's leg. (She's apparently a sexually confused dog, as well; not only is she into cross-species liaisons, but she also uses decidedly masculine gestures in her overtures. Someone needs to sit that dog down and explain "the birds and the bees" to her.)
One day, after our hike to a cocoa farm, Mr. Ampadu stopped by our house so we could give him some cough drops for his wife. Mr. Ampadu had gotten a new puppy only a month or so ago; she's a stubborn, proud little thing w/ the personality of a snobby cat.
This little puppy has been accidentally left behind at the farm twice, and both times she was left there for days, so she now understandably refuses to let Mr. Ampadu out of her sight. Therefore, when Mr. Ampadu entered our courtyard, she followed.
Our dog, Yennka, would have none of that. She chased the puppy out of the courtyard, growling and snapping at her. I yelled at Yennka, and being the totally submissive and groveling dog she is, Yennka grudgingly left the pup alone.
Then that very night Mus and I heard a piteous whining wafting in from the street. We went to out balcony and saw a little puppy, not much older than a month or month and a half old, wandering up and down our street and crying.
Our hearts went out to the little guy. We went downstairs and found Yennka pressed up agaisnt the gate, trying to get to the puppy. Mus went to open it and pick the puppy up. I held Yennka back since we weren't sure what she would do.
As soon as Mus opened the gate, the puppy practically leapt into his arms. The little guy had been scratching at the gate waiting for us to open it. Mus held the puppy in his arms and Yennka was practially climbing Mus's legs trying to get to it.
A few minutes later, Mus lowered the puppy and introduced the two dogs. He kept holding the puppy, though, since we both expected Yennka to snap at the puppy and be aggressive.
I've never ever seen Yennka as exuberant as she was when she saw the puppy. It was liked she'd unwrapped a present and found her heart's desire inside. I think that since she's just approaching sexual maturity, the puppy (or perhaps his crying?) brought out her maternal instincts. She immediately set to giving the puppy a bath, head to toe- which was fine with us since the [u[[y was filthy.
The puppy bore the attention as young puppies do, just sitting there, pretending not to notice the giant tongue roaming their bodies.
At first, the puppy began crying every time we humans were more than a few feet away. Apparently he's used to a lot of human contact, since he was immediately trusting of us.
But then we fed them, and Yennka didn't try to steal his food; in fact, she left some of her own food for him to eat! Besides, she didn't really care about the food; she just couldn't stop licking and nuzzling her foundling.
Eventually we saw the little guy's tail start to wag whenever he looked at Yennka, and if she walked away he would follow, so we went to bed and all was quiet.
The next morning Auntie Kissiwah opened the courtyard's gate and Yennka went out to peruse the street. The puppy followed her and apparently found his way home, beacuse a few minutes later Yennka returned alone.
Yennka spent the rest of the morning moping around the courtyard, showing no interest in food or people. She missed her puppy too much.
Taking the Plunge
People and Places
Easter 2008