Azawakh - African Sighthound

Little Loonah is a puppy that surprises us every step of the way. For example in September, when she was three months old…

The puppies left for their new homes in mid-August, little Loonah became a new member of your mini-pack and after my ”puppy-maternity leave“, I started working full-time again, even outside my home office. September was really hectic and I had to plan almost every minute of my daily schedule to have time both for work and my dogs. Crazy times… And on the top of it, Akhami entered in season.

There were more than two very intense weeks ahead of me, long hours of work in a bit difficult environment; I had to get up at five, care for the dogs and get ready for the long day. As Akhami was in season, we had to separate our pack and go for individual walks. And Luis had to stay in work long hours, but fortunately he was able to come home at noon to take the dogs for their walks. The night before my job started, I went for a walk with Loonah. A neighbour stopped me and we began talking. Little Loonah was running around and all of a sudden, she took something in her mouth. She swallowed it before I was even able to react. During the walk, she started vomiting. It’s nothing, I thought, she will get over it… but she did not. She went on vomiting even when we returned home. I became scared. It was ten at night, Luis was at work and he had taken our car. I tried to call my Father with the intention to ask him to take us to the vet urgency ward at the Veterinary University, but he did not answer. I called a taxi… but that day, the largest trade fair ended in my town and all taxis were occupied… And it was the thirteenth – not Friday, but anyway… I, desperate, wrapped my rather large puppy in a blanket and we started for the veterinary emergency. We had to use public transport which was still operating at that hour. My little Loonah was exhausted; she cuddled on my lap, watching the world with sad eyes. Her usual blazing energy faded out. Fortunately, the vet calmed me down saying Loonah was not poisoned; she only had eaten something which made her sick. Nothing serious, just usual puppy stuff. The vet gave Loonah some medicines and we could go home. It was almost midnight. Public transport switched over to a night timetable… which meant long waiting time… We took a tram and then we had to walk about three kilometres to get home - a difficult task with an exhausted puppy in my arms. Quite a heavy puppy, I realised.  Finally, I managed to get home, all sweaty and tired like hell… and I reached in my pocket to get the key to our house… Nothing! When leaving for the vet, I had left it behind. I made an attempt at calling Luis, but when he works, he cannot hear the phone ringing. I sat down on the doormat, covering Loonah on my lap with the blanket. My poor exhausted puppy fell asleep immediately. I felt homeless. I continued calling Luis… and finally I reached him. After one hour on the doormat in front of our house, we finally got inside. It was one o’clock at night, I was to get up within four hours and prepare myself for a long working day.

In the morning, I woke up with a headache of a heavy drunkard. And… my body was full of itching little reddish pimples… Hmmm… Fleas! We had caught fleas at the Veterinary University! I looked in the mirror… OMG! On that day, I was to work in an area with a special sanitary regime when one had to change the clothes completely and pass through all kinds of monitors in the underwear only, under the strict surveillance of the changing room personnel… and female colleagues. Everybody will realise I have fleas, I thought, ashamed. Well, the most important thing is the fact that my lovely little Loonah is feeling well, and we will get rid of the fleas easily… I treated our dogs with Advantix and that was it. During the workday, I experienced several microsleep episodes.

In the following weeks, little Loonah almost always prepared some surprise for me. After rather long morning walks, when I left her in her bed in the kitchen, I shed off my dog-walker clothes, and all dressed up like a lady, I ran to the meeting point from where my colleagues would take me to work. Before leaving home, I always peeped in the kitchen to check if Loonah was OK. And:

One morning I am about to leave, but I can hear strange rustling sounds from the kitchen. I peep inside, seeing little Loonah jumping happily with an insurance return payment voucher of my Father for a rather high amount of money… which she has stolen from a cabinet where – as I was convinced - such a little dog just could not reach. I was able to save half of the voucher. My Father told me afterwards about the scandal Loonah´s crime caused when he went to collect the payment. What a manner of handling such an important document!

Another morning I am about to leave and make a dash for the meeting point. As always, I check on Loonah first, expecting to see her sleeping after a rather long walk. I open the door and I am struck by a well-known odour: in the centre of the room, there is a large poo, little Loonah is jumping on her hind legs in all that mess, holding her long white front legs towards me, yelling: ”Don’t abandon me, I love you soooo much! Don’t leave me here all alone!”  I, dressed up in white trousers, am doing my best in avoiding her paws and cleaning the floor as fast as I can. When dashing for the meeting point, I just hope I don’t have any unique “made-by-Loonah” pattern on my trousers.

Days are passing at a manic pace and I start being rather absent-minded, even more than usually. So… another morning I check on Loonah and on the floor, I can see an empty pouch of my cellular. Loonah is sitting on her pet bed, wriggling with joy, wagging her tail. „I have a seeeecret that nobody else in the world knows but meee!” chatters my little lovely puppy happily, her eyes shining with pride. OMG where is my cell phone… I get down on my knees, searching the floor. Nothing. And suddenly an idea strikes me… I push Loonah from her bed and under a layer of covers, I find my cellular with the camera switched on! I grab the bloody thing and run out of the house for the meeting point from which another colleague took me the other day… and there is nobody waiting for me. Gosh, they have already left, I think, but all of a sudden an idea enlightens me: we have agreed on a different meeting point for today! I make a dash – again -  for the agreed meeting point and I apologise for being late…

One hectic morning after another passes and finally, here comes the weekend. On Sunday, it is raining a little, so we put our raincoats on and take a walk around nearby ponds. Let’s go and show ducks to little Loonah, Luis says, having a happy image in his mind of a sweet little puppy watching the water birds with curiosity. Look, Loonah, ducks, he points towards the pond. And our lovely little puppy Loonah, without giving it a second thought, starts off like a lightning, jumping at a full speed in the pond … swimming like a steamer while the flock of frightened birds is paddling away.  When Loonah climbs out of the pond, she begins to run in circles around us smiling from ear to ear with her coat soaking wet. Her activity is followed by our unsuccessful attempt at wrapping our puppy in Luis´ jumper and a frenetic dash to the car in order to prevent our crazy puppy girl from catching a bad cold…

Another day I leave just for a couple of hours. Loonah is tired after a long walk and she is feeling sleepy. Let me in the bedroom, Mum, please, she is pleading with her beautiful innocent puppy eyes, I will behave myself. I will not destroy anything. I cannot resist my darling puppy. OK, my lovely little Swallow, sleep tight, I am saying good-bye to my little pup cuddling in our bed, I will be back before you wake up. But, to be on the safe side, I put minor objects on higher shelves where the puppy surely would not reach. When I return, I find Loonah still sleeping cosily in our bed. I search the room… she behaved herself, really, there is nothing destroyed. What a nice puppy! I approach her to praise her… and I find her in a company of: 

• One clay pottery candlestick;
• Statuette of a kitten in a basket;
• A pack of paper tissues;
• One large shell from Spain;
• One small shell from Nicaragua;
• My T-shirt;
• A pair of socks.

In order not to feel alone, my little darling searched the shelves where I thought she could not reach, and surrounded herself with friends, doing that with an utmost care in order not to destroy anything exactly as she had promised.

So… this is our life. May we laugh and live together for many years to come.