The Swarm

Frankye and I are borrowing 3 dachshunds from our friends C and S. The 3 were available for borrowing because C & S went up to Baltimore to visit C’s new job assignment and to house hunt for their upcoming move to MD.

Normally I would say that we were taking care of 3 or their 6 dogs while they dealt with their impending move, but then that would not explain the opportunity F and I have to develop patience and acceptance in our march toward bodhisattva-hood. The visiting 3 added to our 3 means we have six dachshunds under our roof at this time. C and S have 5 dachshunds and 1 golden retriever that they share their lives with on a regular basis. In the past they have babysat our 3, making it an uneven 9.

Having 6 dachshunds under our roof not only gives us an opportunity to develop patience and acceptance but it also allows us to develop compassion for our good friends. On a regular basis C & S wake up to the yelps and cries of 5 teckels (a German word for Dachshunds, which is German for badger dog) screeching to be let outside. Dachshunds are hunters, and no matter how sound proof your house is, or how many blankets you cover their kennel with, if a worm has moved anywhere on your (their) property they will know about it and seek it out as soon as you let them out. Regardless of the time of day, or the weather, teckels loudly announce their worm-hunt, as hounds chasing a fox do.

If you know anything about dachshunds you know they are pack animals. It is easier to care for 2 than for 1. They thrive on and demand attention, not just from you, but from each other as well. They are more likely to sit together in a clump than to go off alone to separate areas to sit and watch or nap. Having 6 of them at one time has caused them to function like a swarm of bees. If the lead dog changes direction, they all follow suit and fly around the house or yard as an ever-in-motion group.

This morning the worms moved early and so I was awakened at 4:45 with an ever insistent yelp from Yeshe. It took 30 seconds to call all the troops to attention and 5 of the 6 (the old lady Alice thinks she has caught enough worms in this lifetime) bolted out the front door yelping and running at full speed in a swarm to the sound of the worm, 3 inches below the surface, somewhere on the side of the house. It was exhilarating, not just to me, but to my neighbor’s 2 outdoor German shepherds who also heralded the fact that a worm had moved…somewhere…though they knew not where…in the vicinity of the long dogs. That was good enough for them.

And so, most of us on the lane today got to practice patience and acceptance, courtesy of a swarm of dachshunds.