Non-dog people should understand that the term “lap dog” is in no way hyperbolous. Hyperbolic? Exaggeratous? Uh, anyway. Lap dogs want to be in your lap. When Abby is home, they want to be in Abby’s lap, since she is softer and warmer, and they feel most at home there. In the cold months, Abby uses a heated throw, and her lap is like a spa to them.
When no one is here, they often prefer to sit in the sunshine.
Last night after we went out to dinner, Abby went to bed early, taking Sierra the Chihuahua with her and closing the bedroom door, so Max the Chihuahua did one of his favorite tricks, sneaking between my legs and then stealthily leaping into my lap, like I won’t notice there’s suddenly a dog weighing down my Special Area. Sometimes if he’s feeling playful, he’ll put his front paws on my chest and try to lick my nose. It’s a little game we play. I say, “I don’t want a kiss,” and he gives me one anyway.
I wasn’t a pet person at all until I got married, but now, after some years of having these dogs (and the goats, of course), I am a dog person. We love our dogs, even if we don’t want a kiss.
I was not a dog person either. Heck I wasn’t any any kind of an animal person. Every dog and cat I ever had as a kid suffered an untimely demise. Big cat was the one who converted me. Billy had already befriended him and was talking about letting him come inside when it gets cold. I protested. I flat out said “That cat is NOT coming in this house. I allergic to cats!” But Big sat me down and explained that he meant me no harm and that I would not even know he was around. He told me he just needed a warm place to stay during the winter and to write his memoirs. That very Christmas (1998) I bought Big his own typewriter. To this day he sits in his special place near the window with a fedora atop his snow white head and his horned rimmed black framed glasses, typing about his life as a Big Cat. I’ve never actually read them though. He has it specified in his will that no one will be allowed to read nor pubish his memoirs until one year after his death. He was a year old when we got him so I am curious to learn all about his kittenhood.