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pounce. run a bit, slide. grab the dust broom with your mouth and swing your head back and forth violently. stare at it for a bit as it helplessly lies on the ground making sure you killed it. amble into the bathroom. stand on your hind legs and peer into the tub. search around the toilet looking for the source of the smell. lick the drain in the corner that’s full of old water because it never drains right. exit the bathroom and stare at the dust broom. lower your body to the ground and dart at it. you’re not quite coordinated enough to pounce quickly so you loose your footing a bit. grab the dust broom and swing it around again. stare. walk over to the wall and look for bugs. if you find one put it in your mouth. walk under the desk and lay there for a bit. get up. find one of jon’s shoes and stick your head in it as far as possible. smell and snort. pull your head out and eat the shoe laces. search around the trashcan. amble back into the bathroom because you’re still not sure where the smell is comming from. lick the drain some more. come back and chew on the phone chord. walk around the room smelling things and trying to put them in your mouth. pull things off of benches and chairs. hopefully you can find food somewhere. food or bugs. bugs are nice because they run around a bit before you eat them.

that’s what jota normally does because he’s terribly bored with us. we’re terrible parents. all day long we sit in our rooms reading or occupying ourselves with things that don’t involve bugs, other dogs or putting things in our mouths. i’m sure he’s mildly depressed but i’m no pooch psychiatrist.

dogs here are all tenth generation mutts. there are no two that look alike. there is the large grey dog with no tail and a pug nose that sits at the university’s gate. there is the very hairy dog with stubby legs and a wide body. he looks like he has a self esteem problem. there is the small, lean dog with ears that stick straight up and odd blotches all over its body. he is the alpha dog. then there’s jota: small, floppy ears and well proportioned legs.

they roam in packs. they all run around at night and dig and play and bark at each other and, i’m sure, at other packs. the other night i watched four dogs dig a hole next to a coconut tree. they took turns butting each other out of the way and yelping. jack and i are not nearly that interesting. i’m reading “great expectations” and jota will have none of it.

our poor little beast still hasn’t learned how to control his bladder. he has it down somewhat but, when he does make a mistake, we punish him. one of our favorite methods is to give him a quick bath. there is no hot water here which really isn’t a problem for us. it’s at least eighty every day. we put the dog in the shower and he yelps and cries. what sadistic parents we are. i’ve never seen an animal that’s wearing a fur coat shiver for so long. he sits on the roof in the late afternoon sun and shivers pathetically. he looks like an orphan or a boy that lost his favorite toy or maybe an orphan that lost its only toy.