I'm more attached than I thought

When Hubs and I leave town, we take Ransom to a dog boarding facility. It was a shocker at first that we would pay over double what we were used to, but we love Bauserhaus and found they are actually on the cheaper end of other places and I prefer their style of boarding than others. Ransom is playing with dogs for 10-12 hours each day and comes home exhausted. Before, he would try (and succeed) to escape his enclosure, and would give me such sad eyes and throw a fit when I left him. Now, we drop him off and he doesn't even look back to see if we left.

This time, I dropped Ransom off a day before we left town. I thought about how lovely it would be to clean the house and it not immediately get covered in hair and drool. However, I didn't realize how accustomed I had become to having him in the house.

When I came home from shopping, I subconsciously expected him to be standing at the door, tail wagging. It doesn't matter that I usually don't pet him or give Hume any attention as I walk inside; he still greets me like I've been gone for days. And I kind of missed it.

As I was working in the basement, I lost track of time and realized it was almost 6:00 pm. Then I realized why the time had crept up on me. Ransom wasn't there to annoy me at 5:00 sharp for his food. His incessant nagging can drive me crazy, but when it was gone, I missed it.

Our house is not noisy for the most part, but with Ransom gone, it was eerie quiet. There was not clinging of the collar tags, now shaking of the head, no loud yawns or dream barks, and no "click click click" of the paws against the hardwood floor. I found I like a little noise.

I woke up in the morning and shifted in bed and waited for Ransom to hop off his bed, anxiously hoping that I was finally awake and ready to start the day. Nothing happened. It was strange to not have that normal morning routine, and I even missed that.

So, it turns out I may be more attached to our big black monster than I thought.