Princess/Mia

Ironically, I was 'watching' the Princess movie about Amelia, called Mia, whose father died, so she has to inherit the throne of Genovia, except no one knows that she's really a princess ... oh, you know the movie! Today, I have my own Princess/Mia in the house.

My friend's house flooded, and while it's difficult for humans to deal with everything associated with the disaster, it's compounded when you have a dog. People can move into a hotel and keep their lives together, but dogs get stuck going to a kennel and spending most of their day/night in a pen. Princess is a wonderful little bundle of energy who was sprung from the kennel at noon and is going to stay with Mia for a week or two--until her owner's home is once again inhabitable.

She's great; however, Mia's nose is a bit out of joint as Princess is affectionate and wants to be petted, hugged and play ball, all of which Mia feels are her right as my dog, and she's not sharing. As the picture shows, Princess is showering Mia with kisses, but it's not really Mia's thing, so she's just putting up with it at this point.

They've gone in and out the doggy door roughly one thousand times already, but I'm sure the novelty will wear off before midnight? They've chased the tennis balls up and down the hallway until Mia collapsed on her cushion and refused to move for an hour. They've shared the water bowl, with Princess thinking it's a lap pool and jumping into it, of course at the same time Mia was trying to get a drink.

Mia showed Princess the toy tote, a small wheeled crate with doggy toys, and Princess enjoyed pulling every single thing out of it, then pushed the cart around the tile floor. Nope, she doesn't know how to pick up after herself, so that's my job, I guess. She did try to interest Mia in sharing a pull-toy, but Mia nixed that idea.

I fed Princess her moist, canned dinner, while I locked Mia outside: she's condemned to a dishpan filled with her dry kibble, which she eats when she's hungry--or not. If she doesn't like the kibble this month, she'll swat at it until it's all over the kitchen floor to show her displeasure.

They've each had a treat, dropped them to scope out what the other had, then switched the ones I'd given them before gobbling them up.

Mia has retreated to her private place, the knee well in my desk, and Princess will NOT invade that space without a fight! Princess is currently curled up on the rug in the doorway to the office, perhaps already realizing that she's not welcome (yet) to actually come into the office.

The good news is that they are getting along well, so this is going to work out for all of us. The bad news is that this whirlwind of activity is exhausting! and it's only been 6 hours, so far. I'm sure we'll all find our rhythm by mid-week and settle down into a boring routine, but I'm ready for bed.