Monday, July 15, 2013

Henry Barks Alone

Henry is the only pug in the house that can hear. Benjamin and Luna are not completely deaf, but their hearing abilities have been described as "dull". In this process, we have been focusing on Benjamin and Luna and have been trying to help them cope with their now quiet world. Benjamin and Luna have been adapting to this change pretty well. The one having the most difficulty with the situation, much to our surprise, is Henry.

The pugs have always had each other's backs. If one of them barks, the other two come running, full steam ahead, barking their heads off even though they have no idea what they are barking at. And when the trio is together and hear something a choir of barks breaks out.

But, now that Henry is the only one that hears, he is really the only one that barks. And when he barks he doesn't have his two buddies coming to back him up. As a result, Henry thinks he is going crazy!

He hears something, barks, then looks around for Benny and Luna. Usually they are nearby, lounging or chewing. Essentially, doing anything other than responding to whatever noise Henry hears. Henry then begins to question his own hearing. He looks around wondering if the noises are only in his head.

The Fourth of July was a very interesting experience. Usually, there is a lot of barking in the OBP household on that night. However, there was not a peep from Benjamin and Luna since they could not hear the fireworks going off outside over the television. Henry, on the other hand, could hear the fireworks and was looking around, like what is going on here? Am I the only one hearing these booms?

And the other day, the neighbor's dog was barking, which normally sets the pugs off. Henry jumped up, ready to give his canine neighbor the what for with his brother and sister, but Benjamin and Luna never budged. Henry was left standing on guard wondering if the barking he heard was real or just in his head.