Klepto

This ridiculous dog has become a very good guardian, friend, and source of entertainment for me over the past year. Though it is really Jessica's dog, she has been on loan to me as protection since I've been living alone most of my time here.

In short, this dog is quirky with a loyal superiority complex. She follows me everywhere, except she "follows" from about 20 feet in front of me. She is always looking back to make sure she's predicting correctly where I'll go next and, if I'm sitting in a room, she will jump up and race to the door at the first remote sign that I'm even considering getting up. If she needs to stop and scratch or pee along the way, she will do so, but will immediately stop as soon as I catch up to her and race ahead before continuing her business, just so long as I am never in front of her.

Kleptomaniac--an all too fitting name. I was with Jessica when she got this nice little border collie mix from Windhoek in the summer of 2008. She had several nice names picked out to try, but upon getting to know her better, Klepto soon replaced them all. There were 3 of us living in the house at the time and suddenly our things kept disappearing only reappear where they didn't belong. It only took a few times of Jessica asking me why in the world my socks were in her bedroom before the new name was final.

Now I say she "follows" me everywhere, but there are a few exceptions. Namely Cleo, Ginger, and the chickens. (Cleo & Ginger are cats...) Now, she is the fastest dog I've ever seen (she can run from the children's home to my front door in 11 seconds, if you are familiar with the compound), but she has only ever managed to catch a cat once...and she came out of the fight limping and bleeding. But nevertheless she continues to try. She has become quite the avid tree climber, but so good that her newest trick is to climb up onto the children's home roof. She then proceeds to chase the cat all over the roof, but still to no avail. From the inside, it just sound like Santa's reindeer are practicing their crash landing...

She also loves to chase other things, especially small children. Now this may sound horrible, but hear me out (don't worry, noone gets hurt). Out of all of them there is only 1 that hasn't quickly figured out that if they just stop running and stand still, she will bring her full-out running charge to a screeching halt right at their feet, then both parties just walk off. But this sheep-herding quirk of hers has more practical uses indoors. If I am in any room of the children's home, she will lunge at anyone who comes running down the hallway so as to stop them dead in their tracks...its actually been a quite effective policing tactic; they come to a screeching halt and she comes back into the room to wait for the next one.

I will really miss the protection and daily entertainment I get from this quirky dog, but maybe she will finally have time to master catching a cat? I'd hate to know what tops learning to run around on a roof...