I’m a big Harry Potter fan (the books, NOT the movies!)
In the Harry Potter books we learned about House Elves. House Elves, in case you live under a rock, are indentured servants who ‘serve’ the house of their owners/masters, and the majority of them do it flawlessly. Most owners don’t need to punish the House Elf if something isn’t done to specifications, because a House Elf will generally punish themselves.
HOWEVER, IF the owner needs to punish an Elf, the very worst thing they can possibly do is to give them clothes. Clothes basically releases the Elf from service, and makes them a “Free Elf.” To most House Elves, being dismissed from service is disgraceful, and they will not be able to find work again.
Delilah reminds me of a House Elf in two ways.
One, she is constantly ‘cleaning’ up after me. She’s always in the kitchen checking the floor for scraps. In fact, last night I was putting the eggs into the egg container, and the carton slipped and fell on the floor. Delilah quickly swooped in and picked up an egg, egg shell and all, in order to help me clean up.
Because she had the egg shell, I took it away from her, and cleaned up all the shells, before I let her finish her job.
The other way Delilah resembles a House Elf is her loathing of clothes.
Normally, I don’t put clothes on my dogs. I do use boots in the winter when the snow and salt are on the roads, and when it’s super cold, I have a jacket for Sampson.
I also use the same coat for Delilah. Yes, it’s a slightly big, but I put the coat on her first, then I put Sampson’s harness on her, and it works.
This past Thursday, we had one of the coldest Thanksgivings on record, it was so cold, I broke out the coat.
Delilah’s reaction was priceless. I held up the coat and she ran away from me. We did this for a couple of minutes and at one point, she ran to the Dog-Daddy, and shoved her head between his legs.
It’s like she’s a House Elf and I’m presenting her with clothes.
We Siriusly laughed over this one.
You make me laugh or smile, the sweet, funny, loving things dogs do that make us laugh or smile.
What did your pet do to make you laugh or smile this week?
At least it wasn’t a tea cosy….
Happy Thanksgiving!
Lol! Merlin likes to do sock collecting and he is so sneaky.
When i go to put his walking gear on, he barks at me. Even though he loves going for walks and always looks up at his gear hanging on its hook when he comes inside.
He made me smile this week by growling in his sleep. I wonder what he was dreaming about?
I think you know, we love clothes at our house, but we don’t wear them for walks or anything. Boots come out if it is more than -10 outside because for some reason, the ground hurts our paws at that temp. Mom doesn’t like to read, so we don’t know a thing about Harry Potter, but your explanation seems to fit Delilah to a tee! Madison
We’ve been know to run away from clothes too!
Oh, D! You are not dismissed from service. It’s just to keep you from shivering. I ate a few of my coats when I first came here, but Mom kept buying new ones and I finally gave in. I still shiver a lot, but the coat really helps!
Love and licks,
Cupcake
My Boston’s will run from me when I bring out the sweaters too! They think I’m trying to kill them.
It’s been cold here this weekend, too; but not as cold as up there by you. Shadow and Ducky can relate to Delilah’s dislike of the coat. I have a raincoat for Shadow for when we get those southern downpours, and she hates it. Same for Ducky. Though Ducky does like her winter coat. I guess because it keeps her warm as well as dry? Who knows with her. 😂
Now that is too funny. Luckily both of mine have no problem with coats or bandanas. Beyond that you get the poodle death stare. Especially when the boots come out. Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving.
I loved Dobby and threw the book across the room when JK the sadist killed him. Of course I retrieved the book
Too funny! I tried a jacket on my dog once. You could see in his eyes how his soul wilted like a flower. He refused to budge until I took it off. Luckily, he forgave me.
That is funny! Luckily Luke likes having coats put on. His fur is so thin underneath that I don’t like to take him out without one once it gets below freezing. But if I tried boots? Forget that!! 🙂