Three weeks away from home and I return to find that the family dog, a midsize mutt, magically morphed into a toy dog. He raced up to me upon my return and jumped on my legs with such recognition that I stared down at him with suspicion. Could it be… Brave? Did he miraculously transform into a tiny lap dog?

Alas, no. This dog resides with the neighbor who also lives on the homestead and he has appointed me his newest BFF. After petting the dog, rubbing his ears, and giving him some much-needed attention I returned to my house. Moments later I realized that this attention resulted in a stalker of the four-legged variety. Despite my attempts to shoo him away I finally closed the door on his sad little whimpers. I began working at my kitchen table when I heard bizarre scratching noises outside the window.

My thought was that I would have to chase yet another donkey out of the yard, therefore I pulled open my curtains expecting to find a braying jackass, however, to my surprise, I found that the fracas was from the insistent dog. He ran around the house and was leaping in the air trying to get my attention at the window. I think he is even more persistent than some Namibian men, “No means no, buddy!”

Though his futile attempts were for naught, I can only suppose that he found another way into my house and is now burrowing in the ceiling with his newfound friend, BJ the rat.

As I am apparently Africa’s newest dog whisperer I am under the assumption that it is because dogs realize that a) I will not beat them and b) I am not interested in eating them for dinner; 2 strong qualities that place me high on the list.

Update on BJ the rat: The rag that acted as a barrier for a section of the ceiling mysteriously disappeared. I can only assume that BJ slowly ate the rag in a desperate attempt to escape. However, the hole is currently only large enough for lizards to enter the house as I learned yesterday when I entered my bedroom to find a large lizard lounging on my wall. He quickly scampered back into the ceiling and has not returned. BJ must have eaten him for dinner.