Mari Looks for a Flat (25)

Mari: Foo-foo be quiet, you need to calm down. (a knock on the door) Yep!

Shirley: Oh hello Mari. How are you?

Mari: Hi Shirley.

Shirley: Actually, I needed to speak to you Mari, um, actually, oh your dog it’s so sweet, isn’t he?

Mari: Yes. Foo-foo is a real sweetie.

Shirley: Yeah, actually that’s the reason I need to speak to you. There has been some complaints from a couple of the neighbors, one upstairs and one close by, that he is barking a lot during the daytime. And the upstairs people have a young baby that he has been keeping awake. I’m just wondering, I know that when I spoke to you before you moved in you said he was well-behaved but he’s...as I said, there seems to be barking a lot during the day.

Mari: I’m in shock. Foo-foo never barks.

Shirley: Well, you know, I come past here a couple of times a day as well and have heard him. He’s yapping quite loudly.

Mari: He must be really lonely because I work a lot, and there’s no one. Usually, when I was living in New York, I would have time to walk him but there is no one... He doesn’t get walked.

Shirley: Yeah, they do get lonely, um...

Mari: Do you know of a place, or someone in the building, or a pet store that walks dogs?

Shirley: Well actually, there is a place not too far down the road called Pet Palace and I did notice last time I was there that there was advertisements for dog walkers in the window so perhaps that might be something worth pursuing.

Mari: I think that if he gets walked sometime during the day, he’ll probably bark less when I’m away.

Shirley: Ok well, do you think you could get onto that as soon as possible because, as I said, the people upstairs are having a rather difficult time with their new baby.

Mari: Ok, of course. I’m sorry.

Shirley: Yeah. As I said to you, you know, really, our policy is not to allow pets and you assured me that he was used to being an inside dog so you kind of need to get onto that as soon as possible if you can.

Mari: Alright, thank you.

Shirley: Ok. Well, that aside, how is everything else going? Are you getting out and about in Sydney?

Mari: No, I’m working a little too much lately so I haven’t been able to go out but I hope that once I adjust to the work schedule I’ll be able to go out.

Shirley: Ok, well yeah, ‘cause there’s a lot of great eating places here and some nice places, the weather is so beautiful at the moment, there’s a lot of outdoor eateries that, you know, if you get to, I think you’ll really enjoy it. Most of them are within walking distance from here so... Perhaps you could take Foo-foo, was it?

Mari: Foo-foo, yes.

Shirley: Yeah, right. Perhaps you could take him with you and, you know, get out and he could get a little exercise at the same time.

Mari: Yeah. Thank you Shirley. I’m sorry about Foo-foo.

Shirley: That’s ok. Just keep in touch with me and let me know if there is anything I can do.

Mari: Thank you.

Shirley: Ok.

Mari: Goodnight.

Shirley: Bye.