Tag Archives: dog

All Bark and Some Fight

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There were a rough couple of days here. Although the house was finally warm and soot-free, there was some drama from outside that caused some depression and therefore erased the desire to do things.

CJ and MJ went on a rock climbing adventure, but all I could muster up was some nail painting with Q while EM was napping. Don’t get me wrong, Q and I had a nice time (and who doesn’t like pink and purple toes), but I just wish we did something more.Then, to make matters worse, yesterday the neighbor’s dogs got into our yard.

I would like to make it clear that I am much more of a dog person than a cat person. But even then, big dogs scare me. Like, a lot. I was attacked by a German Shepherd when I was little and had a bad experience with a Boxer. Unless it’s a dog I have known since being a puppy – like our chocolate lab – I don’t like ’em big. And even our lab was the runt of the litter. Many people comment on how small she is for her breed.

Anyway, there are grapevines on the one fence between our yards. The neighbor apologized for her dogs, saying that when they moved in, since the grapes were full, she didn’t realize there was a space between the bottom of the fence and the ground. Since it’s winter, the space is there and obvious. So instead of taking her dogs out on leads because of the hole, she just lets them run.

When her dogs saw my kids out in the yard, they decided to come over. The first one over was the Boxer. It promptly started chasing MJ. The neighbor yelled to stop running as that would only “make it worse.” I immediately assumed he must be a biter because with my personal experience, what else could she have meant? Once the Boxer had distracted the owner, the other dog made his way into the yard. He was a great big Rottweiler. Huge. Beefy. Scary.

I did my darndest to at least look calm because I didn’t want the kids to freak out anymore than they already were. The dogs fought with each other and ran around our yard. The neighbor pulled the Boxer back twice, but it kept on coming. I rounded up the kids to get them back into the house, hoping that without them, the dogs would leave. Instead, the Boxer ran up behind us and tried to push his way into the house. I had to body block the dog while getting the kids in the door.

During all this, my own dog was freaking out. She made sure CJ took a break from working to go check on her Mama. The kids had all tumbled into the house, shedding shoes and coats along the way, but I was still pinned to the back door, shaking. Once I saw CJ and knew that it was finally okay to, I burst into tears. It took awhile to calm down. It was not the best day.

So far, this week looks promising. Then again, it’s only Monday.  🙂

 

New puppy

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While we were staying with my grandparents, our chocolate lab, Marley, got used to there always being someone home. Even though she is home alone for less than four hours on average, we could tell that it was starting to get to her. For our birthday, CJ and I decided to spend some birthday money on a friend for Marley.

CJ started doing some research and found a litter of puppies on the Open Arms Rescue website. Their adoption fee was more than reasonable and included everything. We went to an adoption event and were able to play with all the dogs they had there and make our selection.

The puppy we chose was not yet ready to leave her mother, so they had us write our name on her collar. We then had to provide the phone number for our vet as a reference to being responsible pet owners. Also, the OAR does home visits. As we live about an hour away from their headquarters and the weather was bad that weekend, we were allowed to send in pictures of our home.

We picked up the new puppy this past weekend and brought her home; named her Presley. MJ absolutely adores her. This is great because once she is house trained, we want her to sleep in with him. Marley already sleeps with us and we cannot fit another dog in our bad.

MJ seems to be the only “child” who likes her so far. Marley seems to not care for Presley at all. We are trying to constantly reassure her that she is still our girlie and we love her. Hopefully, she quickly gets over her shyness and will start playing with Presley. Marley needed a friend and I do not want her to act weird around her sister forever.

Presley already adores Marley and attempts to follow her around, when Marley will let her that is. I think MJ will be the one to finally get the girls to the place were they are okay with each other and play with one another.

MJ and Presley - sibling love :)

MJ and Presley – sibling love 🙂

My Thursday

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Thursday, I entered work and was approached by my supervisor. She informed me that she had offered out my services to a friend saying I would not charge them. I was upset, not because she said I would do it free of charge, but because of what it entailed. She wanted me to tutor an autistic girl to help her pass her GED exam. I was schocked that I would not be allowed to make my own assessment to see if this was something that I felt was actually achievable. Later in my shift, she told me that I needed to start running a fire drill with the kids, but I had to wait and do it when she was in the building so there would be an adult there. I was a little offened since as a wife, mother, and homeowner I assumed I was an adult. I guess I was wrong. Maybe that is why she felt she could dictate what I did with my free time.

My sister called me during my shift, and as she was watching MJ, I panicked and answered my phone. Since she knew I was at work, she made it short and sweet. She said she had to go out and would be taking MJ with her; not to worry, they would be home before I got off work. She had not texted to say they were home and it was nearing the end of my shift. I tried to text her; no reply. Obviously, I freaked out. I tried to call her and it went straight to voicemail. Next, I tried calling her husband. He responded and said not to worry, they would just bring MJ to me at my work.

When they finally arrived, I was walking out to my car to put MJ’s car seat back in it and my sister pulled the door of my work closed behind her. It was locked and my keys were still on the desk. At least my sister was kind enough to let me sit in her car while I figured out what we were going to do. I had the phone number for one of the volunteers who lived close, so I called her. She said another one of the volunteers who lived close had a key and she would get ahold of them for me. We waited about fifteen minutes and then I was able to get back into the building, get my keys, and go home – which I was more than ready to do by that point.

Once I arrived at home, I was attcked by the dog, who is always beyond happy when someone comes home. I took her out with MJ still in my arms (which is a process all in itself) and then went inside with the intent of starting dinner. As I was walking through the dining room, I noticed something strange on the floor. I turned on the light and realized that when CJ had changed the trash bag in the morning, he had not taken the old bag outside and so the dog (who we cannot really blame) got into the trash and my kitchen and dining room were a mess. It was extremely difficult to clean the mess while keeping MJ out of it so it did not become any bigger. Then I still needed to get dinner going for when CJ came home.

By this point, after everything that had happened, I had had enough so I called my mother acting more upset than I probably should have been. She talked me down (she has a knack for that) and as soon as she could hear my tears had stopped, she started laughing at me! She said I needed to lighten up and realize that it was pretty hilarious I managed to accomplish all those things in only one day – thanks, Mom. I do not know how she did it, but of course I started laughing too. That women truly has a gift.

Of course, now the whole thing sounds extremly ridiculous and I laugh thinking about how crazy that day was. I too am impressed by the amount of havoc that I can cause/be a part of all in one day.