Meet the Dog
Let me introduce you to the other pesky child in the house.
As I write this, the dog is in her crate with the door to her crate wide open whining. It’s times like this I worry about her health, mental or otherwise.
This could mean a few things:
She ate something she shouldn’t. This is the most probable because I swear you turn around for a second and something is in or has gone through her that should not have.
She’s bored. This is also a possibility as it’s Buffalo in December and the back yard does not have the same appeal as the summertime sunbathing on the back deck does
She’s attention seeking. I’m calling this as the reason if number 1 doesn’t pass.(literally)
This dog is sweet, and we got the dog because I had a momentary lapse of reason and I asked BW if she wanted to get a dog. Also, for the child - I wanted her to not be afraid around dogs.
I’m not a dog lover. Of course, the dog has become “my dog” somehow and as she’s been hanging out here for almost four years now we’ve got her figured out more or less and how things work with her.
Here’s a few things I have learned.
The dog will try and eat anything that is made of wood, crayon or fluffy like stuffed animals. We never have to really edit or donate old stuffed animals because they just die an untimely death and gets chewed to bits. I have caught her trying to not-very-stealthily sneak a white stuffed bear past me as if I wasn’t looking.
This is one needy dog. She’s okay in the crate and as we’ve learned recently pretty adaptable to new surrounding and people even though her world is really small with just the 3 of us for the most part. But, if you try to sit down in the living room you will soon have a dog in your lap as in the photo above. This dog wants to be loved all the time
This is also one poorly trained dog. This is fully, completely my fault as we got the dog about 3 weeks before BW was in a pretty serious traffic accident so the dog training went out the door as we concentrated on BW’s recovery.
Age has made some problems go away. For a while there, the dog would escape and run away and I would be outside in the middle of a snowstorm running around the neighbors back yard trying to herd the dog back. Age helped, but also one time I had a broom in the front yard and realized the dog was scared shitless of it and since then the dog will not venture out of doors past the front stoop to greet the child off the school bus. Thank God for brooms.
The dog had a door issue for a bit. It would go out the sliding door but would not come inside for the life of us. We tried treats, coaching, and nothing worked except time as now she’s finally figured out doors. There’s video of us somewhere all trying to get the dog to come back in the house. It’s embarrassing, really.
She’s good with the child. The dog can be a little jumpy and there’s been a spill or two but as the child gets bigger and the dog gets older this hasn’t been a issue. The child loves the dog and will talk to her and pet her and the dog is as gentle as can be with her- there’s no fear with the dog which was the whole point of getting her. The child came home with a drawing of the family and the dog was present and the biggest character so that decides it- the dog stays.
So.If you like dogs and especially like not-so-smart dogs that have attention issues and want to just be in your lap all the time, then come over and visit. She will love you.
If you don’t like dogs, you can still come over but by the time you leave you may find out that you do like dogs after all.
Hey, it happened to me.
Constantly petting the dog,
TH and Co.