Time for an adjustment

What do the other dogs think about the newest addition? Well in any family when there is a change, there is always a time for adjustment. A new puppy can be a BIG adjustment. For example, I no longer get a full nights sleep nor do I get a chance for some quiet time during the mid-afternoon time because my day is filled with chasing the little one around, cleaning up after her, seeing what she is chewing on, and dealing with that sinking feeling that comes when you realize it’s been 5 minutes and all has been quiet.

Like most dog owners, we treat our dogs like part of the family. Yes, we do call ourselves mommy and daddy, so when we brought Sienna home we told her she was going to meet her new brother and sister. Well as most siblings are initially jealous, our two were no different.

Rudy, who is ½ Chesapeake and ½ chocolate lab, can be aggressive at times. And being 90 pounds can make him quite the daunting looking beast. But for those of us who know him, he is loving and gentle. Well, his first impression of Sienna, let’s just say that he let her know he was boss! Sienna was a bit scared of him at first but now she seems to think he is about the coolest big brother ever. At first Rudy seemed annoyed with everything she did but now he plays with her, lets her jump on him and even allows her to give him kisses. Today I found them playing tug-o-war with her busy bee and I think he was really enjoying himself.


RUDY AND MINI ME





Abby was more concerned about the rations of food. Was she still going to get a full meal, would there still be snack time now that there was another mouth to feed? The first couple of days she spent guarding the food (hers and Sienna’s). I think when she finally realized that Sienna had her own food and her own bowl she calmed down. Initially she just ignored her, but Sienna being the clever pup that she is, decided that she and Abby had something in common (the love of food) and that whether Abby liked it or not, she and Sienna WOULD BE FRIENDS! When Abby would go lay down, Sienna would lie right next to her. Sienna was relentless to the point where now she and Abby are the best of sisters. (Though Abby does take her toys and chewy bones when she thinks no one is watching – isn’t that just like a sister!)


MIND IF I JOIN YOU? YES, TOO BAD!




Overall, Sienna has managed to wrap herself around all of our hearts (even the teenage boy thinks she is pretty cute). She’s a good fit and we can’t imagine life with out our Sienna.

Puppy potty training blues

(Typical blues riff)
Dun dun dun dun
She peed in the kitchen
Dun dun dun dun
She peed in the den
Dun dun dun dun
She peed on her pillow and on my brand new shoes
I’ve got the puppy potty training blues, yes the puppy potty training blues




When I was a little girl there was a doll called “Baby Alive” – every little girls must have! The purpose of this baby doll was to play mommy with all the responsibilities of feeding and changing diapers. Years later when it happed for real, I wondered why at one point in my life I thought that it would be fun. Anyway, this doll had a little motor in it and what you would do is put this baby poop colored food in its mouth, where it would run through the doll and out its butt within moments– looking pretty much like it did when it went in.

Having a puppy is a little bit like having a baby alive except she doesn’t use batteries and wear a diaper. She pees more than a dog her size should it seems. Her bladder just can’t be any bigger than a walnut so how is it that she can pee a small river in one room and then 10 minutes later pee another river in another room????? It’s because the second she pees she runs to the water bowl, laps up ½ of it, where it proceeds to run through and out of her almost simultaneously.

Now I must be truthful here and admit that she does use the outdoors quite often and of course is getting better everyday. But I had forgotten what a lot of work house breaking a puppy can be. Luckily she makes up for it by being absolutely adorable. She pretty much has me wrapped around her precious little paw and at this point I am utterly head over heels in love with this pup. That’s what makes all of the work worth it beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Diary of a crazy puppy owner

Dear Diary Day 10
Am I crazy? What did I just sign up for? Frustration and I are becoming quite close these days. Imagine 20 minutes standing in the wind and rain, watching and waiting for the signs that she is going to do her business. She sniffs the ground, she circles around, she squats…..no she sits, then lays down. She eats some grass, runs like a bat out of hell, then back to the door. I give up, we go inside. She pees!

Dear Diary Day 11
6am. She’s whining again (and so am I). It’s soooooo early and it’s SATURDAY! I take her out of her kennel. We run to the door, as I unlock the door, she unlocks the flood gates to her bladder and pees on the floor (I didn’t know our floor slanted). It was like cleaning up a river. Am I crazy?

Dear Diary Day 12
I watched her sleep. She has the most precious puppy face. I could just sit and watch her for hours (if only she would sleep that long). She woke up feisty and proceeded to chase after my pant legs and every time she would get a hold of them she would growl and play tug of war. Not too cute when you are wearing pants with an elastic waist.

Dear Diary Day 13
What would I do without my Sienna. She is so precious with her exuberant licks and just pure excitement when I come home. She laid her head on my lap as she took her nap today. That little girl loves me and I love her.

Sleepless nights and warm spots on the floor.

Yes, she is here. The puppy I have been waiting for. We went to pick her up last Friday and life has not been the same.

There is a commercial that has a tag line that states “A baby changes everything!” If you substitute the word “baby” for “puppy” it would be the perfect saying for the last 6 days!
My time is spent chasing her around, cleaning up puddles of pee and sometimes poo, and taking things out of her sharp toothed wee mouth (boy those puppy teeth are sharp). I also spend hours just looking at the sweetest sleeping puppy I have ever laid eyes on. Stroking her baby soft fur, rubbing her soft, squishy tummy and whispering subliminal messages like “you are going to be Best In Show”, “you are going to be a Champion”, “you are the best show dog ever!” and stuff like that.

As far as sleep goes for me, well, I manage to get a few hours here and there. The first night was the worst. I was up 3 times in the night, standing in the cold waiting for that magical urination. The 2nd and 3rd nights, I was up twice. And since then, I have only had to get up once. She is doing quite well. I have learned however that if I carry her to the door the chances of her making outside to pee is far greater than if I don’t.


Overall she has been a great joy and I am loving every minute of being a new puppy mommy!

Man's best friend

Are dogs truly man’s best friend? Well, if you want unconditional love, someone who will ALWAYS greet you when you walk in the door, someone who will defend you, someone who will ALWAYS be by your side, whether you are right or wrong, sick or healthy, happy or sad, etc., then yes, dog’s are man’s best friend because no offense to most human beings but all those qualities are rare in one person. Let’s face it; we humans all have “bad hair days”. And the people who suffer from our sour moods are the people who are closest to us – spouses, kids, parents, best friends and so on. But dogs, don’t take it personally, they love you no matter what.

When you find someone who comes close to having the dedication to a friendship that a dog would have for its master, well that’s an awesome find. Are there really people out there like that? Yes there are, and when you find someone like that treasure their friendship because you never know when they may leave this earth.

I am a stay at home mom with kids that are in school most of the day, leaving me with my two wonderful pups to hang out with. They really are my best friends because of the qualities that I mentioned above but……as much as I love my dogs and would miss them terribly if something were to happen to them they really can’t replace the loss of a human best friend.

I have struggled for almost 2 years with the loss of my best friend, Erica. She had metastasic melanoma. She was diagnosed at 33 and passed away at 35. We had a16 year friendship that encompassed many of the characteristics that I described earlier. I can remember a time when she told off some jerk that I was seeing. She grabbed my arm and said “You can’t speak to my Michelle that way!” and led me away. There was another time when I almost fought with someone who was insulting her (and I am not a violent person). For many years of our friendship we did not live in the same city and so we would write letters and send cards to each other (a lot of our friendship was pre – email so not only were they hand written but also sent via snail mail on real paper!). When things were going well, she was the one I called, when things were going not so well, she was the one I called, when my life was swirling in a downward spiral, guess who I called? And I was the recipient of many of her good news/ bad news calls. I do remember a few disagreements as well – no friendship is perfect but we always managed to work it though and our friendship was always better afterward.

As many friends grow up the possibility of them growing apart can occur. Erica and I did change in many ways. We began our friendship as young women, going out, having fun, flirting with guys, listening to loud music and spending way too much time on our hair and make-up. We grew into women who did go in different directions. I went into teaching and had a 4 year degree; she went into a few different directions and tried a few different schools until she found a career she loved in the pharmacy world. I had a child and she had hoped for children. I started going to church on a regular basis and she wasn’t sure she was ready for a “religious” experience. But despite our differences, we had a deep friendship that we both cherished.

I will forever be thankful for the time I had with MY BEST FRIEND, and will miss her until I see her once again in Heaven.