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My New Life

Putting the Dogs First

I went to my doctor the other day. She gave me holy hell. I haven't been eating a lot, because I've been spending all my money on dog food. I lost six pounds in a month. My doctor says I'm setting myself up for an infection. Well, I hope not.

Ziva continues to be a wonder. She's worth her weight in gold. I need to start training her more. She's ready and I'm procrastinating.

Donovan is still the best dog I ever had. I yelled at him tonight, and had to apologize. He went out the door with me like I've trained him to do. The only problem was that I didn't want him to go out. So there he was, no vest, no leash, standing there looking at me like I was crazy. He was right. I was the crazy one. He was doing exactly what I always want him to do. I forgot to tell him to stay in place. Luckily he forgives me for everything.

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The Big World Out There

Wow! Mom took me to ride on this big room with wheels. There were lots of people in this room. I was glad to see the first couple of people, but when I saw how many there were I just wanted to get away. We got off the first room and went to another one, then another one, the last one had a bunch of little levels I had to go up. The nice man told me it was all right. I could hear Mom coaxing me too, so I went up all the levels, and there was a room with only Mom in it. There was a little space that I just fit in. I curled up there until we stopped and I had to go down the levels. It looked high from the top of the levels and I was afraid, but the nice man told me it was all right again. I went down, and he was right, it was all right. Mom got off the room, and we went along the path. Mom led me into a big car resting place. We went through there with a big building on one side. We went a long way, and came to a room where my friend greeted me! I stayed with another woman while Mom went away for a few minutes. Mom came back and took my leash again. I was glad to see Mom. Even though my friend was there and they gave me water. Then I got to lay down for a while. It was nice. Mom listened to my friend and talked some herself. All the people talked a little. Then I got treats for laying down. And more treats for coming when Mom made a noise with a thing in her mouth, whistle, she called it. Then we went back outside. Back through the car resting place. Back to the room with levels I had to climb. I did better this time, because I knew it was all right. I was really glad to get into the little space and curl up. I was getting tired. We went in that room, and another and another and a final one let us out near home. I knew where I was when we got out of that room, and boy was I glad! I was beginning to think that we would go on the wheel rooms forever. When we got home, Mom fed me and Donovan. He had been home all alone, and he was good. I would have made a terrible mess. I was even glad to see Donovan. All he cared about was his Mom. Later he said hi to me when we went to bed. It was a long day, and I learned a lot. I also never toiletted inside the entire time. I was a good girl.

Mom put her two cents in

What do you do when you're convinced that your lab puppy is smarter than you are? Here's one example: Every night I go to bed about nine o'clock. At about 12:30 am my lab puppy pees and poops in her crate. I leap out of bed to keep her from tracking through it and making a real mess. If I'm quick enough, it's just a pile and a puddle. If I'm not, it looks like something the monster from the black lagoon would be comfortable in. Tonight I didn't feel particularly tired so I decided to sit up until midnight, and walk the puppy. I walked her. She did nothing. I put her back in her crate. She peed. That's not all.

I stayed up until 3 am. No more pooping or peeing. I went to bed. I wasn't in there a half hour when the familiar smell of her poop came wafting into the bedroom. I leapt from bed to find that she had started the mushing around process. I caught her in time, though. There was only a small lump in the puddle. The rest of the lump was spread a bit, but pickupable.

I got down on my knees, crawled halfway into the crate, and proceeded to scoop and mop. My lab puppy is observing me do this. I refuse to look at the look on her face. I'm afraid I might forget she's only a puppy. With everything mopped and scooped, I crawl back into bed. My nerves are jangling. My puppy is scrabbling and whining. I give up. I get up. I am sitting here now writing this. Is my puppy smarter than me? She's asleep.