Seven Dog Life

Yesterday I felt like a bad dog mom. My dogs don’t get the attention they deserve. They’re normally kept in their bedroom to keep them out of the way (they’re royal terrors). I feel so bad that they’re not allowed to hang out on the couch with BF and me. Then I remember, I have a couple dogs (Luna and Sahara) that don’t know the meaning of chilling out on the couch. They prefer to get into things, steal stuff, and in general act like little heathens.

Living with seven dogs isn’t difficult. I look forward to the day when Buddy and Sahara can interact without a baby gate between them. I wish it happened yesterday, but I realize that Sahara has only been with us for about three weeks. I need to give it time.

I’ve come to the conclusion that when this pack of dogs has died off, I’m only going to keep three dogs at a time: a Shih Tzu, a Beagle, and some kind of terrier (probably a Yorkie). By that time, I hope that I’ll have a bigger house…well not necessarily bigger, I need a more open house on one floor. I keep saying that I’m going to wait five years, but can I wait that long? I probably should so I can pay off some bills…

This is a random post, I know. I’m sleepy and bored. I have an ad I need to design, but I don’t feel like creating it even though it is simply recreating a business card. I want to do everything else but what I’m supposed to.

I wish I worked from home, not that I’d get much done there either. At least I’d be comfortable and be able to nap as needed.

All seven of my dogs have found their voices…mealtime is noisy. I need to train them out of it. I tried. Really, I have. Luna just won’t be trained and if I can’t get her under control I can’t get Eevee or Sahara under control. If you haven’t guessed, Luna is my troublemaker.

I love her. She is a great dog. I just wish she would shut up. I have made headway with her though. When I pet her, instead of ruffling her fur, I pet her with long slow strokes that promote a calmer demeanor. It is amazing the change. I’ve even tried it on Sahara and it puts her right to sleep. Eevee is a bit trickier, but she’ll get there.

Eevee will be 9 months tomorrow. I feel like she should be older. It feels like I’ve had her forever. The same thing goes for each of my dogs, especially Haley who has been with me through a lot of the major and minor events of my life. Haley and I are a pair and have a closer bond with each other than any of the other dogs. The day I lose her will be the day I lose a part of myself.

But let’s not think about that. Haley is alive and well and annoying. Every evening, when BF and I are watching TV, she makes sure to bark us out for eating in front of her, for keeping her up past her bedtime, and sometimes just for the fun of it. She likes to talk back and we have plenty of arguments with her. I’m glad I don’t speak dog as I’m sure Haley has a colorful vocabulary.

So, I think I’ve reached the end of this random post. If you’ve read this far, props. If you understand this post, double props. If you live with a human that eats in front of you, but doesn’t share, my sympathy.

Until next time, the louder you bark the quicker the human responds.

Beware of the Grass Monsters

While pulling weeds, this is what I saw when I turned around.

Calm Dogs vs Hyper Dogs

My mom has three wonderful dogters–Ebony (Poodle), Nikki (Lhasa Apso), and Midget (Yorkie). They are a calm bunch of pups. Whenever my mom goes to another room, they follow her and lay down in the room she’s in and go to sleep. If my mom doesn’t leave the room for an extended amount of time the dogs will stay there.

On the other hand, my dogters are the exact opposite. When they’re allowed to run the house it’s like a bunch of Pup5 tornadoes ripping through my house, stealing things, getting into things, chasing each other, growling, barking, jumping around, having a wonderful time. After about twenty minutes, a couple of them drop to the floor to chew on chew bones or to take a nap. Luna and Clara usually are the last two to drop, with Luna outlasting the other three.

I watch my girls and I laugh, or I call my mom and tell her about their latest antics. However, sometimes I wish that I had a calm dog. A dog like my mother’s. A dog that will follow me from room to room, find a nice place to settle down, and stay there. No noise. No barking at me. No demanding things. Just the dog and I enjoying each other’s company.

I’ve contemplated adopting a senior dog. Unfortunately, I’m already over the city limit for dogs. I have four dogs; the law says that a person can only have three fixed dogs (but up to six fixed cats, how is that fair?). Still, I browse nearby animal shelters to see if there is a senior Shih Tzu or Lhasa Apso that needs a home. I keep thinking that maybe I’ll get lucky. Maybe something will be meant to be.

Until the day that I adopt a senior dog, I’ll be more than happy and entertained with my dogters. They’re wonderful girls and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

Sorry for such a short post and for the absence of posts in the past. Life happens and then you blog about it.

Until next time, bark like no one can hear you; play as if it is your last time; sleep as if your human is not staring at you constantly taking pictures of you and posting them on Facebook.

Fun, but Dangerous

As I’ve said many times before, I love working at a grooming salon. Not only do I get to bathe dogs (and then am relieved when I can send the bad ones home), I get to do a lot of thinking after all, it doesn’t take much brain power to bathe and brush dogs (once I become a full-fledge groomer, this might change). I like to think about my life, stories I want to write, dreams I had, and things I want to do when I get home.

However, as with any job, dog grooming isn’t without its hazards. Last week I bathed a Newfoundland. He didn’t want to be on the table and jumped off. Well this was an older grooming table and it tipped over crashing to the floor. Unfortunately my leg was too close to the table and I got a nice cut on my leg.

Or yesterday, a Great Pyrenees puppy got her foot caught in the kennel grate and was yelping. I tried to help her get her foot out, but she bit me. It was more of a biting scratch. She wasn’t trying to hurt me. Eventually she realized that she was pulling in the wrong direction and once she stopped resisting her foot came right out.

Also yesterday, a Jack Russell mix playfully jumped up on one of the groomers and scratched her on her wrist very close to where she just got a tattoo.

A few weeks ago, fortunately on my day off, two dogs bit four groomers and one of the bites was really bad.

There are many other stories like that, but fortunately these incidents are few and far between. Most of the time we have some crazy dogs, but we’re never really harmed and blood is rarely drawn. Dogs that are downright mean, or are incredibly stressed are sent home so no one is harmed.

Pet parents are often angered by the fact that we require rabies vaccination verification. We explain to them that it is a liability to have a dog in there that isn’t up-to-date on his/her rabies vaccinations. Some owners understand, but other owners storm out believing that needing the rabies is a stupid rule. I don’t know about the owners, but I don’t want to get bitten by a strange, unvaccinated dog and then have to go to the hospital and get a rabies shot in my stomach.

You know, even if I got bit every day I don’t think I’d change occupations. I guess it’s because I know that bad days only last for a short time and are always followed by good days and good dogs.

So, until next time…be kind to your groomers, they’re the ones who are holding the razor.

Ticking Biological Clock

Like many women in their late twenties, I have a biological clock that ticks from time to time. However, my biological cock doesn’t tick for babies, but for puppies. While working, I see many tiny (and not-so-tiny) puppies walk past our glass windows and sometimes they even come into the salon. It makes my heart beat fast seeing or holding a puppy and suddenly I want a young puppy to cuddle with.

Then common sense hits me with a baseball bat and I return to my senses. I don’t want another puppy. I have one of my own and she’s teething. I certainly don’t want to go through the teething stages yet again. We don’t have enough chew sticks and chew toys for that.

Besides, we have enough animals in our house.

I did get to bathe a puppy today. She was so cute–a Jack Russell Terrier mix that will probably be close to the size of a lab. I really enjoyed bathing her, but I was more than happy to send her home when it was time.

I have to say that Shih Tzu puppies are my favorite…obviously. Unfortunately, as a mere bather I don’t get to bath Shih Tzu puppies all that often because most of the time they come in to get a haircut. Perhaps one day in the future I’ll have my Shih Tzu puppies to groom. Until then, I own a couple that really need haircuts. Perhaps on my next day off I can finally give them that needed haircut.