Bittersweet Homecoming

From the moment Haley stormed into our lives, she was the most wonderful thorn in my side that ever existed. She was tough and didn’t take anything off of anyone. As a puppy she pulled on the ears of her hound mix puppy “sibling”, hanging on until Sasha cried out and she (Haley) was made to release the other dog. As an adult, she kept all puppies coming into the house in line, exerting her dominance with a nose bite, an ugly look, or a stare that had dogs several times her size creeping off to a corner to stay out of Haley’s way.

The younger members of my current pack (Buddy, Eevee, and Sahara) never challenged her. If Haley wanted their sleeping place, all she did was stare at them until they moved, or, in other cases, she just walked up to them expecting them to move and they did. Every. Single. Time. Every dog that Haley encountered respected and obeyed her, even if it was a dog walking down the street that stopped by to greet her with a sniff. Haley was brave, confident, and stubborn and I feel that’s what got her so far in life.

The only thing Haley couldn’t beat was her allergies (which now I suspect was more than just allergies but a full-blown autoimmune disorder). Every year, it took everything for us and the vet to do to keep her alive. Every year I’d look at her red skin, watch her try to get comfortable, pump her full of allergy medicine or steroids and pray that she’d be allowed to stay with me for one more year.

She turned twelve back in February. I wanted her to see her thirteenth birthday. I wanted her to live forever. Sy and I even joked that she’d outlive us; that she was too ornery to succumb to death. That she would tell death when she was ready to go! I think we told ourselves that so that we didn’t have to face the truth: One day we’d be without our beloved Haley.

That day came too soon. Her health took a turn for the worse and not even steroids worked. Her body had turned against her and she was in pain despite pretending that everything was okay. The vet told me that we could throw money, drugs, and surgeries at the illnesses; that we could try to fight this, but there was no guarantee that she would live a quality of life. In fact her quality of life was already diminished. The nicest thing to do was to put her to sleep. So we did the next day.

I had carried her into that office many times in the past for vaccinations and when she was sick. When I walked into that room I lost it because I knew that I wouldn’t be leaving with her. Haley, on the other hand, was perfectly content in my arms and didn’t seem disturbed. She knew the vet’s office and the people. They were her loyal subjects. We all were her loyal subjects.

She yelped when they gave her the first shot. Her illnesses had made her skin impenetrable to needles and they had to force the needle to get through her thick skin. She stumbled a little and then fell asleep. A few moments later my baby dog, my thorn in my side, my Haley Baley, my Sui Tan Sour Haley’s Comet (that would have been her show name if she’d been a show dog) was gone. What was left was the little vessel that held her large personality. How could something so small hold such a large part of my life? My mom, Sy, and I held each other and cried while the vet and the assistant, tears in their eyes, quietly left. My mom left after a few moments. Sy stood aside as I put me head against Haley’s forehead and quietly talked to her, finishing with a boop on the nose–something she would have never tolerated from a peon like me when she was alive. Then we left her.

Wait no! We didn’t leave her. We left her body. She’s still in our hearts and always will be.

On Monday (July 4th) I finally had Haley’s ashes in my possession. The beautiful box her ashes are in are in a velvet-type bag, accompanied with a death certificate as well as literature on grief following a pet’s death. I haven’t read the pamphlet. I might read it one day or I might not. I haven’t decided where I’m going to put the ashes yet, so everything is just sitting on a table waiting for a place.

This entry was so difficult to write. I cried so much. I miss that little dog. Part of me believes that Haley only held out all of these years because I needed her. With her health and basically being allergic to life, she shouldn’t have seen her 7th birthday let alone 12th (she almost died when she was 6 years old due to allergy problems). I don’t know if that’s true or not. All I know is she outlived the life expectancy for a dog who was essentially allergic everything. I am grateful for the extra time I had with her.

Until next time, give your loved ones an extra lick and a boop on the nose.

Pupdates

Don’t worry, we’re all still alive. Life has just been busy and after work I’m rarely at my computer because I spend the whole day in front of a computer. Still, that’s no excuse. I am in front of a computer all day so theoretically I should be able to carve out ten or fifteen minutes to write.

Theoretically…

So first pupdate. BF and I got married last month. It was a tiny ceremony with my parents, his mom, his sister, and his niece. It wasn’t fancy or anything, but that’s how I liked it. Short, sweet, simple, and to the point. I guess I can’t refer to him as BF anymore. I guess it is Sy from now on.

Haley has a tumor on her tail and looks a mess because she’s been scratching so much. I try to give her allergy medicine every day, but it doesn’t help that she goes outside, gets grass pollen on her paws, then comes inside and scratches. It pains me to see her miserable.

I’m going to give her a bath and send her to stay with my mom for a couple weeks so she can got see the vet that she’s seen all her life. We’ll see what he says. After all she is 10 years old.

The only problem with her leaving is it messes up the dynamics between the dogs. With Haley there, the other dogs know their places, but when she’s gone the female dogs start jostling for her position. Usually Clara won out and would boss all the other dogs around. That was before Eevee came. Eevee is a spoiled bully.

Sy and I are the reason she’s spoiled. She spent several months with us until she was big enough to hold her own, but we don’t know where the bullying came from…Let’s just blame it on Buddy because he is a jerk and tormented Eevee when she was young. I digress.

Haley’s absence will cause problems and it’s possible that the girls are going to fight it out to see who takes Haley’s spot. Then I could be surprised. Everything will fall into place and all the dogs will start deferring to Molly (the second oldest) or Clara (the third oldest).

Several times a week the dogs like to “sing” in the middle of the night. It starts off with one dog barking and then several of the others join in barking and howling. They do this for about thirty seconds to a minute then all of them stop at the same time. I don’t know how they manage to pull off the synchronized grand stop, but they do and I’m impressed…more during the day than at two in the morning.

I would love to write more because I love writing about my dogs, but I’ve got to work. The email that I’ve been expecting finally came in and I need to hunt down some documents that they want.

Until next time…drive your older siblings crazy with your need for attention.

Confession: I Almost Got the Neighbors’ Dog Killed

My neighbors have the cutest puppy. She is white with a couple black spots and a black patch over one of her eyes. It’s not uncommon for her to be outside without her owners. For the most part she stays on their property, but she likes to stalk and chase cats, bark at the neighbors and, her worst habit, chase cars.

I was cleaning rats’ cages and she started barking at me. I talked to her a little bit, telling her that if she was going to bark at me that she needs to do it to my face. I went inside and later she was in the front yard. I sat outside for a couple minutes trying to coax her into letting me pet her. She wouldn’t and some birds in the bush startled her and she went running home and up her back steps. I figured that she’d go back inside, so I went back inside.

Curious me, I went outside about five minutes later and she was still outside. Normally they’ve brought her in by now. I looked at the house and there seemed to be no movement. No one was around.

I got close to the street and talked to her, always keeping a lookout for cars so I could send her home. She walked toward me and looked at me and I at her. She was standing in the street. Two cars came down the street. One, a blue SUV turned onto our street. The guy went slow and would have driven past her if she didn’t decide it was a good time to chase his car. He managed to stop before she ran in front of his tire. Scared, she ran up on her step. Thinking that it was my dog, he waved to me. I waved back thinking, “that’s not my dog.” He drove off.

Feeling guilty that I almost got her killed, I went inside. All I wanted to do was pet her and I put her in danger. I know she isn’t my responsibility, but I feel responsible for her as long as she’s “in my care,” meaning if she and I are outside at the same time, then she is my responsibility unless an owner is outside with her. I’m not sure why I’m like this, but I’ve always been like this. As a teenager, I’d let stray animals follow me home and hope my mom would let me keep them. Never happened.

Sometimes I see myself as a Sims 4 character. My goal would definitely be to befriend x amount of dogs as that is my goal in real life. I want to pet all the dogs that I meet. Obsessed? Yes. I can’t be the only one, though.

I don’t know if this post made any sense. I’m currently fighting with a manic episode and my brain is racing all over the place. It’s not fun.

Anyway, until next time, stay healthy and pet all the dogs you can.

Beagle is as Beagle Does

Sahara’s nose got the better of her this morning. Normally she comes in the house when called. Oftentimes she is by the back door waiting for it to open, but sometimes that ol’ Beagle nose takes over and distracts her from what BF and I would like for her to do. Note: I didn’t say what she’s supposed to do as I appreciate the fact that as a Beagle following her nose is what she’s supposed to do.

BF kept calling Sahara and I told him that he needed to just go get her as this is what I have to do sometimes. He’d start toward Sahara and she’d run toward him…then her nose would take her in a different direction. Finally BF snatched her up and carried her in the house. He put her in the crate and the look she gave us almost broke my heart. She looked so sad, so defeated. The poor baby’s fun had been ruined and she was not happy.

I look forward to going home in a little over an hour. Today has been a tough day. I’m agitated, my head hurts, the pollen count is high, and I’ve had an anxiety attack. I just want to go home, plop on the couch and cuddle with one of my dogs.

I took Sahara and Eevee on a walk after church on Saturday. As I was rounding the corner of my block, I saw some of my fellow church members. As soon as Sahara saw them, she wanted to jump up on them, be pet; just in general trying to get their attention.

Eevee, on the other hand, was trying to get away from them. She’s not that fond of people outside of BF, Mother, and me–the people who she’s grown up with. She’s always been leery of strangers, preferring to bark at them from a distance rather than trying to get to know them. I regret that I was never able to take her out and socialize with her. The thought of her getting car sick and stressed out prevented me from taking her places. Funny thing is taking her places helps the car sickness or so the vet says. It seems counter-intuitive and I’m sure it works, I just afraid to try it. On the other hand, if we’re planning on moving, it would be best to get them (Eevee, Luna, and Sahara) accustomed to the car. Fortunately, we’re only moving an hour away, so a little vomit in the car won’t be the worst thing in the world…

What I would love to do when I get home is do some crafting. I’ve wanted to do some collage art for a little over a week now, but haven’t been able to do it for one reason or another (*cough* lazy *cough*). What will actually happen is I’m going to plop on the couch (with or without a dog) and watch some Netflix as that will probably be all the energy that I will have.

Yet another random post, but it popped into my brain. Until next time, go where your nose takes you…

Happy Puppies and the End of Another Year

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I suppose many people are doing the end of the year reflection. This wasn’t a bad year, in fact it was great. I added Eevee and Sahara to the family and everyone is getting along so well.

I remember when we got Scarlet as a companion for Buddy and that didn’t end well. Then, on a whim, we got Eevee and now she and Buddy are good friends. Who would have thought that when I got a dog for myself she would end up being friends with Buddy as well.

So what does my 2020 look like? I’m hoping it comes with a new job in a new house in a new city. Well old city. I’m moving back to Sulphur. Homesickness set in and I’m raring to move back.

We’re looking for a house with a large yard and either neighbors who don’t mind dogs or a house in a neighborhood that has a lot of dogs. Sulphur has a decent pupulation (not a typo) so I think my pups will fit in and maybe make some doggy friends.

I don’t really have much else to say. I was just popping in one last time before the new year. I hope you enjoyed the pictures of Eevee and Sahara.

Until next time…happy new year!

In the Walls

Last week, I came home to Buddy chewing on the baby gate bars and on the wall beside the utility room door. I dropped everything and went to see what was wrong. Despite my best efforts, he wouldn’t leave that spot alone, not even to go outside and he loves being outside.

I inspected the area and concluded there must be something between the walls and I hoped it wasn’t a snake. I wasn’t sure though. I tried pulling at the paneling, using a hammer…to no avail. Then a brilliant idea hit me. Get the Beagle to see if there really was something. So out I went to fetch Sahara.

I brought her in and showed her the spot that Buddy was chewing at. Sahara sniffed around and bayed. I had my answer. There was something in the wall. Yes, I know I can’t take a Chow’s and Beagle’s bark for it, but their senses are better than mine and I trust them.

I was already frustrated and sat on the floor to cry. I’d had a stressful day at work, bf got off late and wouldn’t be home for another hour, and since Mother lives an hour away, she couldn’t help either. Sweet Sahara climbed in my lap and tried to comfort me. Normally she’s crazy, but she was calm and stood still while I petted her and cried.

After I calmed down, I put my ear to the wall. I heard some scratching. Definitely not a snake. Maybe a baby raccoon? A mouse? Probably a mouse. When I tapped the wall the scratching stopped and the dogs lost interest in the spot. Eventually whatever it was moved on and Buddy and Sahara were ready to do something else so I kicked them outside. Buddy was happy to go. Sahara…not as much. She’s a homebody.

More happened in that story–not much though; this is just the Reader’s Digest version. The longer version would have simultaneous incidents: Sahara searching the kitchen for something, Buddy alternating between the wall and wanting to go into the main part of the house, me crying, me on the phone, me hoping it wasn’t a snake, me contemplating on selling my house and letting the new owners handle the raccoons, and many other things.

I still want to sell my house, but at the moment it isn’t feasible. The raccoons are driving me crazy so either I stay put or bite the bullet and put my house on the market. Neither sounds ideal. Perhaps after BF and I get married we’ll get something figured out. Until then, I get to put up with my noisy upstairs neighbors for a bit longer.

Not much of a entry. I do have some picture to share sometime in the future. They’re of Eevee and Sahara playing. I find the pictures precious.

Until next time, seek out and destroy…the food that is.

Full (Dog) House

Sorry I haven’t written much. I recently changed positions at work which means that I have less time to write blog posts, but here is one.

If someone told me a few years ago that I’d share my home with seven dogs, I would believe them. Dogs have always been in my life and I suspect they will always be in my life.

My dogs are what get me up in the morning even on days I’m depressed, especially on days I’m depressed. Fortunately since my medicine got adjusted, I’ve had fewer depressed and manic episodes.

Unfortunately, this medicine adjustment has restored me to my actual personality: feeling nothing and everything at once.

But I digress…

This week Buddy, Sahara, and I finally had a breakthrough and it all started with a hole in the fence. Buddy, Luna, and possibly Eevee found/dug a hole under the fence into the neighbor’s yard. Mind you, I have a privacy fence and the neighbors have a regular fence that has a four to five foot high hole in it. There’s about a six inch gap between these fences.

So the three of them were getting into the neighbor’s yard. On Sunday, while bf, a friend of mine, and I were tearing down a shed to get to the hole, Buddy slipped through. Around that time the neighbor’s dog was let into the backyard. I watched and held my breath as Buddy approached the other dog. I expected a fight, but it never happened. Buddy hip-checked the other dog, causing it to yowl in annoyance, and then trotted away probably laughing to himself. That was when I realized that Buddy isn’t dog aggressive. Buddy is just a jerk and has a twisted sense of humor. What a relief.

The shed got torn down and the fence got fixed.

On Monday, at my Mother’s insistence, I took Sahara outside while leaving Buddy loose (normally I tie him out). Buddy was curious about her at first, but never did his hip-check thing. Instead he went to the back fence and tried to figure out how to get on the other side of the fence. Another relief. Though they aren’t ready to play with each other, they don’t mind being in the same vicinity of each other. A peaceful household once again.

Yesterday, I watched the dogs roam around the backyard and I counted and recounted them. There were seven dogs, but it didn’t look like it. Even with seven dogs, my backyard is big enough for even more dogs to enjoy it. Not that I’m going to get another dog…yet. Part of me wants another hound…a Basset or another Beagle would be fun. Another part of me wants a larger dog a Great Pyrenees, a St. Bernard, or a German Shepherd. However, I would only get a large dog if something should happen to Buddy and Buddy isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Sahara’s baying used to get on my nerves, but now I’ve gotten used to it. It’s an acquired sound. I watched videos and read books about the sound, but nothing prepared me for how a Beagle actually sounded. It’s still annoying when I’m trying to talk on the phone, but that’s life with a hound.

Nothing else exciting is going on at the house. The Shih Tzus are doing well. Molly has gone into a stubborn phase and requires being carried inside rather than her actually walking. Haley’s allergies are acting up, but other than that she’s still as bratty and demanding as always. Clara is still cute and tries to use it to get out of doing what she doesn’t want to do.

All in all, life is pretty good right now. BF and I got raises which means the dogs can live an even more comfortable life than they already are living. They’ve trained us right.

Until next time, show your siblings and strangers that you mean them no harm by giving them a friendly hip check (then run away laughing as they yowl about the injustice of it all).

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.

Origins: Sahara

Last one, I promise. Well she has to be the last one, BF put his foot down and said no more dogs. He thinks seven is enough. I agree, at least I think seven is enough considering the house we live in. If we lived in the country…I probably will only have seven.

So who is “last one, I promise?” Her name is Sahara (formerly Sugar) and she’s a red and white Beagle just shy of two years old. I didn’t pay a cent for her and she was already fixed, up to date on her shots, on heartworm medication, etc. Everything a person could look for in a family pet. Did I mention she was free?

I was lurking on Craigslist (yes I know…) Pets and had been searching for a Beagle for a couple months. It was a passive searching. Only once did I call to see what the “rehoming fee” was ($300 without shots). I’d come to the conclusion that it wasn’t meant to be.

Bored one day at work, I checked CL again. Much to my surprise there was a listing for a free Beagle. I read the description and I thought that there was no way the dog was still available. She was. I agreed to adopt her and brought her home that night.

She got carsick and vomited on my backseat as we were pulling into the driveway. Not to worry. I had bought a seat cover for my backseat specifically for my pups that get carsick (Luna, Eevee, and now Sahara). All I did was scoop out the vomit and wiped it down with some baby wipes.

The first couple days Sahara was fairly mild. She liked to relax on the couch, play with toys, and sniff around. Then she got comfortable in the house and her wild side emerged. She jumps on the couch with gusto. She isn’t content to relax, but has to be petted all the time. If she’s not being petted, she has to get into something. I’ve taken so many things from her in the course of five minutes: plastic bags, spools of ribbon, spools of thread, socks, rags, and anything else she can get her mouth on. She is no respecter of objects.

She doesn’t mind the other dogs. She likes to bark at Buddy when he barks at her. She enjoys playing with Eevee who has a compatible energy level. The other girls are indifferent toward her and she is toward them.

I’m working on getting Buddy to accept her. I’m bribing him to like her. Whenever she’s around I give both of them lots of treats and praise. I’m hoping that Buddy will accept her by this time next month. If all goes well, sooner.

I feel like I’m not making any sense in this entry. It’s probably because there is activity all around me. I don’t know. Anyway, that’s it for right now. Until next time, keep your pack members close and make sure new pack members come with a bribe.

Oh, and here is a picture of Sahara. It’s from the ad that I responded to. Enjoy!

Pet Dogs, Feral Dogs, and Just Being

Have you ever seen a dog (or cat or any other animal) that you know would be perfect for your home, but due to whatever circumstance you are unable to adopt it? I feel like that right now. There is a Beagle rescue in Norman that has a dog named Donner. He is described as “almost feral.” He prefers to hang out with dogs rather than people. He will never be a lap dog.

When I read that I thought he’d be perfect for my little family. I know, two humans and six dogs isn’t what a person would classify as a “little” family. Anyway, I digress. At my house, my dogs are allowed to be dogs. They come in when they want to come in and go out when they want to go out. We are a loose pack, coming together when we feel like it, but otherwise tending to our own business. Donner would fit right in with our low stress (except meal time) life. At my house we just are and have learned to to “be.” As long as they exhibit basic obedience I’m good with them just being dogs. I think Donner would like that.

What’s preventing me from adopting him? First, six dogs disqualifies me. No adoption agency is going to visit my house, see six dogs and allow me to adopt a dog. Two, Buddy isn’t fond of new dogs. Properly introduced though and I think Buddy and Donner would get along. It might take a few months though. Three, not all my dogs are up-to-date on their vaccinations. Of course that’s an easy fix. Okay, so there is only one strike against me. Everything else can be fixed.

So what is stopping me? The question if I can handle seven dogs. It’s not that hard to have six dogs (except at mealtime), what difference would a seventh dog make? Perhaps it is because Donner is an adult and I’m afraid he would get into a fight with Buddy. Perhaps it is because people will dub me insane if they find out I have seven dogs. Perhaps I’m afraid my neighbors will turn me in because of all my dogs. If not all of that, I just know that bringing in a seventh dog would be a bad idea.

I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it. I want a Beagle, but I probably won’t try for Donner. Then again, maybe I could get my house set up, get a kennel license (so I can house multiple dogs), and then I can try for Donner in the fall providing he hasn’t found a home yet. If Donner isn’t available at least the house will be ready for any additional dog.

You think I’m crazy, don’t you? I think I’m crazy, but paradise for me is being with dogs. I can’t say I’m the happiest when I’m with my dogs, but it’s pretty close. Being with dogs helps me forget, even for a few minutes, about my mental illnesses.

Yep, I’m crazy, but I don’t mind.

Until next time, take a moment to just be…