Cats have nine lives, Dogs give me life

My Newborn Boy

The paper work was done. The ink was dry.  I owned a dog.  One would think he would have been grateful that I posted his bail,but he was not.  I had discovered during the "birthing" process, he had been in the shelter for six weeks and adopted out  twice and returned both times.  I knew no one wanted this ugly dog! It just so happened he had not been "free" all the times I came to visit him.  One couple had adopted him to discover within three days, they did not have time for him. Another couple brought him back after he marked his turf, just so happened the turf was their carpet.  Now, I'm just saying,  if you are going to invest in a dog, three days or one turf marking is not reason to bring them back. I'm thinking some one had him earmarked for me and they didn't plan on me taking so long to make a decision.

I wasn't prepared to buy him that night, I had been there seven times to see this dog, but that night I just sensed, this was the day.  I had taken him for walks on a leash inside the building and he had been leash trained.  I had taken him outside, but in a gated area and he knew what the purpose of going outside meant.  There is half the battle!

"Ugly Dog"

The shelter allowed me to have a cheap leash to take him home.  He was so excited, but the minute we walked out the door, he freaked.  Maybe he knew from previous escapes, he'd be returned and heartbroken.  His front legs splayed out, rear end up and chest to the ground, he let me know he was going no further.   I stopped and looked down at him.  This was my moment to share with him, "I am the Alpha dog, you are part of  my pack."  He wasn't buying it.

Some times children do not hear you the first time you say, please.  So, I got down to his level, "Puppers, come on, we are going home." With that news, he pulled back on the leash, as if to protest.  Now, I must resort to what all children bring out in their mothers when in public, "Listen here you little bastard, I just paid a lot of money for you and  you are going to learn to love me!" With that, he stood up and started walking with me.

My Boy

We reached the car and I thought we had an understanding, but like a child, they will test you to see if, one, you have a memory and two, did you really mean it? I opened the car door and anticipated an eager puppy to jump in. I did not expect him to just stand there.  He wouldn't get in the car.  I patted the seat, "come on boy." Nothing.  "Get in the car...NOW!" Nothing.  I reached down to pick him up, all forty five pounds, "I said get in the car!" I placed him on the seat and closed the door, brushing off the ten pounds of white fur off me.  There! Now who's your momma! Cindy - one, Puppers - zip.

I drove to Pet Smart. We needed a few basic supplies. Food, collar, leash, dog tag and crate. Puppers refused to get out of the car, moving to the passenger door as I opened the back door to retrieve him.  Ugh!  "Do you not understand I have saved you from turning into a kibble or bit, now come on."

We finally made it home and I set up his crate.  I had the finest blankets and pillow to make him comfortable.  It was certainly the doggie Hilton compared  to the jail cell he had been in with cement floors.  He slept in his crate that night as he would not venture down the hallway.

He is not spoiled

I left him in the crate and headed to work.  When I came home eight hours later, he had worked half of the plastic tray out from under the crate.  I let him outside and he went to the woods behind me to do his business.  The next day I put him in the crate and when I came home, the entire plastic tray was out from under the crate and he just sat there.  How does he do this?

By the third day when I opened the door to step inside the house, Puppers was sitting on the ottoman, crate door opened and plastic tray out from under the crate.  I should have renamed him that moment to Houdini, but I didn't.

We would take a walk every night over by the golf course.  He enjoyed the woods as I searched for balls that had been lost by amateur golfers. My pockets filled with golf balls, we'd trek back to the car, that he no longer feared. I had discovered though that Puppers did not care to be watched while he was doing his business.  He wouldn't go to the bathroom, he'd just walk slower and slower, until I released him from the leash, then he would run for the area where the bushes and trees grew, walking back in the over growth, looking back to see where I was.  He wasn't concerned that I might leave him, he was concerned that I could see him.  He would squat and stare me in the  eyes until I turned so he could have some privacy and within minutes he would come flying out of the woods, ten pounds lighter and ready to roll.

I wanted him to be like Precious.  Trained to walk himself holding the leash in his mouth, but as every mother discovers, each child is an individual and needs to be treated as such.  My parents noticed a vast change in my demeanor after I brought Puppers home.  They often speak of Puppers bringing their Cindy Marie back to them.

Our First 500
 On the bricks at the Brickyard

Puppers and I signed up to walk in our first annual Mutt Strut.  It is an event for dog lovers to bring their four legged fur balls to the Indianapolis Speedway and walk their dogs around the two mile oval track that a month later, the 500 is raced.

It became very obvious  to me that he did not think of himself as a dog. Was I spoiling him too much?  I looked around and saw other participants dressed up like their dog or visa versa. One woman had on a Dalmatian jumpsuit as she walked her Dalmatian.  I could have put a brown patch over my eye and shared the deep bond we had developed over two months, but that is just ridiculous! I mean really! Someone has to be the adult in this relationship!

 My boy has some odd things about him. He will not go to the bathroom if you watch him.  He sleeps under the bed and retreats there every time he thinks he is in trouble.  He does not jump unless he is very excited and forgets what he is doing.  I had him for over a week before he barked! He loves to be touched.  Just a hand placed on him comforts his soul. He is a very loving dog and he has brought tremendous joy to my heart.  Every dog in the neighbor hood when they get free, comes to my sliding door wanting Puppers to come out and play.  I have even had sleep overs so the dogs can play.  Crazy the things we do for our kids.

In 2006, my parents decided to downsize to one home.  This was a decision that they had not anticipated this early in their retirement, but they had a three bedroom home on Houghton Lake at the end of a road.  For twenty five years of their retirement, they spent six months in Michigan and six months in Florida, but the elderly sisters who owned next door to them, died. These sisters came up twice a year for a long weekend, but when they passed, they willed the home to their nephew who decided to add on and live there year around. My father could not walk to the garage without his new neighbor coming over to see what he was up to staying forever to chat.

Mom called in May, shortly after they had returned from Florida to see if I'd come up to help them.  It was too overwhelming for them to downsize and pack.  Dad refused to rent a truck, so whatever they were taking had to be packed in a van.  They knew I'd just move in and take charge, relieving them of the headaches that moving can produce. I was an expert at it.

I wasn't ready to help them. I was still finishing up Bill's business, but they needed me.  I ended up taking several things home that they were going to sell but I wanted, and my house started to become cluttered of belongings from Bill and my parents. 

My niece and nephew came up for a long weekend.  It was their first weekend at the "cottage," that would have given them many memories had my brother allowed them to be a part of our lives. My mother struggled with getting to know them.  My dad, he is like me, you just roll with the punches, but my Mom, had she had them in her life from birth, she would have been fine, but meeting people and getting to know them, understanding every one is different, is very difficult for her.  As well, she didn't want to know her son may  not have been the perfect child she wanted to think he was.  My mother hears what she wants and weaves a story of what she thinks happened.  She is not always right, but don't tell her that.

After that summer visit, she decided she didn't want to be a part of their life.  Children do not understand this and trying to explain it to them, without them knowing my mother was difficult, but when I put it in the perspective that my mother was their father in a woman's body, they kind of got it, doesn't mean it didn't hurt. It was a difficult two years, so many changes, but some were good, like getting my boy, Puppers.