Demon Dog to Cuddle

I’m having one of those weeks when deadlines at the day job (and editing my final draft of my middle grade book!) make the blog a distant priority. (If you read yesterday’s post, you know what I mean. Sorry about that. *sheepish grin*)

To make it up to you, I give you Demon Dog to keep you company:

Looking a little scruffy…Mockingbird needs to groom her dog.

Mockingbird adopted her from a local ASPCA almost two years ago. She even used her own money.

Demon Dog is a sweet, gentle “velcro” kind of dog and makes a nice addition to the family. She’ll sit in your lap and lick your face off. 🙂

Share your pet stories in the comments while I attend to a few insane deadlines.  {{{Hugs}}}

“I’ve Never Had Chihuahua”

Those were the chilling words I heard at a restaurant last weekend.  It was new place, and the Husband, the Daughter 1, and I were trying it out.  A patron at the table next to us uttered those words, and her voice carried.  We double-checked the menu to be sure we shouldn’t run from the place screaming. The Daughter eavesdropped for a few moments and then nodded her head in understanding.  “They’re talking about the kinds of dogs they’ve owned.”

Owned, not eaten.  Good to know.

He loves his presents. He even greets us at the door with a toy in his mouth.

I didn’t know it at the time, but it was the weekend of National Dog Day.  This post is a couple of days late, but it’s a tribute to my own crazy dogs.

We got our Portuguese Water Dog when he was 3 months old and the Daughter was 3 years old. He’s 11 now. His breeder told me that he was the most laid back PWD that she’d ever seen in all her years of breeding and showing. He is a fabulous dog.

Now before you go out and look for one for yourself, Portuguese Water Dogs are not easy dogs unless you train them and work them.  They will counter surf (if the muzzle can reach it, it’s snack time), they can be willful, and they must be groomed regularly. Positive feedback obedience training is the best.  Believe me, I did both kinds of obedience.  The choke collar training didn’t work–I don’t care how recommended the trainer is. I also trained with him in agility for several years (that’s a story for another time).

He LOVES snow and catching snowballs.

Things I love about my Portuguese Water Dog:

• He loves to hug.  He leans against my leg and sighs.  Sweet dog.
• He’s a clock.  He knows when it’s 7 AM (breakfast), 5 PM (dinner), and 8 PM (treats).  Any other time on the clock is fair game for T-R-E-A-T-S.
• He can spell.  We had to stop spelling words, such as “treats,” “walk,” and “bath.”  Now we just make up words and use sign language (but only if he isn’t looking).
• He has rat radar.  If a rodent tries to live near our house, he lets us know.  He can’t stand them.  He tore up a bush in the front flower bed to expose a nest. *shivers* The Husband sends him out on recon missions from time to time to be sure we’re rat free.

She’s really an Ewok in disguise!

The other little dog is Sidney.  I told you all about her in a previous post.  She is a mutt (I refuse to call a poodle mix a designer dog) and a rescue, which is what National Dog Day is all about.  Here are things that I love about this 12-year-old canine:

• She’s just the right size for Daughter 2 to take on a walk.
• She’s smart in one way:  She has picked up every begging habit that the big dog has.  Other than that, she’s not very bright.  Cuteness makes up for that.
• She’s a clothes horse.  Can you say, “Dress up time”?

In case she gets cold…

• She loves attention.  She is always nearby.  We just have to watch that we don’t step on her.
• She herds her owner (Daughter 1) when it’s time for food or walking.
• She is the big dog’s minion.

So that’s my tribute to the dogs in my life.  Did you do anything special for your dogs on National Dog Day? I’d love to hear stories about your dogs (or other pets.)  🙂

Demon Dog: Adopt One

click, click, click, click, click

I stop.  The sound stops.  I continue walking.

click, click, click, click, click

The sound keeps pace with my steps and reverberates on the hardwood floor.  I stop.  The sounds stops.

Is it a ghost or monster or psycho following me in my own home?

If this were a horror movie, I would turn around and see something terrifying, something that would scare me to death.  Instead, I see the creature of the night adorable dog.

The creature followed my every move. I couldn’t get away…

She’s cute, right?  Don’t be fooled.  Haven’t you seen MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL?    That bunny rabbit had “nasty, pointy teeth.”

This elderly furry thing that my daughter adopted from the SPCA has the latent ability to kill every living organism in a 5-mile radius clear a room with her, um, stench.  I found a sensitive-stomach kibble that killed the horror movie monster–at least until the dog eats something she shouldn’t.

This dog also has the ability to sit and stare.  It makes us wonder if there isn’t a Cujo somewhere inside that little 18-pound furball.

The creature stared. Silent and deadly.

In all seriousness, my daughter did a loving thing by convincing us to let her adopt this 11-year-old dog.  (Granted, my husband was out of the country at the time.  In my defense, he could have said, “No, we already have a dog” in any text message or phone call.  He didn’t.)   My daughter paid for the adoption fee and most of the supplies with her own money.  She even parted with old toys in a garage sale to earn enough money to pay us back for other doggie incidentals.

If you’re thinking about adopting an older dog, there are a few things you should know so you don’t have a horror movie waiting to happen:

1. It will take awhile for the dog to get acclimated.  Did she miss her previous owner?  I think so.  She didn’t make a sound for the first two months.  She watched our first dog constantly.  The day she saw another dog walking by our house, she flipped.  This little poodle mix had quite a bark.  It was about that same time that she started playing with her dog toys.  She was incredibly playful.  Some dogs settle in sooner.  Don’t be surprised by the dead calm stare.

2.  You may have to change the dog’s food.  There are no words to describe the noxious fumes that wafted throughout the house killing us slowly.  Whatever you do, don’t feed it after midnight.  (Did you see the movie Gremlins? Gizmo was cute.  His fed-late-at-night offspring, not so much.)

3. Prepare to care for an older dog. Sigh.  She doesn’t always make it until we get home from work or through the night.  In the middle of the night during the bewitching hour, she lets me know with quiet whines haunting sounds that she needs to go out.  She also didn’t know that the grass was the place to go.  My daughter gets to clean the patio often.  At least the new food made her “presents” easier to clean up.

4. Discover the dog’s tricks.  She doesn’t come when called even though we kept her name.  She wasn’t crate trained (still isn’t).  She didn’t sit, shake paws, or lay down. With little treats, my daughter learned that her new dog wasn’t as untrained as we thought.  Also, if you have another dog in the house, the new dog will probably follow the other dog’s lead while she insidiously infiltrates the family.

5. Love the dog.  My daughter felt compelled to rescue this dog.  She loved her from the moment she saw her.  This “pup” is just the right size for my younger daughter to walk, too.  Quirky, but adorable.  I got nothing for the horror movie theme here.  She’s a good dog.

Links:

• My friend Nicole recently posted about her newly-adopted dog.
• Click here to see what the ASPCA says about older dogs that need new “forever homes.”
• The Senior Dogs Project website has some good information, too. I don’t completely agree with their #10 on the top 10 list though.  It’s rare for both dogs (now 11 and 12 years old) to sleep through the night, unless I stay up late and let them out before I go to bed.   And to think I was thrilled when the kids stopped waking me up every night.

My daughter and I joke about the “demon dog” and her strange, horror-movie ways, but we both agree that she is sweet and was worth adopting.  I kinda like the click, click, click sound she makes when she walks on the hardwood floors.

Do you any pet adoption stories to tell?  Please share in the comments below.  🙂