Last night one of my neighbors knocked on my door to let me know that she and another neighbor had just chased our dog, Brewer, back into our backyard and attempted to close the gate, but they were having trouble making sure it was tight and he was jumping all over it trying to get out again. Sigh. Embarrassed thank you's and appreciation, shoving the gate into proper position and vague comments about how we are working with him on 'Come' and 'Stay' quickly ensue before I shuffle back inside my crumbling sanctuary.
Parenting in my household isn't just about our three beautiful children. It's also about our three pets. Let me tell you a little about them.
Bella
Scott and I picked out Bella from a litter of puppies that a friend's mother's dog had surprised her with one day. Literally. She had come home from work and found her dog in labor without knowing she was pregnant at all. She is a very slim Golden Retreiver and Betty had not suspected anything before she had half a dozen puppies in her back yard. We had narrowed our choices to two or three of the fluffy little scamps and then brought Tyler back with us to make the final decision and bring one home. Bella is half Golden, but the father was half Border Collie and half Blue Heeler. She doesn't look like a Golden at all. She actually looks like a Lab and that's what everyone thinks she is when they see her. Her hair is white and as she ages, the tips of her very shaggy hair get more ginger every year. She doesn't have the height of a Golden though, she inherited her short legs and stocky body style from the Blue Heeler part of her heritage so no matter what we do - Bella looks fat. Granted, she could probably lose a few pounds, but our most recent vet was the first one in years to tell me that she's really not that overweight - probably only 5 or 7 pounds at most - and with her body type we'll probably just never have a slim, trim Bella. I love this vet! :) We've been feeding Bella weight control food forever, barely give her treats (since just a small one is like a bowl of ice cream) and try to keep her away from the kids food spillage. We have recently given up on the extra effort. Weight control food is expensive and Bella is ALWAYS still hungry. We just decided it wasn't worth it. I just changed her back to regular food and she is so happy. And I think she's gotten some of her 'verve' back, running and playing more and more every day.
I recently did my very first doggy hair cut, experimenting on our very patient Bella. Bella has allergies combined with a slightly nervous condition that results in her chewing her legs. We've tried everything and spent thousands of dollars at the vet and on medicines. She practically lives in one of those big e-collar things. She'll do great for a while and the sores will start to heal and then she'll tear them all open again. It's sad and frustrating, but the worst part about it is trying to get her groomed. Most places take one look at her legs and either won't take her at all or want extensive medical records before they will bathe and clip her. Luckily, Tyler's stepmother, Jenifer, is a fabulous groomer who works at a small privately owned pet spa and she has known Bella her whole life. Jenifer always takes Bella and does a fabulous job. In fact I think Jenifer might be her favorite person. The problem is that Jenifer's shop is in north Lewisville, a 45 minute drive for me. Which means that to take Bella for a haircut, I will spend a minimum of 3 hours in the car just to drop her off and pick her up. And this doesn't include the mechanics of getting two large and exuberant dogs as well as two small children out of the van at one time, through a parking lot and into a place that to them must smell like a wonderland with all the previous pet smells. My arms barely stay in their sockets and I am usually pretty frazzled by the time I get everyone home.
So with major time constraints lately, coupled with my ever present desire to trim the budget even more, I looked at Bella's thick overgrown hair and the excessive shedding of white hair landing on my carpet and made a command decision. I wasn't really sure I could do this so at first I just bought an inexpensive human shears and started my experiment. Bella is really patient and she's really big. She would just lay in the floor and let me work, probably thinking this is the most attention Mom has given her in a really long time. It literally took days and I was starting to think she was going to look ridiculous. I would work for an hour or so and then take a break, leaving Bella with half a shaved back and a back end that had one long shaved streak in between two major tufts of shaggy hair. She looked terrible! But I decided it was worth the effort and went ahead and purchased a half-way decent doggy shears. About the cost of one haircut for Bella. What a difference. We finished in one afternoon and that included going back over all previously trimmed areas to trim them shorter and make the whole thing more cohesive. Overall, she looks pretty good. There are a few places where there are tufts longer than the others, but these were mostly due to the way she was laying on the floor. I don't have the cool tools the groomers have for keeping dogs on their feet and in position. I just did the best I could. And she looks pretty good, although I think she'll miss the pampering she gets from Jenifer.
Everyone loves Bella. She's just one of those 'awesome' dogs that everyone likes, even with her leg eating habits. She doesn't do any fun, fabulous tricks or anything - she's just a great dog. She doesn't jump all over you when she sees you or bark like a maniac when you walk in the door. She'll hang out in the front yard and never run off. She lets the kids climb all over her and they adore her. She loves every other animal she meets and has only showed aggression with one other dog that we had briefly when Scooter was a baby. That particular dog tried to be alpha and Bella wasn't having it, plus she was only one. Since then, she saves barking at other dogs mainly for those that try to encroach on our yard when the kids are in it, very protective but not aggressive. She's also great at giving a really good mommy bark and growl to all the family puppies every once in a while to remind them who is boss and keep them in check. We love to take her to the lake house in Texhoma where she presides like Queen Bee, never needing a leash. She'll hang around the cabin without being tethered, go on walks and stay with us without a leash and just basically love on everyone. No one ever minds watching her if we are out of town and I don't mind asking because I know she's never a bother. I think often that my Grandma B would have liked her, that she is just the kind of pet she enjoyed: unobtrusive, sweet and she'll keep her tongue in her mouth and not on your skin when asked. She's just the best family dog, period. And poor thing, we keep trying to make her crazy by bringing other pets into our home. Guess we were spoiled with Bella and thought one good pet deserves another. Hmmm.
Brewer
Somewhere along the line, when Tyler had just turned nine, Scott and Tyler had a conversation that I wasn't a part of. It ran along the lines of Scotty had gotten his dog Snowflake when he was ten and so therefore Tyler could maybe have a puppy of his own by the time he was ten. I think it was probably one of those conversations that you have with your kid that you don't take very seriously, but they do. Tyler never forgot or let us forget. We talked about smaller dogs and waiting until Tyler actually was ten, but a friend emailed me pictures one morning last fall of the Boxer puppies that had just been born to her two registered dogs at home. Man, they were cute. A week or so later, I saw a woman at the pet store with her four month old Boxer puppy. Oh my gosh cute - and sweet. I did some research on Boxers and discovered that despite their size, they are great family pets. They are loyal and have great dispositions and are generally fabulous with children. Once again, we were in a position to have first pick of a litter, so off we went. Brewer's mother is only 55 pounds and not huge, so I tried to steer the guys towards one of the smaller girl puppies, but no such luck. Tyler loved them all and every one he held was 'the one'. Finally, my friend's husband thrust Brewer into his arms and said 'This is the pick of the litter'. Okay. He was one of the smaller boy puppies and had great coloring so we brought him home.
Overall, Brewer has been a pretty good puppy. He was really easy to house train and other than a few whimpers and whines in the night, adjusted well to our lives. He is a Brindle Boxer, but since his father is solid white, he has great swathes of white markings making him a truly beautiful dog. And he's huge. I was really hoping that he was going to be an average size Boxer, but it doesn't look that way. He's going on a year now and the last time I weighed him was about 4 months ago. He was over 70 pounds already. Boxers don't really reach full grown size until they are 3 or 4, kind of getting wider and bulkier as they grow. He's tall though - really long legs. We recently took him to see his doggy parents and he's about as tall as his father if not already taller. It was hard to tell while they were playing. And his paws are still pretty big and gangly, hinting that he hasn't fully grown into them yet. After we had purchased Brewer and integrated him into our home, my friend mentioned that the mother's father was a beast - 130 pounds. Oh boy. Not exactly what I was looking for, but the vet thinks he'll easily be 110, probably more like 120 at full grown. Geez. It's a good thing he's so sweet.
And he is sweet. He's just so huge, you forget sometimes that he's still a puppy. My biggest problem with him right now is that he doesn't 'Come' and 'Stay'. I work with him on it during the week, but he is very easily distracted and it's difficult. So when he does get out in the front, he is gone. He thinks the whole world is his back yard and when you call him he just looks at you like 'What do you want? I'm really busy sniffing everyone else's yard. Sorry.' and then he's off again. I am not as patient as Scotty and I get ticked off, grab my keys and pile everyone in the van. I cruise down the street until I find him, open the back door and tell him it's time to go for a ride. He hops in and we head home. Very annoying. Luckily last night he thought my neighbors were trying to play with him and they were able to corral him in our yard. They were both out of breath by the time I came outside. And now that we have a new kitten, he's obsessed with getting her to come out and play.
I told Scotty last night that I didn't think Brewer was all that smart, which he denied. And maybe he's right. After all, Tyler had him trained to sit by the time he was 9 weeks old which is pretty impressive. I think he probably is just still happily in puppyhood, enjoying all his explorations and not able to focus for long periods of time. Of course, my parents German Shepherd puppy, Rebel, is only 2 months older and much better behaved. Then again, Dad spends all day, every day with Rebel and has done extensive training classes with him. I am trying to remind myself that Bella used to jump on people when they came in the door too and she didn't always come when called, but it's hard to remember that time when I am yelling at Brewer to get off my bed for umpteenth time.
He's a good dog though and really sweet tempered. He lets the kids lay on him and use him as a pillow when they are watching tv and he listens to Riley sometimes better than anyone else. He is slowly getting better about not chewing kid toys and we have begun to let him sleep outside of his kennel at night even though I am nowhere near ready to try that when I leave the house. I think he's a pretty good fit for our family and if he can stop tormenting the new cat soon, we should be doing pretty good.
Kit Kat
I can't tell you too much about this little kitten yet, because she's still really new to our family. Last year, when Scotty finally said I could have a cat, Scooter and I went immediately to Pet Smart and brought home Potter who was fiercly independent and adventurous. All the family puppies didn't faze him one bit and he played with them roughly. We couldn't keep him inside and eventually installed a kitty door for him, but most of the time he sat at the back door waiting to be let in and out like the dogs. This eventually led to his untimely death when he failed to escape a neighbor dog he was teasing. He died in April, on Tyler's birthday and we were all upset. The kids have been asking constantly since then about when we were going to get another cat. At first I didn't want one, but after several months, we were finally all ready to bring home another kitten. Tyler and I found Kit Kat through Craig's List and brought her home. She's calico and white with very pretty markings and is probably the sweetest natured kitten I've ever seen. She's also very shy and since Brewer is over-exuberant about playing with her she has spent most of her first weeks here in hiding. But, as she grows she is coming out more and more often and for longer periods. She's really kind of funny so far, practicing pouncing with huge eyes, but gentle paws. She jumps sideways alot when she's playing and it makes me laugh. She's still settling in, but so far so good.
All of my kids love the pets in different ways. Tyler is more like me, he loves that they are here and loves them, but he doesn't pay attention to them constantly. Scooter takes a long time to warm up to a new pet and will seem mostly indifferent to them all. Then, you'll come around a corner and find him hugging one of the pets or laying with them and playing and laughing at them. He's definitely not afraid of any of them. And Riley just loves all animals. He's the one I have to watch around strange dogs because it wouldn't occur to him that a pet might bite him or anything. He just wants to love on them all. All three are good about helping us feed, walk and care for the pets. And I think it's great that they are learning kindness through caring for animals as well as responsibility. Heaven forbid I leave Brewer in his kennel more than two minutes after we get home, Scooter will let me know about it and ask me to let him out. Riley patiently waits for the kitty to come out from hiding and into his arms so that he can love her and pet her and then he will bring her to me and tell me that she wants me, thrusting her into my arms. Tyler works with both dogs, trying to train them to do tricks and reminding me they need to be fed or asking if they've had their flea and heartworm medicine this month yet. The pets are an integral part of our family and we love them all - even if it makes us crazy for overfilling our house!
God Bless!
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