New Addition

Recently, my family took on a total new adventure! Something I swore I wouldn’t do for a long, long time…

We got a dog.








This beautiful husky puppy is a tornado refugee. Smarty Pants (who is like a stray dog magnet) called to ask if we were interested in him. She texted me a picture. I took one look into those blue eyes and fell. Hard.



A visit overnight showed him to love being with people and good with the kids (very important to me!). The vet said he’d travelled for several days on hot asphalt and done damage to the pads on his feet. But other than that and worms, he was surprisingly healthy. Soon, I’d picked out a name – Griffin (after Griffin Powell in Beverly Barton’s Protectors series for Harlequin.



Once his feet healed, he went back to normal, rambunctious puppy behavior, which had Little Man backing off a bit, but I’m teaching the kids to play with him in ways that expend that overabundance of puppy energy. Drama Queen has become addicted to the “Dog Whisperer” show and takes Griffin on a walk almost every day, without me having to ask her to. The only thing they don’t like about him is scooping poop. LOL

Despite declaring myself “not a dog person” for many years, I find myself smiling as I throw the ball for him and sitting on the back porch at night, rubbing his tummy with my bare feet. I didn’t think I had time to add a new pet to our household, but its been wonderful for us, and I hope wonderful for Griffin as well.

So today we celebrate our pets! Tell me all about your favorite… or the one you wish you had.

Angel

Dog Wars

I am pleased to report that as best I can tell, Dog Wars have come to an end. It was iffy for a while there. My little pit bull Buddy was simply not going to let this bigger male come into his house and take over even though Shadow is just a year old and not terribly bright. So there was fussing. Snippy-snarling. Lots of uh... dominance humping... which would inevitably turn to more snarling and kennel time. They were separated quite a bit those first few weeks.

Then we went through the 'hall monitor' phase. Buddy, who has spent every day of the last four years chasing my two cats, has now become their protector. Once Shadow takes off after a cat, Buddy gets in between them and snaps at Shadow in her defense. I guess its like a little sister. You can make her life miserable, but nobody else can. Buddy became a grumpy old man. "Hey there, no running. Hey there, no barking." Everytime Shadow got all fired up, Buddy was there to intervene in the situation. I had to keep remining him he wasn't in charge. That was my job.

Now they seem to be at a comfortable truce. They roughhouse and play, but in the end they fall asleep on the rug together licking each other's ears. (Well, as long as Shadow stays away from Buddy's food and bones.) Dogs are funny. I can't be certain, but I think Buddy won. He struts around the house like he's the boss. Of course, my beagle Licorice may be the true alpha dog. She sat on the couch, got petted and watched the boys fight. She's no dummy.

To the left is a picture I took the other night. I was trying to cook, but failing miserably because the beagle blocked the sink, the husky blocked the pots and the pit bull blocked the stove. All I could do was stand there hopelessly and take this picture instead. My uncle refers to this phenomenon as the 'geographical center of attention.' Animals, specifically cats, will always lay in the exact location you want or need to be. That's why my cats sprawl across the hallway or my beagle stretches the entire length of the stair.

Whatever. At least they aren't fighting. Have you experienced you own version of Dog Wars? How about the Geographical Center of Attention? I believe this has to be a universal truth like gravity or something.

SP

PS. The Playground has a Facebook Fan Site! Come "like" us and we'll keep you posted on what's going on. There will even be special prizes. For example, since Monday, we've gotten 80 fans. If we hit 100 by midnight tonight, I will randomly award a prize to one lucky FB fan. So click here to follow WP on Facebook and you can win!

Also, the winner of Free Book Friday is Summer! Email me with your snail mail info at: smartypants@writingplayground.com to claim your prize.

Sucker is Spelled "S-m-a-r-t-y-P-a-n-t-s"

A week ago, if you told me I would be writing this blog post, I would've laughed and cursed you for even suggesting such a thing. And yet, here I am at my desk, picking long, white wiry hair off my shirt and wondering how I got here.

DB and I have two dogs - a pit bull mix and a beagle mix. They're small, about 30-35 pounds and full of energy. We've had them for four or five years. That, combined with my two cats I've had ten years, was more than enough pet owning for me. Too much, really. These are my last cats, for sure. Dogs, maybe, but 4 was definitely my animal capacity.

Tuesday morning, I wake up to much hullaballoo about the time DB gets home from work. He called me. "Don't let the dogs out, there's a wolf in the front yard." Um...kay.

The wolf turned out to be a giant Siberian Husky with the biggest, ice-blue eyes you've ever seen. I had to go to work, so I didn't worry too much about it, but I could see the look in DB's eyes. He was in doggie love. He barely got any sleep as he tried to track down the owner, but we didn't have any luck as his license was old and from the breeder, who sold him.

I could feel us slipping into the abyss. DB called me the next day and told me "they" were going for a ride in his truck. They went to Tennessee to buy lotto tickets and get a hamburger. By the time I got home from work Wednesday, I knew that this giant furball wasn't going anywhere. He slept in bed with us last night. I'm doomed.

So now, I have five animals. *sigh* Two little cats, two small-medium dogs, and one giant, furry horse that masquerades as a dog. It was hard for me to say no. He's really sweet. Mellow. Good with kids (as every neighborhood child was drawn to us like a magnet when I was walking him). He listens to commands. Doesn't bark. I honestly have no complaints about him aside from him shedding like crazy. He and my male pit bull aren't buddy-buddy yet, but the beagle tolerates him alright. Wish I could say the same of the cats. He won't rest until he had them both treed like squirrels.

But he does like the couch. And me. I didn't realize how much I missed having a big dog. Of course, I still love my others (and have to keep pestering DB to give them equal attention) but... I'm such a sucker.

Do you have a soft spot for animals? How many do you have at home and what kind? Have your kids or husbands ever brought something home against your will? I have a hard time telling this face, no.

SP

PS. Angel's winner from Monday is catslady! Email your info to angel@writingplayground.com to claim your prize!