My First Puppy.....

When I was in fourth grade, I somehow talked my mother into letting me have a puppy. I was visiting some friends over the weekend, the daughters of one of my first baby-sitters, and their dog had puppies. I have no idea what kind of dogs they were, and I'm even fuzzier on exactly how I miraculously talked my mother into letting me bring one home. I must have hit her at a weak moment.

Mother hated animals. Still does. She doesn't see the point in them, sees neither their cuteness nor their cuddliness, and will shoot a dog with a bb gun if it so much as ventures into her yard. 

She would probably use a real gun if she had one.

Anyway, I somehow talked her into letting me bring one of the puppies home. We lived in a trailer park, so obviously we had no fenced in yard. And Mother wasn't about to let an animal live inside. Back then dogs roamed all over the neighborhood anyway, so it would be just one more.

I named the dog Pee-Wee because it was the runt of the litter. I marveled that it knew its name and turned its head when I called it. Someone pointed out that it would probably come if I called it "George Washington," and sure enough, it did.

I couldn't have had the dog more than a few days when I got off the school bus and Katydid broke the news to me that the puppy had been run over. I guess that isn't surprising, considering no one was home with it all day and it probably had no idea where in the world it was.

When I think about that puppy, what disturbs me most is that I was NOT devastated by its loss. I was more distraught because my fourth grade teacher had been mean to me that day, had fussed me out royally because I had a fight with my best friend who just happened to be her great niece.

I guess I hadn't had time to bond with the puppy yet. Maybe I knew I wouldn't get to keep it long anyway.

I've always wondered if the puppy really got run over, or if Mother came to her senses and gave it away. I feel guilty every time I think about Pee-Wee.

Wouldn't you think I could have come up with a cheerier topic than THAT here on this week before Thanksgiving?

Sheesh.

Too tired to be witty.......or even coherent

I would love to be able to say something clever and/or witty tonight, but I'm just too damn tired. Who knew a puppy could cry ALL NIGHT LONG? I finally got up at 5:45 this morning to shut her up so Sweet Girl could sleep. What's up with THAT? It's her damn dog!!!!! I had planned to stay with her through tomorrow, but she hasn't really needed my help, there wasn't much of a recuperation from this minor surgery, and I just didn't think I could take another night of a crying puppy. [I have to keep looking at her pictures (the puppy, not the Sweet Girl) just to remind myself how precious she is. Otherwise I may be inclined to forget.] All those factors joined forces to convince me to come home today instead of tomorrow. I'm glad the 6-hour drive is behind me and not ahead of me. And I'm glad I have a day to get laundry done, buy groceries, and watch the Olympics before starting the school year on Monday. Where did the summer go?

Grandparents........Sort of

Meet our new granddog. Sweet Girl and I ventured out to a nearby puppy store today "just to look." Yeah right. Just like every time hubby and I have gone "just to look" at new cars, we have come home with one. This adorable little girl was one of the first puppies we saw. Her name is Daisy, and she's precious. It's such a bittersweet event, having my Sweet Girl become the parent to a pet. I'm having to bite my tongue (sometimes not very successfully) to keep from telling her everything I think she should do regarding this tiny little creature.

The best part of having a granddog is, just like grandchildren, I can drive away day after tomorrow and I don't have to clean up poop or pee, I don't have to worry about her chewing everything in my house, and I don't have to listen to her crying at night or when we leave the house. Sweet Girl will have 30 days of leave coming up after next week, so she'll have plenty of time to spend with her.