My kids want a dog; they want one bad….so what’s a mom to do?
A few days after Christmas we decided to take a look at the local shelter for a small, allergy free dog. It looked like we’d found the right one. B-Boo (that’d be the teen daughter) had found a picture of an ugly rat dog and had decided that he was the one for her! So, I called the shelter and sure enough; they still had ugly rat dog, so we headed off to the shelter.
Well, as luck would have it, ugly rat dog (otherwise known as Joey) was on his way out the door with his new owner just as we were walking in. B-boo was mighty upset! Again, just as luck would have it, grandma (visiting for the holidays) had made a call on the way to find out about a poodle pup, so we immediately drove over there lest someone should take him, too!
Turns out there was a poodle mix girl pup that we immediately fell in love with! We’d gone to look at the boy pup, but for the next 30 minutes he was nowhere to be found. (That should have been a sign!) Anyway, we’re about to leave when the boy pup comes out of hiding. He’s almost a twin to the girl pup and J (our youngest son) fell in love with him. It was plain to see that a decision was not going to be made, so grandma chipped in some dough and away we went with not one, but two 3 month old pups!
Life’s been interesting. For instance, we’ve since found out that Joey (named after the ugly rat dog) is a whimp. He’s a sweetheart…but he’s a wimp. We’ve since been trying to *man him up* (a favorite saying in our family.) This is taking effort, but we are seeing improvements. Roxy, is a pain in the patooky! Seriously…she is so ornery! She will put anything in her mouth and run with it, no matter how big it is!
And how come’s mom’s always have to be right…even when you’re all grown up? I mean, really! When do I get to be right? Last week I was talking to my mom on the phone telling her how wimpy Joey is. Well, she used to raise poodles and so proceeds to tell me about how they used to be hunting dogs. I, of course, am laughing hysterically in my head at the site of Joey being a hunting dog! At any rate, I’d left the dogs outside in the backyard by themselves for the first time while I’d ran B-Boo to school. I was gone what…EIGHT MINUTES? I walked straight to the back yard, still listening to mom go on about how they are hunting dogs, and discover, MUCH TO MY HORROR, that my dogs were indeed hunting dogs! They’d managed to catch, kill, and eat a bird, spreading bird guts all over my back porch, in the little time I’d been gone! UGH! Those innocents had blood all over their faces, in between their toes, etc.
I vaguely remember my mother’s laughter as I promptly told her she was right, hung up the phone, and went to clean up the mess.
Fast forward a couple of days and we head off to the vet to get their rabies shots. Joey seems to be losing his hair, so we decide to have that checked out, too. The vet takes them back one at a time to give them their shots and take a skin sample of Joey. I just laughed when he told me that Joey made a lot more noise than Roxy…yeah, I know..wimpy dog. At any rate, Joey seems to be healthy so we take the dogs home.
No sooner than we get home, Joey starts going nuts. The dog is running around,literally rolling like an alligator catching prey! We’ve never seen anything like it! He stops long enough to start scooting his bottom along the yard, then starts the roll all over again. I call the vet to let him know that yeah, on second thought, Joey does itch. The nurse promptly tells me to bring him in; he’s having an allergic reaction to the rabies shot! Oh great! You call this normal?
Now, for those of you who know me, you’ll know this is just hysterical. I already have two children with severe food allergies….now I have an allergic dog to add to it!
Anyway, after a couple doses of benadryl and a few hours with the vet, Joey was able to come home. You’ll be happy to know he’s just fine now!
