There is more than one way to skin a cat or a dog, for that matter.

Soon after I lost my husband I decided to buy new furniture.  I opted for the microfiber, looks like leather, wears forever, and can hold a dog hair against a jet engine vacuum.  Looked real good and is not foo-foo.  It was very soon that I decided I would need to cover it because the dog spent the day on it and left a pile of hair behind.  So I covered it.  Then I realized that I now had to wash the cover, dry it , and replace it every time I cleaned house.

I bought doggie beds for them.  That did no good.  Scolding, water bottles, and bells were no use what so ever.  I ordered 2 "scat mats" which are plastic runners with electric wires inside that shoots out a charge when the dog hops up there.  The only one that seemed to get any sort of reaction was company who sat on it and me when I forgot and put my hand on it.  You would have thought I would have remembered after the first 85 times.  When I watched dear Elvira walk the full length of the couch, yipping all the way, I decided that was a waste of batteries.

My next approach was the big sheets of bubble wrap with the big bubbles.  Decided on that when I stepped on it once and almost scared myself to death.  That method worked for about a year and I realized I had become known by visitors as "Queen of the red necks."  Frankly, I did not give a damn because the dogs were staying off the couches.  Famous last words.  Dear Daisy learned how to pull the bubble wrap off the couch and she could get white hair the complete length and breadth of the sofa.  According to my calculation and the amount of vacuum cleaner bags being used, that damn dog should be as bald as a billiard ball!

Bad Daisy!

I tried piling boxes on it which worked for a while.  When my patience was completely gone, I vacuumed one last time.  Then I stood it up on the arm and there it sets.  Either way, I can not set on it.  I get quizzical looks when company comes, but I am not a stickler for strange looks.  That happens fairly regular in my world!  

So here we have the couch that I can not set on, but smug in knowing neither can the dogs.  But as always in my world, I do not have the last word nor the last laugh.

This is dear Icarus, the calico cat that always has the last laugh!  Do you recognize where her new bed is located?

As for me, I will be perched on a wooden stool at the kitchen counter.  That is my place, until they change their minds and decide to share that space also!

You can not spinkle showers of happiness on other people without getting a few drops on yourself!

Then and Now, or some damn happy dogs!

This is a picture of Daisy at the pound, before she came to live with us.

This is Elvira at the pound before she came to live with us

Now I ask you this, do these dogs look like the same dogs to you?  No way.  And what I can not understand is why more people do not do the dog pound thing?  I am pretty sure if we had not come along when we did that these two little guys would no longer be just setting there waiting. 

Do not let anyone tell you that dogs do not smile, because these two are showing some serious happiness here.  I love my doggies and they love me.  We have a ritual at night, a ritual in the morning and a ritual all through the day.

And this brings me to the next phase.  I have knowledge of a very nice dog that needs a home.  She is a bigger dog, probably some greyhound and a dash of lord only knows what.  I walk her several times a day as she waits for her master who will not be returning.  She would make a lovely pet for someone who has a bit of land and no cats.  If you are interested, please let me know.

A sad state of affairs.

   See this wretched looking pooch here?  This was taken at the dog pound about a year or two ago.  The tech out there thought this dog was about 2 1/2 years old, female, Llaso Apso/Shitzu, and had just had puppies.  She was very matted and her hair was falling out.  Sad little species.  I brought her home and named her Elvira, Mistress of the night.

See this little wretch here?  This is her prison picture.  Probably should have named this one Bandit, but we named her Daisy.  Daisy is probably about six now and is the old lady of the bunch.  Elvira is about 4.  I always get my dogs at the pound because I know they need homes and I have a home.  Cool, huh?

              

 Now this is Lyn.  I did not get her at the pound.  She is my friend.  She is also the one who just gave little Elvira her bath and trimmed her hair.  Doesn't she look pretty?  I actually meant Elvira, but that goes for Lyn also.  Course Daisy wanted held also.  It is hard to imagine those two healthy looking pooches were once on their way to the execution chamber.  But now they are mine!

Now, you know there is going to be a point to this, don't you?  And here it comes.  I had to run into town to have lunch with a friend today.  Would rather have stayed home, but you know how it is some times.  So I zipped up South Road, which I have got to quit doing as the boy got a ticket for speeding and I don't want one.  But I then turned on Aspen headed for town.  In the middle of the road was a big black Lab.  Probably not full blooded Lab, but a big dog.

Oh, he was alright, but he was on a mission.  He was smack in the middle of the road and he was plodding his way toward town.  He did not have a collar.  He did not look happy at all.  He looked like what we see all to often out here in the county.  He looked like some one had driven him out and dumped him because they were, for what ever reason, no longer wanting to care for him.  So some one loaded him up and dropped him out in the middle of nowhere hoping what would happen?

Was it you?  Did you think he would just drop in some farmhouse and live happily ever after?  Most farms out here already have  dog or 2.  Maybe a cat.  These animals see the new dog as an interloper and chase it away.  Or, gee, maybe it could find some where to sleep and catch  mice or something to eat during the day.  It is a trained hunter?  I think not.  The dog I saw walking up Aspen was not a happy dog.  He looked like he was looking for you.  You are all he knew and you left him, quite by accident, I am sure, and he was just wanting to get home to you.  You may not have been the best master, but you were his and he remembers that. Probably a moot point as he was only about a mile from the highway.  You know, the one where cars drive 50 miles an hour through Blende and never think to watch for dogs looking for their masters.

We have a new dog pound.  Why didn't you just drop him off there?  At least that way he could have something to eat.  He could have some where to sleep where he felt safe.  He would have at least had a chance at being adopted.  And if he did not get a new home the worst that could happen is he would be euthanized.  At least that is a lot quicker then being hit by a car or starving out on the prairie.

I wish there were some way to make you people understand that the cute little puppy you bring home is dependent on you.  Even when it grows up and isn't so cute, it is your responsibility.  You picked, you played with it, and it is yours until one of you dies.  When I see a dog dumped like this I wonder what kind of people we are dealing with now days.  What kind of Father will you make?  What kind of mother?  The fields and the prairies are for the animals of the night, you know, coyotes, foxes, skunks, snakes, spiders.  That sort of stuff, not domesticated dogs.  Dogs we have bred and trained to be docile little creatures. 

I had a short lunch and when I came home I looked for the black dog.  Don't know what I had planned if I found it, but I did not see it.  I am sure I will be thinking about it tonight when I should be sleeping.  And I hope you are thinking about it also.  I hope you realize what a stupid thing this was and I hope you at least regret your decision.  It is my fervent hope that you spend a lot of sleepless night and then one day, look up out of what ever gutter you are in and see your beautiful black dog ride by in the back of a mini van with a little girl hanging on his neck, with his tongue hanging out and a big smile on his face!

Always remember "When you dance, you got to pay the fiddler. " or "What goes around, comes around."

Elvira the dog and Icarus the cat are having a nap!!

Every body and every thing gets along in my harmonious little home, be it human or web footed, or four legged.  I have my office on the upper level of my house so I need to go down a short flight of stairs to get any where except bed.  In the office I have 2 big pillows for the dogs and this small bed for the kitty.  No one has any particular sleeping place assigned and it is not at all unusual to see 2 animals sleeping on one of the pillows or one of the animals in this cat bed.  It is rather unusual to see 2 animals in the cat bed though.

This is Elvira the dog and Icarus the calico cat.  Aren't they cute?  Daisy is over on one of the pillows.  I could not resist this shot.  Now you should know, that if I decide to set it the recliner and put my feet up, the first thing that happens is Icarus jumps up on my chest and lays down.  Then Elvira jumps up and lays on my right arm.  Daisy, not to be outdone then plops on my legs.  Elvira will reach over and smack the cat on the head several times trying to get a reaction.  Reaction is usually for me to stand up because the whole concept of the recliner is then lost.

When I go outside to either let the waterfowl out or put them in, I am also accompanied by this menagerie.  If I go down to sew, they each have their place in the sewing room.  Weave and the same thing.  Never guess what happens when it is bedtime!

So there you have my social life in a nut shell.  I get more unconditional love in one day right here at home then most people get in their  whole life through.  All my little animals came from either the pound or some where that was going to end up in the pound.  I always thought I would like to have a Standard Poodle, but pound never seems to get them, so I am happy with my bunch of little ankle biters!  What they lack in size they make up for in devotion.