Shout Out To Esther and Border Collies

Hallie has this very good friend, Esther, who she met when My G started kindergarten.  My G was in the same class as Esther’s son.  Esther and Hallie have been friends ever since.  Esther loves all dogs, but she especially loves border collies.  When they first met, Esther and her family, but mostly Esther, had a really nice dog named, Tess.  In those days, Hallie was still afraid of dogs and Esther and Tess were very understanding of her fear.  One time Esther even picked up some dog poop outside of our house because Hallie thought it was too gross to do it herself. Tess passed a few years ago.  Esther immediately adopted a new border collie, Annie.  She is a good dog mother – very patient, loving and understanding.  Annie was from a border collie rescue and like me, she is one lucky dog.

More recently Esther fostered another border collie through the rescue named Gracie.  She welcomed Gracie into her home and helped her get use to other dogs and to people.  Another family now has Gracie.  It’s good that there are people out there like Esther.  All too often, dogs are mistreated by humans and it’s important that we acknowledge heroes like Esther when they are in our midst.

On My Mind

You may be wondering what I think about all day.  Here are the top 50 things that I think about during any given day:

1. Food

2. Food

3. Food

4. Are you going to eat that?

5. When are we going for a walk?

6.  Boy is it cold out here.

7. That smells good.

8.  Hmm, that smells good too.

9.  Why is My G yelling at Hallie?

10. Food

11. I’m tired.

12.  I wish that I could get that dog that is outside.

13. Food.

14.  I wonder what Peepers is doing?

15.  Oooh, is that a crumb?

16. Food.

17. Where’s Hallie – I need to write my blog.

18.  Food.

19.  What’s for dinner?

20.  Do you think it is OK to lick the dishes in the dishwasher?

21.  Oh goody, Talk of the Nation is on.

22.  Food.

23.  When is Bark Obama going to get that dog for his girls?

24.  Why does Lil Joe yell at Hallie?

25.  Hallie is sooo sweet.

26.  When is B going to feed me?

27.  Let’s go outside.

28. Let’s go inside.

29.  Is that fish I smell?

30. Where’s my loofa?

31.  Food.

32.  What’s for breakfast?

33.  I’m thirsty.

34.  I have to “go pee pee.”

35.  My nails need to be trimmed.

36.  Food.

37.  B should pick me up and give me some lov’in.

38.  When is Sam coming over – I need someone to bark at.

39.  Food.

40. ZZZZzzzzzz

41.  Slurp, slurp, slurp

42.  Food.

43.  Hmmm what’s in the garbage under the sink?

44.  Hmmm what’s in the pantry?

45.  Those rubber bands make it so hard to get into the pantry.

46.  Food.

47.  I want some turkey.

48.  Is that my loofa under the bed?

49.  Are you going to eat that?

50.  I love Hallie!!!!!

I Can’t Believe I Ate The Whole Thing

I am a dog.  The main thing that a dog thinks about is eating.  We like eating dog food, cat food, and people food.  Really we like any kind of food.  I spend a lot of time sleeping and I think that I even dream about food.  When I go on walks I am  happiest when I find food.  I think that by now you realize that I LIKE FOOD!!!

Imagine my joy when the family finally fixed the pantry door that was broken.  They had been using a rubber band to hold it close and it was difficult for me to get in there.  Now the door is fixed and I am having the time of my life – sort of.  I just have to nudge the door with my nose and – Wha-la – I can reach the bottom shelves of food.  A few weeks ago, when they forgot to secure the door with the rubber band, I made this discovery.  I ate a box of Froot Loops.

This past weekend I hit the jackpot.  The family went out to dinner.  While they were gone, I carefully opened that pantry door and I managed to get a box of Crispix, a box of Fiber One Toaster Pastries (think healthy pop tarts) and some rice cakes.  Why do people even waste their time eating rice cakes?  If I had wanted card board I could just eat the recycled newspapers.  The Crispix were quite crunchy.  The best part of the whole evening were those toaster pastries – I ate the whole box – YUM.  Unfortunately while they were delicious going down – the same could not be said for how they got out of my body.  Enough said!

So of course Hallie cleaned up the mess that I had made eating all of that food in the TV room.  And she also re-arranged things in the pantry.  She’s a smart one that Hallie.  Now all of the bottom shelves are filled with canned goods and all of the yummy food are pushed towards the back of the pantry.  I’ll keep trying to get in there because I just know that Lil Joe or My G will slip up and then I’ll be in heaven again eating  all that “Food Glorious Food.”

Congratulations… You Have a Baby Boy!

Last night I was taking Miles for a walk. It was the fourth walk of the day. I was thinking during that last walk, “I hope he poops, I hope he poops, he hasn’t pooped all day.” This worrying about poops reminded me of when I had my first son 14 years ago and then again when my younger son was born 11.5 years ago. I really hadn’t worried about poops in about 8 years. I thought I was home-free.

Often, people get pets when they are newly married before they have children. Folks say having a pet helps prepare you for children. Well, not being the greatest animal-lover, I got my pet after my children were born. In the past 4 weeks, since Miles’ arrival, I have often been struck by how much having a dog is like bringing home a new baby.

It started the first night we bought him home. Miles slept in a crate in our room and made typical dog noises all night long. Nothing unusual, except for breathing, moving around, and scratching. I was up the whole night. (When my son was born, he lasted in our room exactly one night before we put him in his crib down the hall — that’s what baby-monitors are for.) Miles is still in our room.

Whatever Miles does, it really reminds me of having an infant Has he eaten enough? Does he need more treats? Does he have enough toys? Are we walking him enough? Is he bored? Should I stimulate him more? Did he poop today — what was it like? It’s probably the newness of it all and it will probably wear off. But for now, I have a new baby and I want to show everyone his pictures — he’s really cute!

I could never have had a pet before my children. My children really taught me how to take care of living things. They also taught me to appreciate all of the little things and all of the big things that go on in life. They continue to teach me new things about me and the world around us every day. From them I have learned what it really means to love someone with all of my being and how to really take care of someone. I’m sure Miles will teach me new things too. He has already taught me that you really never stop worrying about poops!