Wednesday, September 10, 2008

White Hairs On My Black Sweater

At first you thought it was just a cat, then one cat turned into two and now there is talk about another human joining our household. I worry that you will feel left out, as you are our first "child". Seeing as how you already know well the art of attention seeking behavior, I worry what storm you could possibly bring after the new human is born. You are a true Ninja of disaster. You mastered this well as a puppy, and have only refined it to a more subtle variety of destruction after almost 2 1/2 years of age. As I have been reading a little more about your breed, as it seems like you constantly need new training all the time, I am reminded that you are prone to attention seeking and destruction. As if I didn't realize this already about you, these things are pounded like a hammer into the side of my head. I'm also reminded that you are an opportunist, and that you couldn't help yourself last night when you went into the kitchen, even after we have spent the last two weeks trying to train you to stay out, where you helped yourself to the open garbage can. In that moment I had left the kitchen unattended, you seized the left over roast beef pieces I had recently disposed of, even though we have spent the last two years training you that the garbage is out of bounds. When seconds later I had realized what had just transpired, you ran from us, mouth full of partially expired beef, dropping pieces as you escaped, where you ended up under the coffee table pretending to blend in with the wall.
I worry that the destruction is going to get worse. In preparation for this we have kept you inside more frequently to keep an eye on you, as when you are left to you own devices, destruction follows. The kind of destruction that we thought might have gone away from when you were a puppy, like how you chewed our deck apart, we thought that was over. I guess you wanted to wait until the new deck was installed and painted to show us that in fact the deck chewing was not resolved. Now that we have you inside more often to keep you in check, you have found ways of destroying things to show us that you do not approve of being held prisoner inside. You made your message quite clear after I fell asleep on the couch and you found your way into the bedroom, where you proceeded to chew an entire pack of gum....and a candle.
I will still love you even though given the chance you would gladly eat all of my Halloween candy in a heartbeat, even if it's still in a wrapper. I will still keep you even though you try to charge past me to avoid getting towel dried after you have been out in the rain, like maybe this time I will let you into the house completely soaked. You can still live here even though I have one nice black sweater and you find yourself attracted to it like a magnet, crawling next to me on the couch and rubbing your shedding body into me, or sleeping on top of it any chance you get. I hope that even though you are the largest pain in my butt you understand that we would never get rid of you even though there is a new baby coming. I know that's quite a popular move with new parents, but it's not our style. Dogs are for life. We just have some work to do before the baby comes.

9 comments:

Julie said...

Awww, that's sweet.

I miss Tallinn cuddles. He can come live with auntie julie for a while. Fox will love it.

Matt, Kara, Hunter and Cavan said...

He is just preparing you for things to come!

Kate Nova said...

Awwww, so cute. I want a dog-friend.

Jackie S. Quire said...

Horray for puppies! (or grown dogs who think they're puppies)

and KN: You are jonsin' bad aren't you?

Aida said...

awww..that is so cute and sweet. i think kids and dogs go well together. we dont hv a dog but Ava plays with the neighbour's dog and i love her squeals! its cute, she is not even scared that the dog is a little hyper, quite young..only a year and a bit, i am so proud of her. we are thinking of getting a dog though with my sewing hobby, that perhaps dont mix very well with pet hairs.

Lindsay Gee said...

dude. You are not giving me much hope for the future of my dog. I am waiting for the day of no more stealing cloths and important papers and ripping them apart. NO more eating the most disgusting things (cat litter, dead things). A day of no attacking the cats or barking at 5 am wanting food. NO more biting my bum when we get excited on our walks.
I am scared Jen. Scared.

jen said...

Aida, if your worried about hair, don't get a my dog lol or any northern breed!! But there are many dogs that do not shed at all, ones that you have to trim their coat to keep it under control. Terriers are really good for not shedding, I grew up with those. Nathan wanted the northern breed, so this really my first shedding dog and I love him to death, but it seriously sucks. The hair is EVERYWHERE!!! lol

Lindsay,
Don't worry things will get better. Tallinn is just evil. The only thing I can say that won't change is eating cat litter, those crunchy treats are irresistible! One thing I can suggest, and is what we have done is to set up a kitty gate in an area where you can let them eat their food and poop in peace. Gate is too big for Tallinn to push or jump over and there is a tiny door at the bottom for the cats to get in.

Aida said...

yeah, we are thinking of a west highland terrier..something relative small so it wont cost and arm and leg to transport either. i hv dreams of a bichon frise, but heard they cost a bomb. my neigbour has a rescued sled dog, very mild for a sled dog but its an outdoor dog and that dog refuse to go in the house! strange..

Anonymous said...

What a heart-felt post! I don't have kids myself but my experience with dogs and kids has been that bigger dogs tend to have an easier time with kids around. My parents have a couple ankle-biters and the one is really nervous around my 3-year-old nephew. My sisters had lab. retrievers and they seem to go about their business without any worries.