Tuesday, October 28, 2008

To the dogs...

So I was asked to dog sit last week for a friend of mine. 3 dogs and a cat. She usually brings the pack over to another friend's house when she's out of town, but because the new puppy is sick, she needed someone to watch them at her house. As most of you know, I'm an extreme animal lover and have watched her crew for her a couple of times before. Let me tell you, I had the best time with these dogs.

Today's episode features special appearances by:

Cooper





Cooper is the sweetest boy. He comes and sits by me on the sofa and either gets in my lap or puts his head on my shoulder. I love him completely. However, he is also a bully and is all I am beagle, hear me roar. He wants to do well, but he gets all excited and alpha dog and starts with the whole Arrrooooooooorooooooo!!!


Lola





Poor Lola. She has every allergy imaginable and has to wear a fido cone, tshirt, and diaper all the time so she doesn't scratch her little body raw. You have not seen cute till you see that grumpy little shih tzu face peeking out from a purple cone. I love her completely.

Codi




He's all little and floppy and awkward like puppies are. Sharpest. Teeth. Ever. Apparently, I am part rawhide. I didn't know this before Codi. I love him completely.

(A special thank you to Deedra for letting me steal pictures from her without her knowing.)

Dinner went pretty well. Coop and Lola ate first, because Coop is wound a little bit tight and has to go out while Codi eats. Otherwise, he'll eat all of Codi's food. Poor baby Codi had to sit and watch while the other 2 ate and he was all pitiful and barking at Cooper for not sharing. Broke my heart. Luckily, Cooper is also part vacuum so it did not take him long to finish. Once they were done, I let them out in the yard for business and after Codi signs off, he walked right through it. Sigh. Good thing you're cute kiddo.

Once back inside, I was sitting on the floor playing with some toys with Codi. Cooper's territorial side kicks in so he was trying to take all the toys that Codi picks up. Not okay with me because I am also part preschool teacher. I had this one particular ball/rope thing that Codi was tugging on. Cooper came up and started this mean growl at him, so I did what any normal 28 year old woman would do. I barked. Loud. To be honest, I didn't know I had that in me. It just kind of came out, and Coop freaked out. He didn't know what the heck just happened and went running across the living room with his ears all back and nervous. Awesome. He shook it off and came back over and started with the barking and growling at Codi. Has history taught you nothing? I barked again and he went running again all scared. For the rest of the night, that dog was so good. He would come and sit all quiet next to me with his ears back. Anytime he'd start towards Codi with the growling, I'd growl at him and he'd snap back to my side all well behaved. I am the pack leader. Not you, little beagle.

Lola does NOT like Codi. She cannot be bothered with his puppiness and wants nothing to do with him. She was completely sweet and friendly to me. Until I pet Codi. This apparently is the ultimate betrayal to her. I tried to pet her after I pet the puppy, and she all rolled half on her side and growled and kicked her foot in the air at me all no you didn't try to come pet me after you pet him. Poor kid. I didn't bark at her though. If you are growling at me because you don't want me in your personal space, then I understand. But do not growl because you think you are the man. I make that decision. Anyway, she pretty much ignored me for the rest of the night. You know..because I smelled like puppy.

Dee also has the most beautiful cat named Lynx. I forgot to introduce him to you earlier:



He's beautiful and is pretty sweet to me also, although I hear he's a bit schizo and will maul you on occasion. He liked to be petted as long as the dogs weren't around. When they were all laying around the living room asleep, he pranced in to check everything out like it was his idea for them to sleep. Ever notice how cats have totally awesome stalking skills? They can sit bolt upright and lean perfectly in one direction without moving their bodies or losing balance (think tower of pisa). Innocent Codi was curled up on a pillow on one side of the doorway, completely oblivious to the panther that was all leaning around the corner eyeing him. I totally wish I would've had my camera. Luckily, Lynx lost interest otherwise Codi would've been cat food.

The next morning I fed Codi first just because the whole barking thing was just too pitiful for me to handle a second time. Lola can't eat with the cone on (seriously, how sad is that?). I took it off of her for breakfast, and I swear that little girl became a whole different dog once the food came out. She was all wiggling and running in place while she was waiting for me to put the bowl down. That is the definition of cuteness. Coop switched into turbo vacuum mode and completely inhaled his grub. I guess he ate a little faster than he could handle because he starts dry heaving all over the kitchen. You know what was awesome? When he puked all over the kitchen floor. Know what was even more awesome than that? When he ate it again. Ate. It. Again. On one hand, this is great because now I don't have to clean up dog vomit. On the other hand, he ATE IT AGAIN. I did a little dry heaving of my own at that point.

Sweet animals. I love them all completely.

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