The last time I wrote about animals it involved the passing to doggy heaven of our long time family dog. Jake. After Jake was no longer with us (known by me as AJ-after Jake), we cleaned up and threw away a lot of things that really had no use anymore with no Jake. My wife invested in a thorough carpet cleaning and our home was shining! It was nice to come home and not worry about a dog. Plus, did I mention how clean our home was?
I was getting use to this new AJ lifestyle. Things seemed a little calmer without a dog…and that was OK. I was starting to realize how much the care Jake required, over the last year of his life, had just really tired me out. Thirty days and it just seemed like I was getting into a nice routine and guess what?
I think most of the people that work in our office heard me say, several times, “No” when Jennifer stopped by and asked. She had placed her name on a list for a rescue dog service and preferenced labradoodles. That was Wednesday. On Friday they are calling her and she is asking me about another dog. If you have ever lived in this moment, you know the feelings of guilt combined with selfishness. “Do I want to see a picture?” Uh no, I just want to get back to work and pretend this moment is not occurring.
So, you know what happened next. What choice did I have? Plus, it was like buying one of those products on late night television. “No risk- guaranteed!” I won’t have to do anything. Jennifer will make sure the puppy has all it needs and is trained and lots of promises that are impossible with puppies. But, she has a big heart and it is not fair of me to squelch that.
So, by Sunday, the very short lived period of clean, quiet and relaxing days had ended. Just like that. Maybe it is a result of raising five kids. We know nothing us but chaos in our home. With the older kids off at college and not far from being off the payroll, maybe a Mom just needs something to replace the lost madness?
I chuckle at the money she spent on carpet cleaning the week before as we discover “Buddy” came to us with a stomach bug. What did she expect for a dog pulled from a dumpster? The chuckling ended though when I was left with him, and despite all my efforts to make a trip outside every 15 minutes, I end up with two carpet disasters. As I clean up, I am mumbling to myself about why I did not want another dog.
Joey (our soo
n to be 8 year old) is similar to an only child because of the hers, mine and ours status of our children. Of course, I am told Buddy will be Joey’s best friend. I think Joey would love that but Buddy just sees somebody almost his size that he can jump on and test out his little baby teeth. Joey is trying very hard to keep his patience but he has his limits. Tonight, after Buddy cleared two pieces of furniture in pursuit of Joey, who was trying to work on homework, I noticed quiet. Between raising kids and having two other dogs I have trained, quiet (except in the middle of the night) is a concern. So I start trying to find the ball of white fur. Nowhere to be found. I ask Joey if he has seen Buddy. He informs me, “oh yea” so I ask the next logical question.
“Where?”
“In his crate.”
“Why?”
“He will leave me alone then.”
So “Buddy Prison” is officially in business. And it is our youngest one who figured out how to bring sanity back to our home when needed!
Feel free to come meet Buddy. We will post visitation hours for the Prison. He likely will be in serving time.
Tags: Joel Wilmoth, Puppies
