Random puppy pictures

Saturday evening treats

Guess who got Saturday evening treats?  Everybody!  Even Poquito, who is hiding under the coffee table in order to protect his little bone.  Ignore my knees and my shoes, please!

An Attentive Audience

It's no secret that I don't cook at home a lot...or ever.  Being married for nearly a decade to the pickiest eater on the planet sort of soured me on the thought of having to cook every night, and so I've gotten out of the habit.

 

Lately, however, I've tired of restaurant food.  So, for the second time in a week, I've cooked at home.  And not only did I cook, I grilled!  Hamburgers were the order of the day.

 

Yes, I cooked enough to share with the dogs! 

They were a very attentive audience while waiting for me to share.  Sitka was there too, of course, but refused to hold still for a photo.

Sleepy Saturday

On this long holiday weekend, it's too hot to go outside, so everyone's napping inside!  Someone doesn't realize that since it's 105F outside, no blanket is necessary.

This is how we roll...

On a really hot Texas summer day, what do snow dogs do?

 

 

We nap in front of the fan! 

 

Poquito does too!

The prodigal returns

When I started this post last night, I was too sad to actually do more than write a title and quit.  It was going to be called Vaya con Dios, Poquito.  On Friday evening, Poquito took a page from his sister's (the Princess of Mayhem and General Naughtiness) book and take off. 

 

Just before dinner, all the dogs wanted to go outside--so out they went.  Because it has been so hot, less than five minutes later, the big furries wanted in.  No sign of Poquito, but that's not unusual.  He likes to stay outside in the heat.  I waited about ten minutes and tried again.  No Poquito.  At that, I went out and looked.  And looked, and looked, and looked.  No Poquito anywhere!  Not in the backyard, not in the front yard, not in the alley. 

 

I got in the car and drove around to see if I could spot him.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to spot a tiny little brown dog in amongst the houses, bushes, and trees?  It's not like looking for Sitka or  Juneau, who are hard enough to find as it is.

 

Needless to say, I had no luck in finding the little booger!  I kept thinking he'd finally show up in a few hours, but by Saturday morning, I didn't think that was going to happen.  After work on Saturday, I checked the Garland animal shelter.  Lots of sweet babies there, but none of them were my baby.  When I got home, I looked everywhere again, even in my closets just in case he had somehow, improbably, snuck in and gotten himself trapped. 

 

We celebrated Sitka's "Gotcha Day" without him and by Sunday, I resigned myself to the unhappy fact that he was lost.  I spent the day moping around the house and trying not to imagine the possible array of bad things that could have happened to him. 

 

I went to bed around midnight and at three (which seems to be the magical hour for dogs returning home), Sitka woke me up.  She was fussing at the back door, and I thought she needed to go out.  When I got up, there was Poquito waiting to be let in. 

 

Both big furries checked him out like he was new to them all over again.  He ran to get a drink and I fed him.  He is in perfect shape except that it looks as though he lost weight.  When Juneau and Sitka were satisfied that he was still the same dog as before, and he'd eaten and drank, he curled up in my lap like nothing happened and went to sleep.

 

Someone is not going outside unsupervised anymore! 

 

Let sleeping dogs lie...

Almost every pup was sound asleep this afternoon.  One in particular was even sleeping balanced on my arm.

Sitka, Juneau, and Poquito

Aren't my babies pretty?  I just love them; they make the best photographic subjects! 

Pretty puppies

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to the three best valentines ever:

Everybody's comfy around here (except me)

 

Everyone's snuggled in and cozy, except for me.  I can't stop coughing long enough to rest--and that's with the help of extra-strength Robitussin. 

 

Doesn't Sitka look like the Queen of the Manor up there on the sofa, snuggled in the pillows?

Random puppy pictures

Please ignore any dust and dog hair you may see!

The personal vs. the impersonal

Recently, one of my co-workers and I were discussing a photograph that we saw in a magazine. The photo showed a woman posed in her home. The home was lovely and it was obvious that a decorator had spent a lot of money to make it look that way. Despite its loveliness, the home looked so impersonal to me. When I mentioned it to my co-worker, she had trouble comprehending what I was meant.

 

I had to explain it to her--that it looked as though the objects in the home had been chosen strictly for their decorative features, and that they probably meant nothing to the owner. Her response, was, "So what? Isn't everyone's home like that?" I was equally flabbergasted--"You mean to tell me that you think most people just have 'things' in their homes? That they don't care about the objects they surround themselves with?" It turns out that, indeed, that was her belief. And maybe she's right; from what I've seen of most people's homes, they are just filled with things. And, other than personal photos, there's probably not a lot that people would grieve over if it were lost.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, or if you know me personally, you know that this is the exact opposite of how I live and how I decorate.  Everything--everything--in my home means something to me; otherwise I wouldn't have it there.  The sweet ladies who came in to unpack my boxes even commented, "You have the best stories!" 

 

Hearing their words made me start thinking about those wonderful stores.  I miss having someone  who shares in those memories, those shared stories.  So, since you guys are my wonderfully patient audience, and I love  to tell stories, I'm going to start a regular feature called Show and Tell Sunday where I "show" some of my favorite things, and then "tell" their stories.  Please feel free to share your favorite things and their stories in the comments.

And what about you?  Do you surround yourself with meaningful things?  Or do you prefer a sleek, decorator look?

 

The three biggest treasures I have at home! 

Odd man out

A little while back, I wrote about the joys (and challenges) of owning snow dogs.  However, my two furry beauties are not the only dogs I own.  I also have this little booger that goes by the name of Poquito Bandito! 

 

Like my other two, Poquito is a rescue, coming from a group called Texas' Little Cuties.  He wasn't supposed to be mine, though; he was supposed to be mom's.  Last October, around the time of her birthday, I was at Petsmart getting something for my rowdy bunch, when I saw that they were having an adoption event.  Mom had expressed the desire to get another dog for some time.  Her last dog had died several years ago, and she was lonely.  Even though she had the desire for another dog, she was always unsure about actually getting one because of her increasingly poor health. 

 

Several months earlier, my cousin Bobby and his wife Seene had visited and had brought their little Chihuahua, Mia.  Mom loved that little dog!  She'd never considered getting a Chihuahua before, but thought that Mia was adorable.  When I was at Petsmart, lo and behold, there was a little brown Chihuahua looking lost and lonely in a large cage.  I inquired about the adoption fee, and the lady running the event even took him out of his cage so I could hold him.  Well, that little dog decided right away that I was the one!  He snuggled right down in my arms--so calm and affectionate.  "He'd be perfect for mom," I thought.  I called her immediately, and basically talked her into it, although I didn't have to twist her arm too hard. 

 

$145 and some new dog supplies later, we were on our way to my mom's house.  This little bit of a dog climbed right in my car and made himself at home.  I have to admit, I'm not a small dog person, but he had even me enchanted!

 

 

Everything was peachy, hunky dory, right as rain--until he realized that I would not be staying at this new home of his.  After bringing him to mom, I stayed for a visit, and all the while, he refused to leave my lap.  When I got up to go, I tried handing him off to my mom.  After all, he'd just settled right down when I picked him up.  Yep, that didn't go as planned!  Poquito (whose name was Phoenix at the time) tried to bite her and then he jumped down, ran across the room, and hid behind a chair! 

 

He stayed behind that chair for nearly two days! 

 

I felt terrible; for once, a dog had bonded with me instead of mom!  Mom was always like a dog whisperer.  Dogs loved her!  Every dog my family ever owned ended up being hers, really.  Every dog except this one. 

 

I stayed away, figuring that if he didn't see me, he'd eventually get used to her and used to the idea that he lived with her now.  It took two days for him to come closer.  It took one more day for him to get up on her ottoman.  And in another day, he was finally in her lap--where he stayed until the day she had a stroke!  Once bonded, he was hers utterly.  I was relieved that he no longer even gave up his comfy spot on her lap to come see me when I visited.

 

 

The day I woke to find mom having a stroke, she was holding Poquito with her good hand and petting him.  It's an image that is burned into my brain, and a strong testament to how much she loved that little dog.

 

With everything else that I had to think about after mom's stroke, little Poquito was not exactly my main concern.  In my spare moments, I contemplated finding him a new home, maybe sending him back to Texas' Little Cuties.  After all, I already had two BIG dogs who have high prey drives. I know for sure small animals like rabbits and squirrels are not safe around them, and I knew mom's days of caring for an animal were over.   Juneau and Sitka had met Poquito, but had never been left alone with him. I wasn't sure they would behave (in other words, not eat Poquito) without supervision.

 

 

Finally after a couple of days, I just gave up, and instead of running back and forth between two houses, left all the dogs in the house together. I had neither time nor energy to run to two different houses to take care of three dogs. Surprisingly enough, in that resiliant way dogs have, all three adjusted. Poquito was--thankfully--not in pieces when I returned that evening. 

 

 After mom was gone, I found I just couldn't send him away.  Just as quickly as he'd accepted me tthe first time, he did it again! 

 

The last 10 months have been dog-filled, much to my happiness!  He and Sitka don't pay too much attention to each other, but I think that Juneau secretly likes him!  Poquito tries to play with the big dogs, but they're just too rough (and I make him leave them alone--just to calm my own fears).  And, although I'm not a "little dog" person, I have to say:  this is one huge dog in a little dog's body!  He has enough guts and personality for three dogs.  Despite his bossy tendencies, Poquito is still a lap dog, too.  The minute I sit down, he makes a beeline for my lap and stays there until I get up.  I have worked to socialize him more.  Being a rescue, I don't know what kind of life he had before he came to what I'm now calling Pooch Manor, but he doesn't seem to like people much.  Having people in my house, guests and workers, has really had a positive affect on him. 

And, so, on we go--with much yapping, and hair-shedding, and lap-sitting! 
 

 

My serious little man

Poquito is quite content to spend any time that I am sitting on my lap or squished into the chair beside me.

He always has such a serious expression.