Valentine present
My Valentine present to doc_t and the kids:
Not MY Valentine present, obviously. My ideal Valentine present would be much less dog-shaped. When I say "I am not a dog person", what I actually mean is I am scared to death of dogs. I have nightmares about dogs. I don't even have to see one--I can just completely freak out when I hear one bark. It makes it rather difficult to go for walks and bicycle rides around the neighborhood.
And Delenn is just like me.
However, as I've gotten older (and had to try to set an example for Delenn) I've learned to tolerate dogs being in the same general vicinity, and even learned to stand still without screaming when they jump up, only hyperventilating lightly. (This is assuming that they're small dogs. If they're large and they jump on me, all bets are off. Same thing if they bark, or come up behind me and nudge me on the leg without warning.)
So doc_t has been nagging about getting a dog forever, because he grew up with dogs and has lots of happy memories of them, yadda yadda yadda. I have so far refused because I shouldn't have to spend all my time being nervous in my own house, and because I don't want Delenn constantly terrorized.
But we went to Wal-Mart on Sunday, and outside was this lady and her teen-age daughter selling puppies. Actually they only had the one left (out of 14), and they were so eager to get rid of her that they gave her to us for free.
I was very honest and open and upfront. "I am NOT taking care of this dog. I am NOT getting up early and taking her for walks. I am NOT going to clean up behind her. I am NOT getting up in the middle of the night when she cries. The extent of my involvement with this dog is, I might tag along for walks in the afternoon, because I need the exercise too, and I will cuddle her whenever I feel like it. Because she is cute."
Of course Mr. T. and Danae were so excited at the prospect of finally getting a dog that they would have agreed to anything at all, to get me to acquiesce. However, after a couple of nights of being up all night with her, I think Mr. T. is starting to realize that I really MEANT it, and I can foresee shortly that he will start waking up Danae and telling her that it's her dog, she should deal with it.
Danae has to learn to take care of it, and she has to get her homework done and get her chores done and keep her grades up, or we give the puppy to Mr. T's dad, whose dog just passed away and he would like the company.
Personally, I don't think that a family who is gone all day and busy all evening with homework and chores and housework should even have a dog. Mr. T. likes to wax nostalgic about how he always had a dog, but I like to point out that his mother was a stay-at-home mom and he never did his homework anyway, so it's a little different. But he thinks we can make this work. We do have a nice big fenced-in back yard, plenty of trees and room to run, and lots of squirrels to chase, so at least she won't be cooped up too much. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it works out.
The puppy is two months old today, not potty-trained, but very friendly and comfortable around people. She took a bath without complaining at all, and lets Danae carry her all over the place. She will be an outside dog, but as we're having this humongous cold snap (27* the night before last), she's staying in the front bathroom at night for now. She doesn't bark yet, so I'm mostly OK, but as she gets bigger, I don't know how that'll work out. If it gets to the point where I'm afraid to go into my own backyard, she'll have to go.
The lady we got her from says she's half Golden Retriever and half Rottweiler, so she's probably going to get pretty big. I don't see any Rottweiler markings, and I think she looks more like a Black Lab myself, but I know nothing about dogs, as evidenced by the following conversation:
Danae: Is it a boy or a girl?
Terry: The lady said it's a girl. Um...but that looks like a little boy part to me. But then those look like nipples...I don't know. Go ask your dad.
Delenn will only get near her if we hold the puppy's head, or if she's occupied with something else. She's enthusiastic about her, and likes to look at her, from a distance and preferably from somewhere up high where the puppy can't reach. You see her here, brushing the dog from about as far away as she can stretch.
So far, she fits right in with the family:
Her name is Savannah.
Not MY Valentine present, obviously. My ideal Valentine present would be much less dog-shaped. When I say "I am not a dog person", what I actually mean is I am scared to death of dogs. I have nightmares about dogs. I don't even have to see one--I can just completely freak out when I hear one bark. It makes it rather difficult to go for walks and bicycle rides around the neighborhood.
And Delenn is just like me.
However, as I've gotten older (and had to try to set an example for Delenn) I've learned to tolerate dogs being in the same general vicinity, and even learned to stand still without screaming when they jump up, only hyperventilating lightly. (This is assuming that they're small dogs. If they're large and they jump on me, all bets are off. Same thing if they bark, or come up behind me and nudge me on the leg without warning.)
So doc_t has been nagging about getting a dog forever, because he grew up with dogs and has lots of happy memories of them, yadda yadda yadda. I have so far refused because I shouldn't have to spend all my time being nervous in my own house, and because I don't want Delenn constantly terrorized.
But we went to Wal-Mart on Sunday, and outside was this lady and her teen-age daughter selling puppies. Actually they only had the one left (out of 14), and they were so eager to get rid of her that they gave her to us for free.
I was very honest and open and upfront. "I am NOT taking care of this dog. I am NOT getting up early and taking her for walks. I am NOT going to clean up behind her. I am NOT getting up in the middle of the night when she cries. The extent of my involvement with this dog is, I might tag along for walks in the afternoon, because I need the exercise too, and I will cuddle her whenever I feel like it. Because she is cute."
Of course Mr. T. and Danae were so excited at the prospect of finally getting a dog that they would have agreed to anything at all, to get me to acquiesce. However, after a couple of nights of being up all night with her, I think Mr. T. is starting to realize that I really MEANT it, and I can foresee shortly that he will start waking up Danae and telling her that it's her dog, she should deal with it.
Danae has to learn to take care of it, and she has to get her homework done and get her chores done and keep her grades up, or we give the puppy to Mr. T's dad, whose dog just passed away and he would like the company.
Personally, I don't think that a family who is gone all day and busy all evening with homework and chores and housework should even have a dog. Mr. T. likes to wax nostalgic about how he always had a dog, but I like to point out that his mother was a stay-at-home mom and he never did his homework anyway, so it's a little different. But he thinks we can make this work. We do have a nice big fenced-in back yard, plenty of trees and room to run, and lots of squirrels to chase, so at least she won't be cooped up too much. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it works out.
The puppy is two months old today, not potty-trained, but very friendly and comfortable around people. She took a bath without complaining at all, and lets Danae carry her all over the place. She will be an outside dog, but as we're having this humongous cold snap (27* the night before last), she's staying in the front bathroom at night for now. She doesn't bark yet, so I'm mostly OK, but as she gets bigger, I don't know how that'll work out. If it gets to the point where I'm afraid to go into my own backyard, she'll have to go.
The lady we got her from says she's half Golden Retriever and half Rottweiler, so she's probably going to get pretty big. I don't see any Rottweiler markings, and I think she looks more like a Black Lab myself, but I know nothing about dogs, as evidenced by the following conversation:
Danae: Is it a boy or a girl?
Terry: The lady said it's a girl. Um...but that looks like a little boy part to me. But then those look like nipples...I don't know. Go ask your dad.
Delenn will only get near her if we hold the puppy's head, or if she's occupied with something else. She's enthusiastic about her, and likes to look at her, from a distance and preferably from somewhere up high where the puppy can't reach. You see her here, brushing the dog from about as far away as she can stretch.
So far, she fits right in with the family:
Her name is Savannah.