I have to admit, one of the huge bummers about leaving Egypt was having to leave my blog behind. Then I adopted a new puppy and quickly remembered that you don't have to travel across the world for adventure.
So far I have picked ten thousand exterior screws out of my lawn by hand, plucked the puppy out of the neighbor's back yard, awakened sweating from a nighmare involving Comet and Draino, sprained my ankle and called the 24 hour Animal ER to determine whether or not saffron is toxic to animals (it isn't - whew!) I've only had him since Wednesday afternoon, and this is Sunday morning.
So I decided to start another blog. With it I hope to amuse cat owners, trade war stories and seek advice from other dog owners (especially the Lissners with their Stepford Dogs. When I'm not home, my dogs get into trouble. The Lissner dogs clean the house and do the taxes). Second, I thought I could offer some insight for rookies considering a new puppy or an older dog for the first time. Here's the first hint: There's a reason why nature evolved puppies to be so cute. It's so you don't kill them. Third, this blog will offer a real-life scenario for anyone curious about adopting, and raising, a shelter dog. This process and its consequences are a little different from getting a dog from a breeder. I'm an advocate of shelter dogs, but I'll try to stay off the soap box for those who are not.
After much deliberation, I named the little guy Pilgrim. He's all black and white and he came home just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. With no history other than, "came from a shelter in Utah," I know neither his age nor his breed. The shelter guessed him to be an Australian Shepherd mix about 8 weeks old. My vet guesses more like a Border Collie mix about 12 weeks old. I'm not picky, as long as he's healthy, but I'm crossing my fingers he doesn't grow into a Great Dane. I doubt he will. His feet are pretty small, but his ears are enormous. He's currently 15 pounds.
I adopted Pilgrim from the Helen Woodward Animal Shelter, and he's my second from there. Pilgrim's big sister is Haley, a black and brown German Shepherd hound mix (I think) of about a year and a half. We guessed she'd grow to about fifty pounds. She's currently sixty-five (and has finally stopped growing, thank God).
Since we lost her 14 year old big brother Mischief in June, Haley has been lonely, bored and a bit destructive, especially when Mom isn't home (and Mom has a full time job). So far, Haley seems thrilled to have a new little brother - most of the time. My primary job is to be the pack leader, which naturally entails taking care of everyone and providing the exercise, structure, discipline and everything else they need. My secondary job is to help Haley maintain her position as alpha female - which is sometimes tough, because babies need lots of attention and let's face it, are so darn cute.
You'll be hearing from Haley and Pilgrim directly. In the interest of giving everyone fair representation, I will be allowing the two of them to post their own blog entries. I'm sure you're thinking, "that's ridiculous." But if you follow this blog, you'll come to realize what I have already humbly learned: both of these kids are smarter than I am. Stay tuned.
