Excitement

Well, no. Not really. Today, after a busy week of weather and driving and errands and minor emergencies and mood swings and emotional issues... 

Today we are being beautifully lazy. Enjoy your weekend. May you get from it whatever you need. 

 

We’re participating in this Saturday’s Pet Blog Hop, hosted by Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of the Plume.  If you’d like to participate, please follow the rules and follow your three hosts, add your blog to the Linky and copy and paste the html code into your html editor.  Thanks again to our hosts for putting on the hop!

Wordless Wednesday

Dog Life List

Do all dog lovers have them?

I know there are folks who stick with their breed. Greyhounds, pit bulls, wieners, what have you. There are some that stick with a group. For example, I wouldn't mind collecting just about every sight hound there is.

Most of my friends know I love lists and charts, so it might not be a surprise to learn I have an actual list of "Dog Breeds I Want to Rescue." (Without starting a debate, I do not buy dogs, unless paying a rescue fee counts.)

What is on this list? I'm glad I pretended you asked!

Obviously, this is a tiny fraction of the list and it's all in addition to the greyhounds I can't imagine being without. What are your favorite breeds? What do you love about them?

1. Borzoi

I met this guy and learned two things I hadn't known. First, Borzoi are ginormous. They are like springy, prancy little ponies.

Secondly, and this is where I may have squealed at a perfect stranger while patting her dog, they can have soft fuzzy silky baby curls.

I do think I'd need to dress fancier if I were going to walk a Borzoi, though. Like a Russian Czarina or something. 




2. Pit bull

I dream of someday rescuing my own. The first pibble I ever loved was named Geordie, and my stepfather rescued him via the "take him directly from the scumbag who bragged about the fight Geordie'd won that day."

Geordie -- this isn't him, sorry -- was the sweetest, most loving old man I ever met. He sat on laps, he kissed my infant daughter, he played gently with children. He was brilliant. I'll miss my "brother" for the rest of my life.





3. Corgi

Astute readers may notice this is a picture of a cartoon dog. True, but Ein (from the anime "Cowboy Bebop") is the first Corgi I fell in love with. My usual affection is for big dogs, but come on. Look at him widdle face.
Trivia: I told my mom I wanted a Corgi someday. "Ugh, those little things that look like sawed-off Collies?" So that's how I think of them. ;)






4. German Shepherd Dog (or a Malinois or a Tervuren)

I'll be honest, I have some apprehension about these breeds, having owned a mostly-GSD mutt growing up. They're beautiful and strong and smart. I worry about the ramifications of having a dog that will solve problems faster than I do.

I have been vicariously enjoying the adventures of my friends Mr. and Mrs. Taleteller over at Tales and Tails, not only with beautiful GSD Morgan but with their new baby, Kuster. I have also been reminded that puppies are not for everyone and they're way, way braver than I am.





5. The One That Needs Me

Good-bye, 2011...

... I hated you.

I've been trying to motivate myself to write a blog post for almost six weeks. I wanted to give some sign that all was well, that I'm alive and fine and engaged. Probably the biggest problem is that hasn't been true. I've been depressed and over-extended, distracted by the holidays and disconnected from how I really feel.

Lanie is amazing. She'll be 13 in May and for the most part she's still energetic and insane. We've noticed lately she's getting quite a bit grayer on her chest and forelegs, the whole front end of her elegantly fading as befits a lady of her esteemed age. She has also, without doubt, become much more cuddly.

Just this morning she woke up early, peed on the living room rug, and then came and curled up between us in bed.

We agree that a new brother will be a good thing for her. Sure, she'll spend a while pooping in furious protest at the loss of attention and competition for resources. That's reasonable. She's entitled to let us know how she feels. Anyway, she only goes in one spot on the rug, so we keep that covered with plastic under a towel for easy clean-up.

A lot of my "dog friends" spoke to me, in the early days after I lost my Drive, about how the need for a new dog was intense and immediate. It doesn't happen with people, does it? I certainly don't want a new mother or new grandparents. But when I had to say good-bye to my Drive, the only thing I could think of to make any sense out of the world again was to put my arms around another dog.

What was best for me wasn't best for us as a family. That was harder than I can say, and I know that contributed to the depression I've been wrapped in for weeks. This was the first time in years that I've been in that terrible dark place and not had my Drive to whisper to. It spiraled quickly.

I want to stop this spiral. I want off. I want a new dog. I want to meet the friend that's waiting. I'm so very ready.

And I'm here to let you know that I'm alive. This year has to be better. And coming sometime in January I hope to be able to introduce you to the newest member of our family. Soon, soon!

I hope 2012 bring amazing things for you, my friends. I wish you all the best.

 

My Only Dog

"I'll stop smacking you when you get it out of my face."

Lanie is not a fan of the camera. After all, it it not made of food and it does not squeak. All it does it flash in her eyes, eliciting a death glare that only ladies of a certain age can manage.

At age 12 and a half, her pointy little face is white and her eyes have clouded. She used to hunt frogs relentlessly, making walks in the spring and summer a constant challenge as she lunged and snapped at the hopping meat-snacks. This summer, we realized that she simply doesn't see well enough to do that any more.

It's harder to tell if her hearing has faded. I'm disposed to believe she just ignores me more, since if I think too loudly about opening the fridge she will materialize from the ether.

She is a grand, goofy old dame. She is a glorious mixture of bravado and insecurity, terrified of a slammed door but not thunder. Helium balloons are the devil to her, but she will snarl and lunge if we make the mistake of walking her by the neighborhood bull mastiff. I am her humble servant who exists to feed her, but when she is scared she shoves her head against my chest.

Since we lost my Drive, she's been the only dog in the house. Always a velcro girl, I've noticed the length of time she lets me out of her sight has decreased. She's less content lately to be within sight range and now feels the need to be within petting range whenever possible. She has absolutely become needier. I can understand. So have I.

The strangest difference is her sudden, avid interest in going for car rides. I think she just hates that I sometimes leave the house without her. She hates being alone, poor sweetie.

I'll address the issue of "When will she be getting company?" in a different post.

This evening Lanie goes to the vet for bloodwork and an EKG, so that tomorrow she can be safely anesthetized for a dental cleaning. (She won't be spending the night there.) She's in overall excellent health, especially for a senior dog, and her teeth are not the nightmare that some greyhounds' are, though she has broken a canine recently. She was probably checking to see if something was edible by biting it, like a great white shark.

I'm reminding myself of all the reasons I don't need to be worried, and I'm worrying anyway. I'll keep you updated.

And I think I'll take my dog out to lunch. She loves the drive-thru.

They're Buddies! Right?!

"Ugh. Is he still there?"

When we adopted Drive almost six years ago, it wasn't our plan to rush out and get him a "friend" or companion pet or start a menagerie. The whole plan was to get a friend for me, and that worked out in spades.

But it was only about seven months after that when someone posted Lanie's picture on a website and I said, out loud and without knowing why, "I need that dog."

I still don't know why. I can tell you what I saw in the picture and how it moved me, but it was a picture of her after she'd been rescued and freshly groomed. It was all in her expression. Something about her. Who knows?

When we brought her home -- oh, there's a story -- I knew there would be an adjustment period. I figured the dogs would take a couple weeks to get to know each other and then they'd settled down and start being My Dogs as a team. Together, working to be cute and keep me smiling.

I hadn't counted on Lanie being more insane than I am by orders of magnitude. I hadn't counted on Drive being more interested in me, his new Mother-Goddess, than in any old mere dog. I could not have foreseen that not one damn thing Lanie did in her first couple of years with us was cute or that she would remain determined not to attach. Yes sir, I recognize abandonment issues when I see them.

Now? Last week I heard Lanie give the almighty "Greyhound Scream of Death" no less than eight times. (Google it, if you're unfamiliar with the term. It's a riot.) And every time I would turn around or streak into the room where she was and find some scene of carnage and injury.

Like this:


So when people see cute pictures of the dogs snuggling and ask about them, I just have to laugh. "How long did it take? Oh, a while." A while, give or take about four years, before they'd share a piece of furniture. ;)




Hello and welcome to any new friends that have found us through the blog hop!