Remember our puppy? The dog-lover who decided to buy a EXTRA LARGE BREED DOG the last week of July promptly revealed that he actually had no idea how to do anything with a puppy, so I could just handle all that. (Yes, I am speaking of my handsome hubby) "After all, Katie, you have trained two of your own puppies before. And you do like to read and research, so this would be like a fun little new project for you. You aren't even working this August!" So fifteen library books and three videos later, I had a plan.
We named her "Dana" for Mt. Dana in Yosemite. It is the largest mountain around that area (over 14K) and Chris and I hiked it over Labor Day 1998, when we fell in love and decided to get married (yes, all in the same weekend, ten days after we met). We've never been back and so just thinking about Mt Dana makes us sigh... Good dog name. While I was floating in the fuzzy bliss of intoxicating puppy breath and memories of hiking/ planning a wedding, Chris decided that he needed to "take a vacation" to Dallas with his college buddies for a long weekend. Of course, Dear. No problem, Dear. You should go to Dallas, I would be happy to handle the puppy. (Never mind I did change my mind within 24 hours - before he left even - but it was too late. "Let your yes be yes.....") Do you have any idea how much a 43 lb dog can pee? It is truly amazing.
By the time Chris arrived home from his "vacation," I had used over two bottles of carpet cleaner, scraped up about 45 pounds of dog poo, washed four loads of towels used to dry the puppy after her baths, scrubbed and disinfected the crate multiple times, called and left several nasty messages on Chris' cell phone, threatened to take the dog to the pound, cried a river, and called to scream at my sister (former vet assistant) to come and PICK UP CHRIS' DOG!! and keep her - for $25 a day - until further notice. Why in the world did I think this would be fun?
The dog did eventually get the hang of relieving herself outdoors, just like everyone said she would. My sister picked up some extra cash for her boarding services, and Chris and I are still married. But I did say NO!! when he suggested that Dana would be much happier if one of her siblings came to live with us.
We named her "Dana" for Mt. Dana in Yosemite. It is the largest mountain around that area (over 14K) and Chris and I hiked it over Labor Day 1998, when we fell in love and decided to get married (yes, all in the same weekend, ten days after we met). We've never been back and so just thinking about Mt Dana makes us sigh... Good dog name. While I was floating in the fuzzy bliss of intoxicating puppy breath and memories of hiking/ planning a wedding, Chris decided that he needed to "take a vacation" to Dallas with his college buddies for a long weekend. Of course, Dear. No problem, Dear. You should go to Dallas, I would be happy to handle the puppy. (Never mind I did change my mind within 24 hours - before he left even - but it was too late. "Let your yes be yes.....") Do you have any idea how much a 43 lb dog can pee? It is truly amazing.
By the time Chris arrived home from his "vacation," I had used over two bottles of carpet cleaner, scraped up about 45 pounds of dog poo, washed four loads of towels used to dry the puppy after her baths, scrubbed and disinfected the crate multiple times, called and left several nasty messages on Chris' cell phone, threatened to take the dog to the pound, cried a river, and called to scream at my sister (former vet assistant) to come and PICK UP CHRIS' DOG!! and keep her - for $25 a day - until further notice. Why in the world did I think this would be fun?
The dog did eventually get the hang of relieving herself outdoors, just like everyone said she would. My sister picked up some extra cash for her boarding services, and Chris and I are still married. But I did say NO!! when he suggested that Dana would be much happier if one of her siblings came to live with us.
Now the current debate: to fix or not to fix the female pure bred? Tate has conducted a street survey, and the vote (according to Tate), is 67 for NOT fixing so we can have puppies next year, 1 for controlling the pet population (yours truly), and 1 abstaining (Grandma Faye refused to cast a vote after I gave her a stern glare).
Stay tuned!
Sammy and Dana goin' fishin' in our koi pond.
