My blog for today

Gidget barks a lot. Two weeks ago a neighbor's house was broken into so we've decided to let Gidget bark most of the time. People need to know that Gidget Linn-Gust means business. But the barking doesn't seem to wear her out as much as it does us. Go figure.

Bark Bark Bark

There is a joke at our house about how Joe picked out Nestle at the city shelter. He says he picked Nestle because all the other dogs were barking and she wasn't. It was true. She was just sitting there acting like a good dog. Well, we went out front to do the paperwork and for some reason I went back to see her again and she was barking up a storm with all the other dogs. I should have known then what we were in for. Nestle didn't stop barking that first weekend at our house. I can still remember I was sitting at the dining room table writing a paper and she stood there barking away. I ignored her for as long as I could, after all, I'd been told you should ignore them and eventually they "get it." Not Nestle. Chaco used to go to another room to get away from her. We went through multiple bark collars with her. She just kept barking through them, even the one the dog sitter/trainer used on her. Zapping Nestle only meant she'd bark more. Seven years later it hasn't changed. But with impressionable Gidget around (Daisy and Hattie were never into barking- they always had a look like, "We'll just let her bark it out and waste her energy"), I had to do something. I remember how at our previous house we had a barking dog next door. He was bored, his guardians didn't spend much time with him. But he was annoying! I read once where you could put pebbles in a soda can and shake it when they dog barked. So I did. And either it worked or we moved. I don't remember which now (probably both though). The spray bottle works well with Gidget, but spraying Nestle made her bark more. Last week I had a spray bottle in one hand and the Squirt can filled with pebbles in the other when someone walked by the house and Gidget began to bark, followed up by Nestle. Coordinating that was a little difficult but I hope we're on the right track. I've asked several people for help but everyone just says, "Sounds like you need Cesar Millan. And since I don't think he'll be at my house any time soon, well, we'll just keep shaking the can and squirting the water.

A New Year

I know it's been awhile since I've written. December is always busier than I think it will be. Most notable from the month is that Chaco turned ten on January 1. It's hard to believe he's been with eight years and friends who came over to see us on Sunday (who now live in California) noted that he doesn't look ten. And with the cold we've had, he hasn't been acting like ten either. They've all been running around a little on the nutty side (while I've been thinking hibernation might be nice). Joe said to me that Chaco has been with me almost a fourth of my life which also is hard to believe. Sometimes I try to remember life without dogs and it seems that all I can remember is that we could come and go on trips when we chose without needing a pet sitter. As I write this, Hattie is staring at me. If I only I knew what she was thinking. Well, maybe I don't want to know and I should leave it at that. Happy new year!

Ginger makes the newspaper– again!

See the article below about Michelle's work with Native Americans in her hometown newspaper, The Naperville Sun. Ginger knew exactly what to do when she was called upon to be in the photo. Daisy, however, wasn't interested. She checked out the situation and then went to find something else to do (nap) while Ginger sought pats and rubs from the photographer.

http://napervillesun.suntimes.com/news/2956243-418/suicide-think-american-indians-hope.html

Daisy's anniversary passes and Nestle turns eight

It's hard to believe a year has gone by since Daisy died. And it's hard to believe that Nestle turned eight on Friday, having moved in with us seven years ago. On January 1, we'll have had Chaco eight years which is hard to believe because these dogs have transformed my life in many ways in those years. There have been lots of happy moments, but many sad ones as well. Attachment to live beings brings us much happiness, but at some point we have to say goodbye. As I write this, the crew has settled down and I can see Gidget's nose from around the corner and hear the bone she is chewing on. Chaco is keeping watch of the doorway in front of us and the sounds of football stretch from down the hall. I'm sure Nestle and Hattie are napping while Joe watches. We have to root ourselves in our present moments because they are fleeting and it is in those present moments where the memories are formed that give us the hope for the life we lead and the beings (human and animal) we love.

The Anniversary of Daisy's Death Looms

It's the evening before Thanksgiving and all I can think about is how last year this time we were coming up on Daisy's last weekend with us. We had hoped she would make it to Christmas, but she only could last through Devlan's visit from Belize. Although I was disappointed that we have no houseguests for Thanksgiving this year, I am grateful for Veronica, our cleaning lady, who invited us to her house for an evening of Mexican food instead. On Friday, I will cook our turkey and our traditional meal. Sometimes when these first anniversaries loom, we need to mix up our plans and do something different. Over the weekend, I received an email from a man who had read my article in High Desert Dog about Daisy's cancer. He said his two-year-old German Shepherd was going through the same thing and wanted some help. His dog has been given just two weeks to live and probably will be euthanized next week because of the deterioration to the dog's hip from the tumor. I'm sure I'm more sensitive to all this now with Daisy's death happening a year ago on December 2, but no matter, it's still sad.I try to give Gidget extra attention and take her outside to play ball more. It's hard not to linger in the past because it is our path to the present but none of us should stay there. Enjoy the present while we have it. Happy Thanksgiving.

Rebonding with Gidget

When we let Gidget start sleeping outside her crate at night, she instantly gravitated to spending the night in bed with me. Unfortunately, this made Hattie mad (the dog who had been sleeping with me for some time) and she stopped sleeping with me. But after all my travel that culminated in multiple back-to-back trips in September, Gidget no longer wanted to sleep with me. Instead, I would find her wandering the house, like Chaco, at night, or her leftover fur would give away which piece of furniture she had been sleeping on. Yesterday the dog guardian (mom, whatever your choice is to call a person who takes in a dog like a human) of a dog named Joey, the Richmond, Virginia, SPCA mascot, knew it was time to euthanize Joey after almost 13 years of life. He had had cancer before but his body was failing him. I don't personally know Joey or his mom. He (she) friended me to his account on Facebook probably because we know some mutual people in Virginia. But seeing that Joey was going to transition this morning, took me right back to Daisy and the anniversary of her death just two weeks away. I couldn't help but let the tears fall. I wanted to hug my dogs and let them know I loved them. Nestle was okay at first but she ran away. Hattie and Chaco already were long gone. But Gidget stayed there with me and let me hug her to my heart's content. I don't know what goes on in Gidget's head, but in the past week or so she has been the most loving of a dog that she's been since we got her almost a year ago. It might be coincidence with her age development. Or it might be that she knows intuitively about Daisy's anniversary. Whatever it is, last night she slept with me.