New Year, New Dog

I have Breeze now, a dog who looks like so many dogs running wild in the country. Throw-away dogs. Common, ordinary, not so pretty dogs. Breeze is a brindle, terrier something or other. She is young, bony, and a free spirit. She comes....sometimes. She loves to eat, although she stays thin. I feed her twice a day and I can still see her hip bones jutting out, although her spine does have a layer of fat on it now.

She loves to eat pooh.

Oh, how I fret over pooh eating dogs! One or two of mine try to sneak around and eat it. Breeze LOVES it. She grazes out there, seeking it. With the snowfall and icky weather, I have not been on pooh patrol, so there is plenty out there right now. As the snow melts to reveal it, Breeze is in pooh heaven. She runs when I approach, shaking my finger and telling her "No. Don't eat that! No!" She grabs it and gobbles on the run. I had made great progress with Slim, stopping him from eating pooh, but Breeze has renewed his bad habits and now he is at it again.

I have heard many tips on how to stop this and I have tried every one of them. The best is to go on poop patrol and keep it picked up. With 7 or 8 dogs here, that is a BIG job, but necessary.

When you take on pets, you take on the icky stuff that goes with them. Just like when you have a baby, you know you are going to be up to your eyeballs in poop and throw up, so get used to it! Better yet, prepare for it!

Of course, all the goodness they bring with them should more than make up for the inconveniences and yucky stuff. The tail wagging, big doggy smiles, racing about, chasing squirrels, gazes of adoration. That's the good stuff. I try to remember that when I chase Breeze to no avail as she swallows another mouthful.

Yuck. Don't you DARE try to lick me, you bad dog! Anybody want to adopt a sweet, gangly, multi-colored, pooh-eater? Huh? Anyone?

Terrible Terrier Squeal

I have a rat terrier mix that I love, but I don't love her terrier high-pitched squeal/scream. That ear-piercing shriek that is like a rusty knife. When I bring home a foster dog or Gypsy sees a squirrel or any other exciting thing, she does that horrible pain-inducing scream.

Naturally, I scream back at her to SHUT UP! Lot of good it does.

When neighbors approach the fence to tell me the latest -- the Nelsons are moving, Sadie Hunter's son finally visited her, the Bakers got a new dog, etc. -- I can hardly hear them because of Gypsy's screaming. I can stop it only by picking her up and holding her while I warn under my breath, "Shut your mouth!" I'm sure my neighbors think I'm nuts to be fostering dogs when I can't even keep my own under control. No matter if Gypsy has seen these neighbors numerous times and enjoyed being petted by them, she does the scream until I pick her up and make her shut her dogfood hole.

It really is her only major flaw, though. I adore her. She looks me right in the eyes and I can see the love she has for me in there...in those chocolate brown eyes. So what's an ear bleed here and there when you have a dog who can melt your heart with one long look?