My leukemia's back.

[lazy gardener]

HB and Rachel. I'm so very glad things are going better for you.


The couch pic reminded me of a story. Years ago, we decided it was time to get a dog. So, I searched high and low, visited the pound and the humane society a number of times before I found the "perfect" dog for us. She was 4.5 months old, a Terrier mix, supposedly house broken (NOT), and had been surrendered to the humane society due to allergies. (WANNA BUY A BRIDGE?) So, I brought the darling home. My 12 year old son (WHO WAS THE MAIN REASON WHY WE CHOSE TO GET A DOG AT THAT TIME) immediately took an intense dislike for her. My husband took one look at her, then looked at me and said, "What on earth were you thinking?" So, Muffy became Tessie, and began to settle in with her new family. We stepped outside for a couple of minutes, came back inside to see Tessie standing on top of the kitchen table, with her paws in the pizza box, eating our supper. And on it went. It took a long time to potty train her. She didn't know how to climb stairs, and indeed was afraid of them. Why she could jump up on the table, but couldn't climb stairs was quite the mystery! She had been abused by children and large men, was very fearful and defensive around both. So, moving on to the story of the couch:

One Sunday morning, we left for church, and were sure to dog proof the house to the best of our abilities. We came home, to be enthusiastically greeted by a dog (she did everything with enthusiasm. She was a Terrier, after all, and had that certain Joi de Vivre!)... covered in flourescent green paint. She had it all over her front paws, all over her face, particularly around her mouth, and had varying amounts of it on her eyebrows and shoulders. There were green foot prints on the hardwood floor... leading to... the COUCH. There, we found the object of her morning's entertainment: a tube of flourescent green liquid embroidery paint, chewed open and smeared all over one cushion of the couch, with lesser amounts on the other 2 cushions and the back. So, I did the best I could to clean up with paint thinner, and then took the covers off the cushions to wash them. I stacked the cushions in the corner, while waiting for the covers to line dry. Of course we had a meeting that night. So, off we went, and came back... to be greeted by a very enthusiastic Tessie at the front door. At the top of the stairs, we were greeted by yet an other surprise from her. The kitchen and livingroom looked like a popcorn machine had exploded. There were hunks of foam EVERYWHERE! She had totally shredded those foam cushions.

Oh how I miss that dog! (BTW, my son eventually fell in love with her, as did everyone who met her. she was an incredible dog with an even more incredible sense of humor.)

 

[N F C]

@lazy gardener , that must have been one heck of a dog! I'd be afraid to leave her alone at home after all that, lol.

 

[N F C]

Good morning Rachel and Team!

So Rachel, you must be getting antsy to get up and do stuff. How are your legs, can you get off the couch today?

 

[sourland]

 

[3goodeggs]

@lazy gardener , I know it was a horrible experience then, but it made me smile. That is a great dog story.
My son and the golden have a peculiar relationship.
She is all about hair and slobber and nasty things she has found in the yard, and she so wants to share them with my clean freak son.
(Putting 'clean' and 'son' in the same sentence felt wrong- he isn't 'neat and tidy" but saliva in on his list of 'don't get it on me!')

I fell asleep on the couch last night and when I woke up, there were a pile of dog toys on my chest.

 

[hbhoffman]

Lazy gardener-Wow! That is quite a story and a dog! Thanks for the laugh!
3goodeggs-very sweet! Any photos?

How is everyone?
Rachel, Are you a princess couch potato today? If not when honey comes home,then be one! ;-)
We had hail and hard rain last night. Wonder how the strawberry picking will be..hope to go today if not to hot and if my girl is almost better.

 

[donrae]

You folks crack me up! We haven't had anything as bad as the paint--that must have been something to see!

Speaking of dog toys, Eve's old Kong is about done for and I'm wondering if ya'all have advice for good durable toys for giant dogs. The one we have is the black extreme with the triple rows, not sure what it's called. She and Roscoe both are pretty powerful chewers and this is the only one that's held up. I think we've had it several months. I should probably just get the same thing again, but for some reason feel like I should change it up for them.....good idea or not?

 

[sourland]

We have a confirmed toy destroyer so I know what you are dealing with. I'd stick with the one that they can not destroy.

 

[Bunnylady]

@lazy gardener - My husband and I took in a couple of dogs that someone had abandoned one time. We thought they were German Shepherd crosses, but since then, we have concluded they were probably Belgian Shepherds. Fortunately for us, our landlord had declared, "no inside dogs," or we might have had similar tales to tell. As it was, they were amazingly destructive; I remember looking at them in the middle of the remains of a half-dozen or so flats of our most expensive Pansies and asking, "you guys are trying to find out just how much I love you, aren't you?" We jokingly referred to them as Deimos and Phobos . . . .

We loved them, though. One of them, Bunsen, looked rather like Tom Selleck, though it's hard to say exactly how that was.

@3goodeggs Awww, you are loved. If I doze off, I don't get dog toys, I get cats (though, since my husband says c-a-t stands for "canine action toy," it might amount to the same thing). We have 3 cats around here that I call "the Barnacles," because if you stop moving, they settle on you. Since they all weigh 8 pounds or more, when they all three settle, they pretty well have you pinned!

 

[3goodeggs]

That's a lot of cat on your chest for a decent nap. And then the claws and the kneading. I don't think I could sleep through that.
'Barnacle' would be a good cat name.