3 Dogs and a Husband

Some people are speechless when I tell them we have three big dogs.  Some people actually think I’m nuts (like my mom) and some people simply can’t stand the thought of cleaning up that much dog hair (yes, there is lots, but thank God for the Furminator).  And if cleaning up after them is not enough, you should see how much they eat!  Almost 30 lbs. of dog food a week!  (Just think how much fun that is for us to clean up in the back yard!)

Well, Moose has basically been a part of our extended family since he was born.  He is the litter mate to Luke so they share the same birthday – but we’re still not sure who is older.  Pretty sure Luke is the Alpha male, but I suppose that doesn’t mean he is the elder.  Anyway, our good friend Steve picked Moose from the litter and took him home to be his own dog at the same time we brought Lukey home to be a brother to our Lola.  Luke, Lola, Moose and Tucker (all brothers) would get together almost every weekend for play dates and games of fetch….one big happy canine family. =)

Well, a while back, our friend Steve was offered a contracting job in Maui.  He was supposed to be gone four weeks, possibly six at the most, and becuase of the quarantine laws for dogs coming into Hawaii, he was unable to take Moose with him.  So, he asked us to care for Moosey while he was gone.  “Of course!” I said.  After all Moose was family.  Well…Moose is REALLY family now, becuase next week will mark one year that Steve has been gone to Hawaii.  Steve comes back on occasion to visit us and Moose, but we think that after a year with us, Moosey has decided our house is now home for him….at least I hope so.

So, although we didn’t plan for three dogs, it just kind of happened.  We love Moose and if you can’t tell from the picture below, we’re pretty sure he loves us back!  Wet kisses…and BAD doggie breath.

I swear, Lola has lived a prior life as a human.  She adores pillows – especially new pillows that are meant for humans.  She has a lovely dog bed that the cleaning lady fluffs and vacuums each week, but she insists on making good use of my new sofa pillows.  She is the only one of our three dogs who gets to “officially” lie on our sofa. The other two boys definitely sneak up when they think we’re not looking - I bust them all the time when I wake up early…but Lola – she gets the princess award.  A couple years ago, she tore her ACL in her knee and even after surgery and months of recovery she has never regained full strength in her knee.  (Unless you’re a strange person walking up our driveway – then she can run like hell – and you better be able to also!)  It just kind of evolved during her recovery that she was allowed on the sofa…and now she has this fixation with pillows…so I guess we have created our own monster.   This past weekend I was at BB&B (Bed Bath and Beyond) on Sunday and found some great new sofa pillows that obivously have Lola’s name written all over them.  She is my sweet girl…how can I say no to that face?
  

So I have three dogs…they are a handful and a bundle of mischief at times.  For the most part they are good dogs, but one dog (Luke) should have been named Houdini.  Sometimes I think he could escape Fort Knox if he wanted to.  So, as much as it pains me, we had to install a tether in our back yard which we then attach a lead to so that Luke is essentially tied up, but still has quite a bit of freedom and mobility.  As long as I have a ‘cookie’ in hand for him, he will go right up to the lead and let me chain him up with no complaints and he is fine while we are gone.  (Now is where the guilt part comes in.)

Okay…I admit it…I’m a big softie.  I can’t stand the thought sometimes of knowing that my poor Lukey is tied up all day while the other two dogs run free in the backyard.  (they apparently have not learned the art of escape from their brother!).  So one day I have this grand idea and propose to my husband that we try leaving the back sliding door open wide enough so that the dogs can go inside and out when they want to.  This way, Luke will be able to go inside and hang out when they want and the idea is to get Luke to NOT want to escape.

So Phillip gives me one of those “you’ve lost your mind” looks but reluctantly agrees…and we give it a shot.  The next morning, all three dogs get their morning “goodbye cookie” before we leave for work, but this time we don’t tie Luke up.  We leave him free to roam with the other dogs and leave the back slider door open just wide enough for them to get inside.

Later that day, driving home from work, I’m anxious see how the dogs did and find myself speeding to get home, suddenly in a panic that I have made a terrible mistake.  This (below) is what I came home to.  Of all three dogs, it was Moose caught red handed, chewing up the center cushion to my front room sofa which he very proudly spread out in the back yard for all to see.  Experiment failed.  And by the way – Luke did not escape that day – so that part of the experiement still stands I suppose.  However, we did learn that Moose simply cannot be trusted unsupervised in the house.

Needless to say the mess was cleaned up before Phillip got home that evening, the mangled sofa has since been hauled off to the dump and the sliding back door stays SHUT when we are gone.

Gotta love ‘em!  I didn’t like that sofa anyway! =)

Okay, so this has nothing to do with dogs, but it does have to do with the topic of “x’s”.  I suppose I have to be careful in what I say because we are currently in litigation with my husbands “x” over child related issues, so I will leave out the specifics, but I just have to vent on a few things.

Phillip and I are married and I love love love him…honestly, from the bottom of my heart all the way to the top…I love him, and can’t imagine life without him.  Having said that, I knew when I married Phillip that there was some “baggage” meaning the preverbial x-wife.  Phillip also has two kids, both at adult age now, but they were in pre-teens when we met, so believe you me – I have been through some trying times as the evil step-mom.   I don’t want this to be an “x” bashing post, but sometimes I can’t help but wonder what really drives people to do the things they do.  Desperate people do desperate things I guess.  I know…I’m being super vague, and that is on purpose, but those of you who know me probably know the situation.

So, my point to this blog – things are super trying right now for me and Phillip, not between us personally, but dealing with all the baggage that stems from “the divorced american family” is completely exhausting and extremely expensive…so if you get married…try to make sure that it is truly “for better or for worse”.

I know…I’m a hopeless romantic..but I’m one of the lucky one’s who found my soul mate.  I am blessed.

Caio for now.

 
Not in the dog sense, but in the actual heat sense – Lola (shown above) is fixed so she is not out looking for love – but our recent heat wave this past weekend had me worried that they were going to keel over from heat exhaustion.  I would consider us very responsible dog owners and when the mercury rises to 90+ degrees it is enough to make anyone feel bad for the poor four legged friends in fur coats.

Bad enough to hire a dog sitter while we are out golfing all day?  Yup…you bet, and that’s exacly what I did.  Phillip and I organize an annual golf tournament every year called the PCI (Phillip & Cheryl Invitiational) and it happened to fall on what was expected to be the hottest day of the year (so far).  We knew that we would be gone from sun up to sun down on Saturday and I was wringing my hands in worry over my babies.  So, I hired our neighbor boy to come and check on them, give them fresh cold water throughout the day and make sure that our escape artist Luke didn’t find his way out of the back yard in search of cooler grass.

It was good money spent.  I got to focus on the task at hand all day and not worry about my dogs ‘cooking’ in the back yard.  We got home just after dark and Cameron, our 10 year old hired dog watcher spotted us driving up and was over in a flash to collect his cash.  Win win situation all the way around. =)

Phillip and I have been married for 9 years this coming August and we have lived together for, oh … lets call it 10.5 years.  In the beginning – “playing house” and keeping things nice and neat was just part of my job.  After all, it’s how I was raised.  For as long as I can remember while growing up, we (meaning me and my siblings) scoured the bathrooms, vacuumed every room in the house, dusted every stick of furniture, did the laundry TWICE a week!  Sure, we were a family of six but my mom and dad had four children that they trained very well to keep our house not only tidy, but clean.  (yes, there is a difference).  Cleaning up after evening meals was an ordeal…and you did not get away with just putting the leftovers in the fridge and setting the dirty dishes in the sink (Phillip). Oh no…it had to be spotless and I mean spotless for inspection.  If it wasn’t right – we were called back into the kitchen to clean the stovetop properly or scour the sink after the dishes were washed, dried and put away.  Anyway…I digress, but I just wanted to give you some background on how I was raised and even to this day as I clean my own kitchen, my mother’s words still ring in my ears – if you’re going to do it – you have to do it right.

So – back to present day - I have a nice home of my own that I share with my darling husband and our three 4-legged friends: Lola, Luke & Moose.  Needless to say my house seems to always be in constant need of cleaning.   We have a little plaque hanging in our entry way that says ”In our house, dog hair is considered a condiment” and although we hung it because we thought it was funny – sometimes it is just too true!  With both of us working 50+ hours a week, Phillip and I were constantly struggling over when the house would get cleaned, and with my anal upbringing – it was a constant point of contention.  Do we waste a beautiful Saturday inside cleaning or do we go golfing?  You probably guessed that golfing took priority 9 times out of ten, and God help Phillip on the days he left me home to clean the house by myself while he chased that little white ball around the golf course for hours on end.

Finally about six months ago after several months of Phillip listening to me complain about “why am I the only one who has to clean up around here” – we hired a housekeeper.  Oh-my-God….I can’t believe it took us this long.  There is nothing quite like the feeling of coming home after a long day at the office and walking into your own home that has just been polished and cleaned. It’s pure bliss. 

Some things (like housekeepers) are just worth it.

Dogs.  In my mind, can’t live without ‘em and can’t grow flowers.  It’s either one or the other folks…but I am convinced that you can’t have both.  A few weeks ago, Phillip and I spent the better part of a weekend building a brick retaining wall around our blueberry trees in the back yard – also where our dogs spend the day while we are at work.  

So we have this great new manicured area and the only thing missing was flowers.  A quick trip to HomeDepot solved the problem and within an hour or so I was home with about 8 or 10 new flowering plants stragetically selected for color and size.  Phillip and I carefully arranged and planted them with three very curious 4-legged onlookers sniffing and smelling and just generally getting in the way.  The end result was beautiful and Phillip and I high-fived each other congratulating ourselves with one of our first ”completed” projects of the season. 

The first few days of the work week went by and things were fine – we would get home from work and everything was just as we left it.

Today however, I get home after a long day – to find that my petunias had found new homes randomly tossed across the deck and surrounding area near the bon fire pit. What, do they taste good?  Did Moose just decide he didn’t like the petunias and they simply needed to go?  The pink snapdragons and purple flowers (the exact name escapes me right now) were left untouched…but the white and red petunias were toast.  I just don’t get it. 

Needless to say, I managed to salvage a few of them and put them back in their place.  Lets see if they remain tomorrow.  I fear not.

Being honest, I can’t promise that I will post every day or even every week, but I thought I would give this a try. Heck, I don’t even know if what I have to say lately matters to anyone other than me, but I have always been a small fish in a very big pond and it gives me a certain sense of satisfaction knowing that my written words and posted pictures could reach people across the globe. It’s kinda cool…and scarey at the same time.

So I will keep this first post short and sweet, and maybe you will be compelled to check back from time to time and if I’m lucky you might comment as well!

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