Life Lessons

For as much as we criticize and cringe at Molly, there's a lot to be said for the way she lives her life. Often I think I could learn a few things from her. I'm not sure if it's the age I am at, or just a point I have reached, but I find myself lately trying to figure out the kind of person I want to be. When it comes down to it, I want to be like Molly- but less hairy.

Molly is grateful for the little things. She treats each day like it's her last. She doesn't care when it rains for seven days straight, or that it's so frigid and cold outside it's almost unbearable. She starts, and ends, each and every day happy. She eats the same food at the same time every morning and every evening- and each time, she gobbles it up like it's the best thing she has ever eaten. She treats dog cookies, lettuce, Timbits, cheese, and anything that falls on the floor the same way. She's just happy. Happy to be alive, and happy to be eating.

She is incredibly affectionate. This is a trait I think I am certainly lacking. I don't know why, but I've never really been one to initiate a hug, or to rub someone's back or comfort them while they cry- and when I do attempt this, it's super awkward. I might not be cold, but I'm certainly not warm either. I don't try to be like that, it's just the way I am. Molly, on the other hand, will hug and kiss every person who will let her, and never passes up the opportunity to cuddle up. When you're not feeling well, she goes from crazy dog to real life heating pad. She will lay beside you and keep you warm until you're ready to face the world again. She'll watch nine episodes of your favourite TV show and never complain, even though she would rather be out for a walk, or playing. She'll give you kisses when you cry (I'm serious!), like she knows you just need someone to say it will be okay. She is the best comfort and the best companion, always reminding you that you're loved, no matter what.

Comforting Clinton when he wasn't feeling well

Molly knows that if you feel good about yourself, you'll be a better person. It's true- when I go out with my hair a mess, wearing sweats, and unshowered, I feel yucky, and therefore I scowl. I try to get through whatever it is I am doing without making eye contact with too many people and praying to God that I don't run into anyone I know. If I have put in a little effort, and feel good about the way I look, I tend to be more smiley, less self conscious, and generally more cheerful. I'm trying not to sound vain here, and am aware that I am failing, but this has to be said. Molly always has her eyeliner freshly applied, and never leaves home without it. While her hair might not be brushed, it is always neat and shiny, and she wears her black collar with pride. Molly always looks beautiful, and is ready for a photo op, should one present itself. You'll never see her untag a Facebook photo- she's ready.

Even as a puppy, she always had beautiful makeup

I think the most admirable trait of Molly's is her ability to forgive. She does not dwell on things, and no matter what you have done to her, she will love you just the same. For goodness sake, we used to lock her in a cage every time we left the house. On workdays, she would be in her crate for nine hours! I know she hated it, but every time we let her out, she showered us with love. "It's okay, really! I got a good nap in, and now you're here, so let's hang out!" We caged her like a shelter dog, and left her alone with the radio on (which is almost worse than the crate), but she never held it against us. Yesterday, when we were out for a walk, I accidentally kicked her in the head (I was in power walk mode, she was in sniff everything mode, and inevitably my foot and her face connected). I immediately knelt down and patted her, apologizing profusely, convinced she understood. She looked at me with her brown eyes (eyeliner and all) and licked my nose, as if to say "Don't sweat it." Molly is so happy to be near people, she forgets all the bad and just focuses on the good stuff- like the walk, the fresh air, the company, and all the smells in nature.

Molly is my idol- she's thankful, loving, patient, has a huge heart, and will hold nothing against anyone. She relishes in the simple pleasures in life, and wags her tail every time any one of us enters the room, reminding us that there is a creature on this Earth that loves us unconditionally. She appreciates the smallest things- from a treat to a simple pat on the head (or the belly, which is her true weakness), and never asks for more. Except when we're eating- then she asks for everything. But can you blame her?

Molly Modifications

I had no clue the impact having a dog would have on our household. I knew things would be different, but when they say it's good practice for a baby, they're right (whoever they are). Of course there were the obvious things, like getting a leash, food dishes, food, etc. But there were some changes we were forced to make that had never crossed our minds...as Clinton says "Oh, another modification for Molly."

1. We have a baby gate- but no baby. This used to keep Molly away from the litter box in our old place, and in our current house keeps her off the top floor altogether (which is where the litter boxes are housed now). Molly knows how to break down the gate, either by knocking it over, or pushing it open with her nose, but for the most part it works.

Pros: everything upstairs is (generally) safe; we don't have to constantly monitor Molly since it confines her to the main floor; when guests come over, we have the option of preventing Molly from clobbering them by gating her upstairs. She will stand behind the gate, and just stare until she calms down. It saves a lot of headaches.

Cons: we have a baby gate on our stairs; the wall where the gate touches constantly has marks on it; the cats have to find new ways to get upstairs- Lucky jumps the gate, sometimes kicking it over with her back legs. She's fast and can jump great heights. Tucker, being a little more "big boned" gets up on the storage ottoman, and squeezes through the rungs on the railing- thus leaving them constantly in need of cleaning as well.

2. We must pick all articles of clothing up off the floor- we have lost shirts, pants, underwear, socks, bras, and just about every other type of clothing you can imagine due to Molly getting hold of it without anyone noticing. When we're upstairs, we let Molly come up too. The problem is, she does need to be watched more closely up there. Countless times, I have gotten out of the shower to find a trail of clothing shards leading to where she has decided to lay down at that time. She always looks ashamed, but not enough to stop her from doing it next time

Pros: we have to keep the floors clear of everything- most people grow out of throwing their clothes on the floor as adults anyway, but not us. This has helped us live more maturely.

Cons: if something falls out of the hamper, it's destroyed. So not only does everything need to be put away/put in the hamper, it has to be done in such a way that there is no chance of it hitting the floor...at any time...ever; Clinton does not own one pair of socks without a hole in them; Clinton's favourite pair of jogging pants are now being used as rags due the ass being chewed out of them when nobody was looking; when I fold laundry, I have to watch VERY carefully to ensure nothing falls on the floor without me noticing- more than once a sock has escaped, and I will find it in pieces on Molly's bed later.

3. Shoes must be put away- sort of: Molly is not a shoe chewer per se, but sometimes she will encounter a pair of shoes that stands out from the rest that she just has to chew on. Usually, these belong to people who are visiting us, so when they go to leave, it is not uncommon for them to find their shoes placed in the bathroom with the door closed- done discreetly by me when I catch Molly with her face in them.

Pros: our entryway is, for the most part, neat and tidy; there is no "shoe pile" at the door, although sometimes they start to collect (shoes Molly has no interest in tend to stay out because of our excitement over the fact that we don't have to put them away if we don't feel like it) ***side note- right now there is a bike in our entryway, which takes away from the lack of clutter- but it's not permanent, and therefore I can ignore it***

Cons: we have lost good shoes to this- Clinton's "vintage" (i.e. "old") Umbros fell victim to Molly, as have a couple pairs of my flats; sometimes she is discreet and we don't notice right away that she has chewed a shoe until we get into public- like the day I went to work, and discovered one of my shoes was missing a bow, or the insole had been ripped out

4. We have to feed the cats right before bed: Tucker, our larger cat, gets incredibly cranky when he is hungry. If he doesn't eat every few hours, look out. He tends to go after Lucky, which eventually leads to some hissing, and meowing. Because Tucker is "cushy", we used to try and watch how much we fed him. However, since getting Molly, we have discovered that once the cats start making noise in the night, she just has to see what's going on. This has led to her getting in and out of the bed multiple times a night, only to come back two minutes later, and scratch us to let her back under the covers (yes, she sleeps in our bed under the covers- BIG DEAL). Nobody sleeps, and therefore mornings are very unpleasant for everyone- except Molly, who takes that time to catch some zzzz's. We've discovered that if we feed the cats right before bed, Tucker is pretty zonked until about 5:30am...which is better than being woken at 2am because he's pissy.

Pros: there are no pros to feeding the cats before bed, aside from the reason we do it, which is to keep Molly asleep

Cons: Tucker's health is probably being jeopardized because of how husky he is getting/continues to get, but we selfishly choose sleep over non-clogged kitty arteries; we spend more money on dry food now (the cats only used to get it sometimes); Tucker expects this feeding, so if I forget, I am soon reminded- about three minutes after falling asleep.

5. Having visitors involves major prep: There should always be something in the cupboard to act as a distracter for Molly if we're having company/someone pops by. Molly should also be walked if we're expecting guests. We usually walk her twice a day anyway, but if we're having people over, we try to really exhaust her because she is BONKERS for new people. I've seen her run laps around the house, jumping on furniture and barking at nothing before slamming herself into someone who has just entered our house. When everyone settles down inside, she then jumps on them, licks them, etc. And if we make her stop, she gets on the back of the couch/chair, and before we know it, she's licking someone's face. Not everyone likes saliva all over them, we've discovered. But when we try to catch her/stop her, she's off again, running around like a lunatic, while we look like complete idiots trying to calm her down. I apologize profusely, red faced, while Clinton probably prays to a higher power to transport him to another place and time. Don't get me wrong- this does not happen every single time- only on some occasions, like when Clinton's relatives who I have never met stop in. "Hi, I'm Clinton's wife, and this is my Gremlin who I accidentally fed after midnight. Excuse me while I try to lasso and sedate her. Make yourselves at home."

Pros: we get lots of exercise

Cons: visitor anxiety; fear of a knock on the door; people unfriend us since they hate coming to our house; eye rolls from Chuck Teed (kidding Chuck- just giving you a shout out!)

6. Our blinds are always shut: our neighbours probably think we're hiding bodies or something because we never have our blinds open. This is because Molly barks loudly at every single thing that goes by- people, dogs, people with dogs (her favourite), squirrels, leaves- you name it, she has barked at it. We figure by eliminating her odds of seeing people passing by, we save ourselves a literal headache.

Pros: it's nice and shady in our house (this is sarcastic- I would much rather let the natural light in)

Cons: no natural light; blinds in constant disarray because every now and again Molly catches a glimpse of something going by, and proceeds to scream at them from her perch.

These are only a few things that we had to change in our house to avoid damage/conflict with Molly. In some ways, these changes have been good, and in others not so good (like visitor stress). However, I know (and fear) that one day, when we put the baby gate away, and can toss our dirty socks on the floor, the house will feel very empty. Therefore, rather than driving Molly to a remote area with a lot of squirrels and freeing her, I vent by posting things like this. It allows me to love her more (which I really don't think is possible), and laugh at reading her quirks on paper (screen?).

PS- I feel like I should mention that I sit here finishing this post after going to bed at 2:30am, and being woken consistently through the night by Molly and Tucker. When I finally surfaced at 7:00 (which is considered sleeping in to me now), I found Molly ripping apart one of my bras in the hallway. Happy Sunday.

Dog Jog Blog

I love animals. I love people that help animals.

This year, my stepdaughter, Ashley, and I decided we wanted to do the annual Dog Jog with our local SPCA. The name is exactly what the event is- people get together and "jog" (though I did not see one person jogging) with their dogs, while raising money for the shelter. This year was an especially important one for our SPCA- last week, they made the announcement that they would be closing due to lack of funds. It was devastating to read this in the paper, as it was hard to imagine what would happen to all the homeless/abandoned/lost animals in our area. Believe me, there are enough to justify a shelter, and it seems lately more and more animals are just being left at their door. It was amazing to see the outpouring of concern by the people of our city, and the amount of money the shelter was able to raise in one week. Combine that with the money they will receive from the sale of one of their properties, and they will be able to stay open- for now, anyway. As they said, expenses will continue to grow, and they still need all the help they can get. IN this moment, though, we can all breathe a sigh of relief knowing that someone is looking out for the furballs who can't look out for themselves.

Ashley and Molly, enjoying the tropical weather, pre-walk

I wasn't sure how Molly would do at an event like this one. To say she is high strung would be an understatement, and I had visions of having my shoulder being dislocated due to her pulling me every which way to sniff every single dog butt in sight. Molly met my expectations upon arriving and heading for the registration booth. When the nice lady asked me our dog's name and age, Molly let out a famous beagle "Aroooooo", which echoed across all of Rockwood Park. "Here we go", I thought.Molly's insanity will be in full swing, and I would probably leave frustrated and embarrassed.

Since we were early, we decided to take a stroll around to kill some time before the actual walk began. The first dog we met was a large, and very sweet, Golden Lab. Molly pulled and pulled with all her strength and determination to get to this gentle giant, only to get right to in its face and cry bloody murder. She yelped as if this dog was trying to bite her head off, when in reality, all he did was look at her with his big, brown eyes. Can you say DRAMA QUEEN? I sheepishly apologized to the dog's owner, who was more than understanding, and off we went. Surprisingly, Molly was fantastic for the remainder of the pre-walk. She greeted all the dogs without the "Stop trying to kill me!" reaction she had displayed earlier, she didn't pull, and she was quiet as a mouse. It was blissful, and I can honestly say she stayed this way the rest of the day.

Shortly before the walk started, we met a nice couple and their Puggle puppy, Mia. I LOVE Puggles, and used to beg Clinton for one. I just think the combo of a pug/beagle is genius! And Mia had just the right features from both breeds- the floppy beagle ears, the little wrinkle forehead, the beagle body- okay, she was like 85% beagle, which could be why I took such a shining to her. But she truly was beautiful, and had a great personality. She was 8-months old, so hearing some of their stories brought back memories of when Molly was younger- memories that seem funnier now than they did at the time. While talking to Mia's owners, we also met up with our friends Robbie and Tyah and their Golden Retriever puppy, Tipper. When I say Tipper is freaking adorable, I mean she is freaking adorable. I could have taken her home in a heartbeat and never looked back.

The walk began, and off we went. We quickly lost Mia and her humans (whose names I regrettably did not catch), as she was a racer and wanted to get going. It was nice to see so many people and their dogs in one place, and I can say that it is impressive how well behaved all these animals were. I really thought it was going to be a madhouse.

And we're off!

The real fun, though, began after the walk. We met up with Mia, and while Tipper ran circles around us off her leash (I wonder what that's like), Molly did her best to get in on the action. When you have a 4 foot leash, you don't get to do much. Mia's owners suggested we take the dogs to the dog park and let them run off their leashes. I was nervous, but Molly was so playful, I decided it would be fun for her. And since she had two new friends, why not?

In typical Molly fashion, she was off like a bullet as soon as I removed her leash. Just running to run, I am sure she was enjoying the freedom. Mia scampered behind her, barking and yelping, saying "Wait Molly! Wait!" in my head. It was great to watch them. Tipper, being so young, took a little longer to get in on the action, but quickly caught on, and was in amongst the insanity before long. Then something happened- something that made me realize Molly is not a puppy anymore, and actually opened my eyes to how much she has changed. She stopped running, she had drool hanging off her face, and she looked as though she needed a puffer. While Tipper, Mia, and the other dogs continued to romp around, Molly stayed off to the side, catching her breath. This floored me- my Molly, stopping play to rest? Wha? And the other dogs just kept on going...and going...and going. Eventually, Molly rejoined the action, but I think it might have been because she was feeling the pressure.

Tipper and Mia, coaxing Molly to rejoin the fun

Though she's the oldest, she's still the quickest- trailed by Mia, and then little Tipper

"I'd appreciate if you'd leave my bum out of this". New friend, Tucker, definitely tried to hook up with Molly once or twice.

After the playing, Molly once again stopped for a break. She was standing alone in the corner, while Tipper and Mia continued to romp, when a little girl and her parents came strolling along outside the gate. The girl said "Aw, look at those dogs!" She stopped and looked at Molly, and said "That one is all lonely." Break my heart! Honestly, if Molly was a kid, and that was a playground, I might have cried.

All in all, a very successful day! Molly made some friends, got some exercise, and to boot helped to raise money for the SPCA! We will definitely be doing this again each year!