Watch Your Step

Recently, Alex, my oldest daughter had been campaigning to become a doggy mommy. Her dad and I knew that was not an ideal situation, and had worked hard at putting her off. We can’t get her to be responsible enough to bring towels to the laundry room, how was she going to take care of something that was alive?

She finally started pointing out that her sister has multiple pets living in our home and we “never let her have any pet’s of her own”.  Honestly, I am thinking what with all the dishes and snacks she has squirreled away in her room, she’s got pets. She’s just never seen ‘em cause I’m sure they only come out at night.

Lucky for us, right before Thanksgiving a family at church was moving. They just so happened to have the ideal puppy for her. I’m still not sure how they knew Alex was in the market for a dog and I found it hard to believe how such a wonderful pet was up for grabs. We made known our expectations regarding her responsibility toward this Shangri La of a dog and wondered to ourselves what we had agreed to.  Alex drove over to their home to pick up her baby and the rest is history.

Alex has never been one to get too involved with the details and was excited to report this bundle of perfection was 6 weeks old. She was in fact 6 months old, never had her shots and came with the Disclaimer of “Not Housebroken”. She is supposed to be a mixture of Chihuahua and Shi Tzu. She looks more like beagle, Shi Tzu and a dab of something else. Not sure what, could be ground hog.

Her name is Roxie. I think the name she was given by the other family was Precious and after a couple of months I am still trying to figure out why. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that she is mean or destructive, nothing like that. She just leaks. Oh yeah, she snores and farts too.

Leaks? Yes, every time someone comes in the door, she leaks. We have found that if she is excited or frightened, she’s gonna do the doggie equivalent of wetting her pants. It can be frustrating to constantly walk around with an eagle eye to see if piddle pants lost control. On the other hand our floors are being mopped 3 or 4 times a week now. Compared to our previous schedule of 3 or 4 times a month, well, I guess we shouldn’t complain. Outside of that she is cute and has a wonderful temperament.

She has a face that only a mother could love and is sporting the grand-daddy of all under bites. Seriously, I’m not sure how she eats without sawing her nose off from underneath with her bottom jaw. Apparently she has an adenoid problem as well because she is snoring quite loudly as she lays here beside me. I’m beginning to think it’s probably sleep apnea because oxygen deprivation might explain her leaking.

I’m holding onto the hope that the leaking is just a puppy thing. I did notice today that she didn’t have an accident as she greeted me when I got home from work. Small victory to some but large in my eyes!

I am confident that eventually Roxie will get to be a big girl, my floor will go back to getting mopped 4 times a month and I won’t have to change my socks quite as often when I go scooting around the house without shoes on. For now, I just have to remember to watch my step.