For The Love Of A Dog

 8/24/2020

In my first life, and yes I indeed had one. Good news is/was that after 5 years of marriage, my husband, at the time, wanted out to pursue  relationships. I didn't know it at the time, but this man gave me a "get out of marriage", and in looking back, he did yours truly, a solid.

When I met Jeffrey, I told him that owning a dog, would be a deal breaker. For reasons that I won't go into, just the mere mention of a dog (in that previous time, dogs ate before I did).

A few years after we were married, our oldest son, became quite ill. No reason that I can remember, we bought a Springer Spaniel puppy. The child became better soon, but not before we adopted this puppy. I think the dog's name was Charlie (and Jeffrey will be happy to remind me later, if the name is wrong).

The problem with owning a spaniel, or any other breed where the ears hang down, there is a huge ponderous (sp and I hope I'm using the right name), to suffer from ear infections. And, this dog was no exception. 

By the time we left California for Maryland, we owned a West Highland Terrier. Name, also forgotten. Anyway, this dog, like most terriers seem to always be given you the sign "middle paw", Terriers, at least in my opinion, are very reluctant to follow instructions! They are lovely dogs, but you need to have the upper hand when dealing with a terrier. 

Long story short, somehow we ended up with puppies. For a small dog, she produced a good number of puppies. We made a doggy pen, with a throw-away piece of carpet for the bottom. 

The boys took giving away the puppies as some kind of cruelty on our part. Years later, we owned a Westie, also stubborn, who lived to be around 15 years old.

Over the years, we had dogs named: Daisy (the name of a cow mentioned in the book I was reading). Then we had, through those same years, dogs named: Suzie, Maggie, and Sam (the terrier).

Four years ago, both Sam and Maggie, were getting up in years and both became ill. The illnesses, for both dogs, was partly because they were old, but there were other problems as well. We had to put down these two dogs one week after the other. And, our house was very quiet. 

We had a remedy for that, of course, and we adopted a little terrier mix (Daisy). Now, in her defense, and she does need one, Daisy is the most loving dog we've ever owned.

The second dog we adopted, almost a week later, is named Bella. Bella has very short blonde hair, and black spots on her tongue. Here's what I do about this dog. Jeff has worked with Bella, over the course of the four years, we've had her, to be a service dog for me. No professional training, but when she has her vest on, she knows her mission. Bella has never acted out in public, nor, has she ever, made a potty mess. 

When we go to Hopkins, the name used for the medical center where we go, Bella just lays down in front of us. We have, over the years, discouraged people who want to pet her. We make very few exceptions, but we do for a child in a wheelchair. Her service dog patch says "not all disabilities are visible". We bought that tag to discourage from people giving me "the look". If you're "mental", such as I am, I don't want to have to explain to strangers, and frankly it's none of their business, what the disability is. 

But, here's what I need you to know about her. Once the vest is off, Bella becomes just a regular dog. And, what she does for me, in public is a dog that walks beside me, and I can lean against her if I need to.

Here's the weirdest thing about Bella. She can be anywhere in the house, and knows that I'm crying, sad, etc. She will find me. Once I have her full attention, she puts her front paws on my legs. and licks my face. I always give Bella a huge hug, she's like my own security blanket. After the hug, she licks my face again, and stares at me. Once I'm feeling better, I put my face down next to her, and tell her that I'm okay. How does Bella, or any other kind of dog, know to do this? Or, is it part of her DNA? 

We share our bed, as we have done before, the bed with the dogs. Daisy has a need to lick Jeff's face before she goes to sleep. At the end of the bed, and for only a few moments, Bella will get something out of her toy box to chew on. The chewing doesn't last long, or perhaps I've already gone to sleep. It seems as if she has this need, perhaps like a pacifier for a baby to have a knaw on something before settling in for the night.

And, like the alarm clock in the alligator, named Tick-Tock, both of the girls, absolutely know when it's time for breakfast. They also make sure that we know that's it breakfast time too. But, by the looks of them, it's quite obvious that they haven't missed many meals.

We're supposed to have a very warm/hot week. Thank goodness for air conditioning. Did our weekly shop yesterday. I had a fall on Saturday, which has left me both bruised and sore. This was the second fall for me, during the week. I guess I wobble, and then down I go. Thank heavens for good bones, otherwise, I'd have broken some bone when I fall. Let's drink milk people. And, if you're a "dunker" like me, dipping a cookie into the milk, is like icing on a cake. But, it takes a special skill to know when dipping has completely dissolved your cookie!

Our week's weather calls for mostly hot and rainy weather. This kind of weather, mostly because of the humidity, keeps many people home. At least, that's me for sure.

Stay safe everyone.

P