I've always been a dog lover

This morning I picked up dog crap off the basement floor. Then scrubbed down the carpet. It was quite gross. I had 2 plastic bags over my hand and gloves. I don't know how city people do it all the time, but I haven't had to do that since Lucy was a puppy. Now she is a giant yellow Labrador Retriever that is equivalent in size to a baby calf. She isn't the brightest of dogs, but we love her anyway...most of the time.

We use to have 3 dogs until last summer. Abbie was our ol' collie mix. She has had arthritis for as long as I can remember. She came to us as a stray when I was just starting Kindergarten. Being 5, I wanted to name her Ariel after The Little Mermaid, of course, but dad decided on Abbie. She had like 12 puppies which made my brothers and I all very happy-until we had to give them all away. Then the same year she was hit by a car. It messed up her bladder really bad, but she was still a happy gal. Last summer we had to put her to sleep because she just quit moving. They say when dogs sense they are going to die, they go away to do it. She was down in the pond when I found her, just laying in the shallow end. I started crying. That dog hated water with all of her being. Giving her a bath was a battle. Mom and I carried her up to the garage, coaxed her, and gave her all of the delicious left over scraps from the fridge that we could find. The next morning she was in the exact same spot unwilling to even try to get up. Dad and I took her to the vet to put her to sleep. We stayed with her and I balled my eyes out the entire time. She was about 15.

Gunner was our Chocolate Labrador. We got him when I was in first grade because our coon dog, Chief died earlier due to old age and we didn't want Abbie to be lonely. We got him from Crestline and I remember dad getting me out of school at lunch time to go get him. He was the biggest, but most timid of the batch. His name was Bubba, but we all decided on Gunner. We took him everywhere. He loved going for rides in the back of the truck. He loved everyone and everyone loved Gun. In the summer, back when we still had our pool, if we left the gate open Gunner would jump in and swim around for a bit. Eventually we taught him how to use the ladder and get out himself haha. I even taught him how to play hide and seek. He was the best. The last time we saw him was a day when Skyrunner was hooking up our internet and a couple of joggers went by. Gunner and Lucy took off with them. Dad called them, but knew they would be back because they often took off exploring. Lucy came back, but Gunner didn't. We looked for him everywhere and made fliers. There were some phone calls, but it was two other female Chocolate Labs. We miss that ol' boy. He was at the age where he had arthritis too and was had a gray beard going on. He was about 11. Dad wished it was Lucy who didn't come back instead of Gunner haha.

Now we just have Lucy and one dog is plenty. My brother's nickname for her is 'Lucifer.' Her day consists of laying around, eating, sniffing through the gargage and occasionally getting into it, barking at the Amish, and standing at the door until we let her inside. She is supposed to stay in her dog bed in the entry way. Every night she tries to be sneaky and creep through the kitchen into the living room to sit by my dad in his chair. (as if we can't see her) Her ultimate goal is to climb up and sit with him. She is NOT a lap dog. The problem is she sheds like none other. When she shakes, thousands of yellow hairs go flying. I sweep everyday. We have to put a bench, a chair, and other misc. things along the bench at night so she doesn't jump over and lay on the couch when we are all sleeping. She's managed to do this anyway on many occasions. She's pretty lonely without Gunner. They were pals. Dad thinks she doesn't care because she is so selfish and now eats all of the food for herself and gets all the dog treats the mail lady throws out the window as she drives by. I think she's lonely though. We don't give her enough attention =(

In the future when I have my own house, I've decided that I would just like one smaller inside dog that doesn't shed a whole lot. I want to rescue one from a shelter. (I've done this before but that's a loooong story. His name was Chance, he was a pit bull/boxer/devil mix. Enough said.) All I know is that dogs make the best pets. Perhaps I'll get a Daschund and name him Lincoln Log, but call him Link for short. Or maybe just name him Charlie. For the longest time I wanted a white Great Dane with black spots all over it and I was going to name him Moo. After I read the book and saw the movie Marley and Me, it made me want a Chocolate Lab again. It made me miss Gunner. Who knows. We don't need another dog now though, Lucy is mean to any other dog that sets foot on our property anyway. She almost killed my Aunt's Daschund, Gracie, because she is equally fat and was attempting to eat Lucy's food. Go figure. I guess I'm just thinking ahead like I always do. I'm big on making plans.

All of this depressing and boring writing came from picking up dog crap. Odd. I could have talked about anything else in the world and I chose dogs. I apologize. I may have just lost my 2 readers. lol.

Hmmmk, byyyye.