A Dogs Life Update

Don't believe a word my personal private Muse Mama says!

Layla the Schnoodle dog and Lucy the Chocolate Lab have settled into a dog doesn't eat dog relationship. It took a while after Lucy's arrival for the fur to stop flying. Layla loved being an only dog and Lucy grew up with two little snappy pomegranate dogs who made her life miserable. She came with a couple of bad habits - don't get near my treats or toys and don't ever get near my food or you d-i-e.

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We were aware of this, and I spent a few weeks feeding Layla her dinner on the kitchen table while Lucy covertly ate hers with an eye on Layla. They had several run-ins, and each time Layla left the fray a bit worse for wear. She spent a lot of time feeling miserable and stuck to me like glue. As time went on they each found their place and space and worked out a peace treaty of sorts. They steal each other's toys and raw hides with out fear of injury. Layla, a wise dog, knows I will get her a replacement. Lucy, on the other hand looks at me with such sad eyes I go to Layla and extract Lucy's treat from her mouth and return it to Lucy.


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Layla still will not let Lucy come in our bedroom and she will not let Lucy in my office. Lucy is okay with that. She doesn't stand outside the door with her tail hanging and looking like a lost soul. She uses the opportunity to polish off any food left in Layla's dish and to get some personal play time with the Mister. If Layla eats out of Lucy's food dish Lucy doesn't get upset. When it's treat time Lucy moves off to a spot where she knows she won't have to kill Layla. Progress!


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About a month after Lucy's arrival Layla made a few playful jumps in front of Lucy and after Lucy stared at her like she was nuts for a while they started to learn how to play together. At first I stood nearby but I can trust them to play now. Lucy, as big as she, is gentle and Layla was never a yippy nippy dog, so playtime is safe and fun for them.


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Taking two dogs out together to do their business is the job of a puppet master. Layla goes one way, Lucy the other. They cross over and under each other and Layla always manages to wrap her lead around a tree, bush, fire hydrant, Lucy, Me or the mail box. But we manage. They race each other out the front door and stop just short of yanking my arm off. My left arm is 6 inches longer than the right one now, but a little therapy and a drink or two gets things back in order. Even when the Mister and I take them out together they manage to get their leashes in a tangle and the mister and I twirl around like the Sugar Plum Fairy trying to keep things in order.



Hey you! Yeah, you! Wanna buy a big brown dufus dog?

If you haven't read about their early days together - from Layla's point of view, in her post Dog Days of Summer, check it out now. Things were a bit dicey back then. Layla was not a happy dog. She's okay now. She'd sell Lucy on E-bay if she could, but she doesn't have a password yet. If you ever see a big brown dog with a stuffed gingerbread boy in her mouth on e-bay, please call me before the bidding gets out of hand.

Do Dogs Explode?

Layla the Dog, once a fearless pooch, unafraid of anything and everyone, has become increasingly fearful of thunderstorms. If she even senses the possibility her ears start to droop. During the storm she will sit on any available lap and shake like a little vibrating pillow. She will NOT go outside. At all. Ever. Til the sun is out and the birdies are singing.

Yesterday, being a case in point, I took her out "first thing in the morning" which was 9:30 by my current standards of sleeping however long I feel like and so what. Instead of doing her business, she found a tasty morsel of a half eaten (by who knows what) fig covered in sand, debris and ants. Once she finds a gourmet treasure like that all she wants to do is go back into the house, jump up on my bed and eat her yummy tidbit - on my white blanket. She cannot eat things outside. Why can't dogs eat stuff outside?

I could not get her to spit it out, eat it or give it to me to hold while she did her business. We were at an impasse. I finally had to let her back in the house. I was getting hot and thirsty. A few seconds later I hear The Mister, who is in the bedroom, say "What in the world is that and why are you eating it on the bed?"

An hour later I asked her if she would like to go out. She declined, having just heard a firecracker go off. During the next hour, and continuing on until 5:30 ish it clouded up and rained, poured, thundered, lightened and rained some more. Going out was out of the question. At this point, we are talking about a dog who has not done any outdoor business since 10:30 the previous night. Seventeen hours.

It finally stopped raining, but some neighbor hood child ran out and blasted off another %$#(%#&*^ firecracker causing additional delay. Finally at 6:30, fearing a dog explosion, I practically carried her out. Eighteen Hours. She sniffed around for 5 minutes, looking for the most perfect of spots and then FINALLY! Success! How do they do that? Do they have some kind of reabsorbtion process? Is this where the term "scared shitless" truly applies? I myself would have been dead by now. How do they do this????? Can someone out there please tell me?