# We got a dog…
## Sun 12 Feb 2023 08:57:17 AM EST
So, we got a dog. And it’s in the house. And I hate dogs in houses.
It’s been a few days since we brought the dog home. I can’t remember what day it was.
I can’t think of much to say that won’t make me sound like a total ass.
[*sigh*]
So, the other week the Mrs. sends me a message saying that she’s going to visit with an associate of hers to she the pups that the associate has been raising. I think nothing of it because, yeah, ok, associate has pups and is proud of them and has a want and or need to show them off in order to re-home them, yada-yada-yada; we ain’t getting one, she’s just checking them out. I would say I should’ve known better, but, no, I really shouldn’t have–the Mrs. doesn’t typically do anything on a whim, nor does she usually do any of the stereotypical girly things of falling for baby animals, and so on. Well…
So, later that evening when she’s retelling her day, the pups do come up, of course. I’m asked in a kind of cutesy and excited voice if I want to see pictures. Quickly, I say no–because I really don’t care what a mess of pups that I have no connection with looks like. Yeah, well…
After two nights of having to deal with a depressed wife and us rehashing our plans to get a dog later this year, I cave and say we can go ahead and get a pup.
…and now the dog is sitting at my feet, under the kitchen table.
…and I hate having dogs in houses.
[*sigh*]
The plan was–or the *original* plan was–to perform maintenace on the fence dividing ours and our direct neighbor’s property and then construct a fence in the back yard in which to 1.) contain / restrict our kids when we’re outside 2.) keep the pack of mutts our varied neighbors have out of our yard; after the fencework was completed, we’d look for a pup to become the family mutt. The timeline for this was to be hopefully no later than late summer, so that the pup would be able to grow and be prepped for an outdoor life come winter.
Well, that didn’t happen, obviously, as we haven’t even gotten to spring yet. So, we’ve got a pup inside the house, as she’s too young to fend off the other dogs and it’s too cold outside for her.
[*grrr*]
So, we’re hoping to speed up plans on fencework once funds come available. I need to keep those murderous sons-of-bitches out of the yard. Yes, murderous. They killed our cats.
It’s kind of to be expected that a family of cats might need to take some time to adjust when moving–hey, this window is mine, that corner is mine–whatever. Okay, let me back up a second and define the plural family as two in our case. Anyway, the cats had a nice time trying to adjust to our new home and had left many markings and protesting gestures all over the house. I finally saw an end to cleaning up messes about a month or two later, and then; spring came and for whatever reason they started leaving messes for me to clean, again. One day, shortly after cleaning up a fresh mess, I get presented a new one in the exact same spot. That’s it–cats outside for the day. One came back that evening; the other scared us and came back a week later. Regardless, both did come back, and did so unharmed. The one actually began to ask to go out, which wasn’t surprising, as he’d always had an interest in the outdoors and would slip out whenever he’d gotten a chance.
Awesome; these cats are seemingly cool with being indoor/outdoor cats–something I’d loved about the cats I’d had as a child.
Well, unfortanetely, that didn’t turn out. Several weeks later, the one that started asking to be let out regularly disappeared. A week or so later I’d found a part of an animal in the yard, but didn’t connect it to my missing cat as it didn’t resemble my cat.
A month later, I’d let the other cat out–he, too, disappeared. I found him–or most of him–a couple days later in the barn surrounded by dog prints. And no, I don’t feel as though I’m not jumping to conclusions, as I’ve chased the neighbors’ dogs out of my yard and out of my barn ever since we moved in.
Anyway. I need to keep those mongrels out my yard before putting any animals out there.
[In the somewhat near future we also plan to raise a few chicks for egg production; and an interesting little thing happens whence we raise chicks–we’re given permission, per state law, to fire upon dogs that are suspected or guilty of agitating or harming livestock. I’m planning on putting a camera on our coop after we build it, and getting some sort of non-lethal weapon.]
[*sigh*]
So, yeah, we have a dog.
…and it’s in the house.
…and I hate dogs in houses.
…and I can hardly wait to be able to move it outside.
Thanks for reading;
–J
=> ../ Go back to the main site
One thought on “We got a dog…”