It's a GIRL!

Monday night at work I talked to a coworker who's getting a divorce. She asked me if we'd be interested in her hamster. I said sure.....but I'd need to talk to Don about it. Then she said that she also needs a home for her dog. I said probably not, but I'd talk to Don since he's been talking about dogs lately. So we talked and then called Ashley and decided we'd pick up the dog on Tuesday and do a trial run for a week....see how we do with her, how the cats do with her and how she does with everything in our house/life.

When we got to Ashley's house, the dog barked but was very happy and excited...she warmed right up to us. We drove to BK since we hadn't had anything to eat yet and bought her some chicken tenders off the dollar menu for a treat (Ashley said they do that). She loved them. Then we went to Walmart to return some stuff and get a brush, bones and two toys for her. When we got home she was so scared of the cats she jumped up in my lap. I felt so sad for her. Ashley had a cat before, and she was afraid of that cat at first, too, but then they were buds and played together and everything. It's kind of funny, she's afraid of Pesto the most. Probably because he's the meekest, nicest boy ever and isn't afraid so he walks right up to her to sniff her and say hello. Basil is watching from afar and Garlic is very scared. Don got out the rats, too and she sniffed their backsides. They sniffed her, too. We went for a walk around the block and all the neighborhood dogs (never realized there were so many!) barked and barked...but she didn't! Not even once! She came right up to bed with us and slept really good.

Wednesday morning she woke up with me and was so happy and wagging. It was so fun to wake up to. My cats are happy to see me, too, but it was just different. I went to work and she spent the day with Don. When I got home the three of us went for a walk....a different way...so new smells to smell. We all loved it. She actually got warmed up some to the cats and wanted to play with them, but they didn't understand that yet. She's letting them walk closer and they sniffed her while she was sleeping. Sneaky, sneaky!

Today has been great, too! She's just so fun to have around! And so smart! She'll go to the front door to let us know she has to go out, but she'll then walk to the back door when we get up. I want her to go in the back, not the front, so we've been consistantly doing this. But we go out the front door for walks. I've tried to take pictures of her and she won't look up at me, but hopefully that'll change with time.

Well, without further ado, I introduce to you, Prancer, our three year old German Shepherd, Chow, Golden Retriever mix.

Lost & Found

Last Sunday night when I got home from work I was assaulted with the smell of cat pee/spray. I cleaned the boxes, and they were both really empty. So we figured Garlic was spraying again (he has yet to be declawed and neutered, our little Humpy One).

So last Monday I was realizing that I hadn't see Garlic since I was home. Then I realized I hadn't seen him the night before either, when I got home from work late. So I asked Don when the last time he saw Garlic was. He couldn't remember.

I started the hunt, panicked, remember poor Squishy's fate. You have to know, too, that Garlic is fairly shy and we think a little "off", and goes off by himself a lot (all my cats are house cats, so I'm referring to off in the house). I go downstairs and call his name and I hear him meowing plaintivly. I scream for Don to come down with me, cause I can't handle the thought of what I might find alone. I go by the washer/dryer/water softener/furnace area and hear him really clearly. I look behind the washer and dryer, I look IN the washer (the lid was up), I'm trying to figure out if he got in the furnace duct thingy, when I decide to open the dryer.

Pouring out of the bright light is the smell of poop and pee and a scared little kitty. He was up on one of those bar thingys...you know those things every foot or so in the dryer? The bottom was covered with fur, poop and pee. He wouldn't come to us for a couple hours, the poor guy was walking funny, and SMELLED bad! I cleaned up the dryer while bawling (Don's like, "Why are you crying? He's okay!") and then made a special treat for him so he'd come to me and I could try to pet, comfort and clean him. (All I did was mix a can of soft food with their dry food and gave some to each kitty-but they love it!) I wiped him down with baby wipes and he cleaned himself a lot, too.

A week later (almost) he still smells faintly of pee, the dryer is still holding on to a faint scent......

Oh, and we figure he was in there since Saturday, maybe Friday when Don finished washing the rats rags. I'm asuming that Garlic jumped in while Don was standing up with the basket and Don closed the door, thinking it was empty. I feel like an awful human being and an awful mama. It's just hard cause like I said, he'll go off into another place and be by himself a lot, whereas the other two tend to come see what we're up to.

He's doing fine now. Back to his normal self. But yeah, I need to figure out how to get that smell completely out of him!