Thursday, March 5, 2009

Puppy Love

In the past week or two there's been a sort of rotation of animals in and out of our house. We are on a search for a companion for our Boxer. Jojo needs a friend to help occupy the long daytime hours while the Mrs. works at her desk. For awhile, she could take Jojo outside and let her play with a Lab puppy from the trailer park next door. We have no idea what this dog's name is or exactly who it belonged to, but it was nice for them to go out and play because the puppy is more energetic than either me or my wife when it comes to the things Jojo prefers to do (like be pursued with a stick in her mouth, be pursued with a tennis ball in her mouth, or just be pursued).

Then, as has been detailed in the earlier post by the Mrs., we let a small cat in our house. The cat behaved admirably and we'd even changed his name to Diego, which somehow seems to suit his tattered appearance even more than "Dusty." One day last week I came into my office, which is across the hall from our guest bathroom where Diego's litter is set up, and there was the distinct odor of cat urine hanging in the room. The smell was so pervasive that I was sure Diego had slipped in here and micturated on my rug or office chair. I mopped the floor and laundered the carpet. Still the smell persisted. It was the spectral stench of Diego's litter box.

Somehow this tiny cat can muster an unstoppable flow of feces and urine. When I cleaned out his box, I was astonished by the sheer amount of his waste. It was like we were living with a horse. So, we decided to make Diego and "outside cat" and put a beach towel on a lawn chair in our carport. We feed and water him, but he tries to jostle his way inside every time I open the door. I feel sorry for him, especially on cold nights, but the smell is too overwhelming.

Then the news came down about the puppy next door. Her owners said that they were going to move and could not keep Jackie (her name, not ours). The man told Mrs. Carpetbagger that he was just going to call the pound to pick her up. We all knew what that means. She might hang around a couple weeks in the cages on the slim chance that someone would happen by and adopt her. More likely, she would get "the long stick goodnight."

I'm a softie and so is the Mrs. We said we'd take Jackie and brought her home at the beginning of this week. We then found out that these people moved TWO DOORS DOWN in the same trailer park. I can't imagine that the animal laws are a whole hell of a lot different if you are 65 feet away from where you just lived--but okay ... fine ...

We want to rename Jackie, but it's been tough. Mostly we still call her "Puppy" from before we knew her name. We decided on Chloe, but I keep accidently calling her Clio. The puppy doesn't seem to know or care about her name. Her sole goals in life seem to be: getting on Jojo's nerves and going to the bathroom in the house.

Here's to hoping the housebreaking goes well.

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