The Diva Is Taking Over

Dan has decided to relinquish most of the writing duties on Molly's World to me, Molly, as it should be. I have more to say anyway.

Last night I stole Dan's pillow and slept on it all night long. Rain and cold weather makes these old bones hurt, I am almost 70 years old, and I stayed on the couch all day long yesterday, napping and resting. That is why I decided to sleep on Dan's bed last night and I thought his pillow would help me rest better and and it did. The electric blanket really helps too. Dan does take good care of me.

A Day In The Life Of Molly- Part IV

Every once in a while, Dan will take me for a ride in his car. I love riding! I stand on the console in his car and I can see everything. Sometimes we'll just ride around and other times he will take me to the park where I can run around and commune with nature. When we lived in Gastonia we had a park near our apartment and it was my favorite. We would go early in the morning when nobody was there and I had the run of the place. Thousands of different smells and bushes and trees! It was awesome! I almost ran out of pee one time but I mustered up enough for one last drop.

I even tried driving one time but Dan didn't like that. We were driving down I-85 near Charlotte and he hit about 80 MPH and I thought driving looked like fun. Just being behind the wheel going that fast was exhilarating! However, I did not appreciate being told to get my fat, hairy ass out of his lap. It's winter weight!

A Day In The Life Of Molly- Day III

Dan likes to take me on walks and every once in a while we run across that dumb Boxer next door, Honey. He is always trying to get me to play with her and I just don't like her. She's dumb and she smells bad and she is just really annoying. We always growl at each other and Dan thinks I'm kidding around with her and I'll let him think that. I just really want to slap the bitch!

The ones I really don't like are those three mongrels that live in the house down in the corner. Their owner lets them run all over the neighborhood and they are always in my yard. One day I look at the window and one of them is taking a dump in Dan's flower bed. I barked at them "Get your flea bitten ass out of my yard!" but they didn't listen. Their owner was standing there watching them do it.

I talked Dan into a retaliatory strike the next day. It had snowed so Dan walked me down to their yard and I took a dump right beside their mailbox on top of the snow where they would make sure they saw it. I hope they stepped in it. All I had to say was "Special delivery from Molly!"

A Day In The Life Of Molly- Part II

The only time Dan really gets mad at me is when I wake him up at 2:30 in the morning. I need a mid-night snack and I believe 4 or 5 hours is plenty enough sleep. If he's tired he really gets pissed at me but he still staggers to the pantry, digs me out a Munchy Bone (my favorite), and hands it to me. If he is extrememly grouchy, I let him go back to sleep.

When I am ready to go out for a walk, I make sure he sees me doing my stretching exercises (it is important to warm up) and that usually lets him know that I am ready to go. If he is still in bed, I make sure I jump up on the bed and do my calisthenics. If he is still insistent on staying in bed, I resort to old faithful and give him the old cold nose under the covers.

A Day In The Life Of Molly- Part I

A friend suggested that I turn the keyboard over to Molly for a day and let her write her own entry from her perspective and in her own words.

I must say that Dan treats me pretty well and I have no complaints there. He takes me out when I need to go out, keeps my water bowl full, keeps me fed, and is always there with a treat or some dog biscuits when I need a little snack in the afternoons.

He changed my food recently to some kind of healthy diet stuff and it really gives me gas. He'll be sitting there watching TV and I'll drop a bomb on him and it is so funny. He starts gagging and cussing and sometimes he will get up and leave the room. I will act like I am asleep the whole time and I will slowly wag my tail to make sure I fan it for maximum effect. Hey, he farts on me!

The Aptitude Of A Dog

I have always believed that a dog has a special aptitude to know when their owner is hurting or sick and will show their concern accordingly. I don't know whether it is true or not, but I believe it and I have seen Molly demonstrate her concern for me and protect me from those that may further injure me.

Molly is no different from other dogs in that respect. After one of my operations on my right foot, Molly got up beside me on the bed, laid right by my foot, and dared anyone to come anywhere close to me. Since my roommate was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer, she has paid particular attention to his pain. She will lay patiently outside his bedroom door and wait on him to get up so she can check on him.

Molly And Her Supper Dish

I grew up reading Peanuts cartoons where Snoopy would carry his supper dish to the back door, bang on it, and expect it to be filled. Molly has added her own twist to that story. I have to take her supper dish with us from room to room so she can always have it handy if she decides to eat anything. She needs to maintain her strength for all of that napping and eating she has been doing although her and Honey, the Boxer next door, did play a game of "growl and chase" when I took her out tonight.

Growl and chase is a game of Honey and Molly's creation and it is played something like this. They walk slowly up to each other and stand nose-to-nose. The first one to flinch gets growled at and chased by the other one. Molly was on a roll tonight as she pitched a shutout. Of course, Honey cried foul because I act as the referee but I try to be as impartial as I can.

Daddy The Protector

Molly likes playing with my roommate and they go at each other all the time. Its funny because when my roommate gets a little bit too rough for her, she will run and hide behind me. As soon as he turns his back, she will go charging at him for the sneak attack. As soon as he mounts a counter attack, its back to hiding behind me. Its all part of the game and Molly loves games.

What is not part of the game is the fact that my roommate has pancreatic cancer. It is a vicious game that no one wants to play and very few people win. Molly can sense that something is wrong with him and she is trying to help in her own way.

Molly Wants To Brawl

There are times when Molly just wants to fight with me. She has a bit of barroom brawler in her. She challenges me by continuously barking at me and then she'll make a charge at me. I'll get down in the floor to accept her challenge and the fight is on.

She hardly fights fair and there is usually alot of biting and hitting me from behind. I put her in a few headlocks and give her some noogies and I keep throwing her out of the octagon (its actually one of the bedrooms in my house but she likes to pretend). That usually makes her mad and once she lays her ears flat and starts biting real hard it is time to start wrapping it up. We always hug and shake hands after it is over to show there are no hard feelings.

Inspiration From A Friend

A friend of mine I work with brought me something this morning at work that she had written and wanted me to read. She had written an essay about her four pets- two dogs and two cats- and how they had come to be in her family. It was very well written and it was written with emotion and I was impressed. She wanted my opinion and I told her I would not change a thing. Her and I could swap animal stories all day long and there are days where we have.

She has inspired me to tell the story about how Molly ended up in my family. We went to the Henderson County Animal Shelter at about 11 AM one Saturday morning. My wife told me that she was tired of seeing me mope around the house without a dog to hang out with and I was going to go pick me one out.

We walked around to the cage and there were about thirty dogs in one cage and Molly was fighting over the top of all of them to get my attention. She was the smallest puppy in there. I told the guy "that is the one I want," and pointed to Molly. Little did I know that it was her last day there and she only had five minutes left. I shudder to think beyond that.

The ride home was an adventure. We put her in a cardboard box and I had to slam on the brakes when a car pulled out in front of us. Molly and her box went tumbling end-over-end under the front dashboard of the car. I couldn't help but laugh when she slowly peaked out of the box to see what had happened. That was Molly's first hour in the Gibbs family and it has been a beautiful end-over-end ride ever since.

Molly As A Therapy Dog

In Molly's lifetime with me she has worn many hats. Defender, Counselor, Friend, Sidekick, and Wing Man (although she likes to be called a Wing Dog). Now the label of Therapy Dog can be applied to Molly's long list as well.

My friend and roommate was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer on October 31. After spending eight days in the hospital, I finally got to go pick him up last night. When I got him home, Molly was so excited to see him and she immediately demanded his attention. If there is anything that will make you feel better, it is the divine attention of a dog.

This morning when we got up, she immediately went to his door and sat patiently outside of his door waiting on him to get up. This was, of course, after she had her morning treat and visited her favorite neighborhood trees. Hey, first things first.

Molly followed the same routine this afternoon when I got home. She waited patiently outside his door and when he came out, she immediately demanded his attention. She thought that him giving her a belly rub would make him feel better. I think it worked. There were smiles all around.

Molly Is Family

I had someone tell me yesterday that they had read Molly's World and they liked it very much because I treated Molly as a family member. I had never really thought about that before but she is a family member. I spend more time with her than I do my family, I talk to her more, and she definitely understands me a whole lot better.

Molly picks me up when I am down, she helps take care of me when I am sick, she gives great advice with a simple "Woof" or a raise of the eyebrow, and she protects me from everything from animals to people. I have always trusted Molly's instincts on whether I should trust someone or not and more often than not, she is right. Although I would never do it, Molly can tell alot about a person by sniffing their butt.

Daylight Savings Time

Early Sunday morning at 2 AM the phenomenon known as Daylight Savings Time began and Molly thought we should go celebrate. She woke me up at precisely 2 AM so I could take her outside so she could fertilize the neighbors yard. I thought it was an unusual way to celebrate but Molly has always danced to the beat of her own drummer so I went with that. It was also 2 AM in the morning, what else was I going to do? Luckily the celebration didn't last long and I am just glad Molly didn't want to join the Polar Bear Club by jumping in the creek across the street. I celebrated with some Grey Goose Vodka and grape juice once we got in the house.

The Life OF Pee Wee

My Mom's dog Pee Wee died one morning last week and I expected it to happen one day soon but it surprised me all the same. It surprised me because that dog had a will to live like no other dog I had ever seen before. He was completely blind, could barely stand up, but he kept plugging along. We all suggested that Mom have him put to sleep but she always refused with tears streaming down her face. She is 75 years old, has had three different kinds of cancer, so she knows something about plugging along and a will to live.

We estimate that Pee Wee was somewhere between 16 and 17 years old and he was my Dad's favorite before Pops passed away in 2007. Pops was put in hospice care the week before he died so we decided it would be a good thing to take Pee Wee to see him before he passed away. Pops was in a coma by this time and we put Pee Wee up on the bed with him and the poor dog kept pawing at my Dad's hand wanting to be petted. Pee Wee could not understand why Pops wasn't getting him to fetch his damn hat or some other ridiculous item.

Pee Wee was Pops favorite dog and he took him everywhere with him- to Wal-Mart, to the barbershop, to his favorite General store. Pee Wee was his copilot. My youngest sister took Pee Wee in as an orphan when he was about two years old and Pops didn't want to have much to do with him at first. He was just another stray animal one of his kids had taken in. Pops must have seen some great potential in Pee Wee because pretty soon they were inseparable. Pops and Pee Wee could have been stars on David Letterman's stupid pet tricks and even without the fame and fortune, Pops had to show everyone that came over to our house what Pee Wee could do.

After Pops passed away, Pee Wee became Mom's dog as they battled the problems of getting old together. They fought the good fight but it was time for Pee Wee to go and he went peacefully in his sleep as all good dogs should. My nephew Kyle buried him in the Pet Cemetery behind the house so he could joing the rest of the bird dogs and family pets that have crossed over to the other side.