Molly And Motorcycles

Molly does not like motorcycles. At all. Luckily there is only one in our parking lot at the apartment complex. Every time the owner cranks it up, Molly has a barking fit. I first noticed this problem (if you can even call it that) when we were driving to Hendersonville from Gastonia one afternoon. A harley rider pulled up beside us and Molly went ballistic. We passed him and left him in our dust (I showed him some raw 4-cylinder power) but Molly followed him all the way down the road until he was out of sight. I do not know what sets her off about motorcycles but whatever it is, it is not a good thing.

Sleeping Beauty

As any dog owner does, I worry about Molly as she gets older. She has always been a rather healthy dog and has really only had to go to the Vet once or twice outside of her yearly shots. I remember reading Marley & Me and it saying in the last year of Marley's life he had slept a lot. Molly is to that point now and she turned 11 years old a couple of weeks ago. Because of my job, she also spends a lot of time by herself and I really don't like that. Her being anti-social is kind of my fault as well but I can try to make her as comfortable as possible during her final years. She is a great friend, a better protector, and a great judge of character.

Move Over

Molly and I have an interesting dynamic when it comes to bed time. If Molly gets to the bed first, she picks her 2/3 and I get what is left. She picks different sides depending on her mood I suppose but since I have been having to get up at 2:30 in the morning now, she prefers to sleep on the side away from the alarm clock. She is not a big fan of the alarm clock. She usually stays in bed while I get dressed and eat my bowl of cereal and then she will meet me at the door for her early, early morning walk. We usually have the run of the apartment complex at the time of the morning. We are both creatures of habit.

Thunderstruck

I had to borrow this title from the song by AC/DC but when it comes to storms, it is an appropriate title as far as Molly is concerned. It started thindering heavily this afternoon and Molly assumed her place by my side as soon as it started. I see these advertisements on TV all the time for something called a "thundercoat or thunderjacket" made specifically for dogs that helps them during storms and helps keep them calm. The only problem with that is that I would never get the jacket on Molly because I can only imagine the brawl that would ensue. I might lose body parts and a short hospital stay might be mandatory but I would be willing to bet that at the end of the day, Molly would not be wearing the jacket.

Focusing

I have decided not to spend as much time on Facebook any more (that seems to only get me in trouble of some kind) and focus my attention more on my writing and on Molly. Molly is getting older now and our walks are becoming not as long and a whole lot slower but we are still out there. Not that my writing has been very lucrative for me (or for Molly) but it relaxes me and is how I best express myself. Molly seems to best express herself at nap time and when she is taking a dump but a dog has to do what a dog has to do. Giant George beat us to the punch on the book thing but Molly does not set herself apart with any outstanding physical characteristics like he does but she more than makes up for it with her "grumpy old men" personality.

Entitlement

I believe that dogs can posess a sense of entitlement that some people do. I saw a dog yesterday that was being carried to her car and the dog seemed to expect that treatment. Molly is more of a blue collar dog. She is always down in the dirt, working hard, and she hates the pampered treatment. She does like her well deserved treats for a job well done but that is about it. She hates being picked up unless she is hurt or something, she is not a lap dog, and she hates the doggy frills.

Bonding

I never realized how important bonding time is with a puppy until I met a friend of mine's daughters puppy. This puppy is pure energy in a little furry, gnawing package but for whatever reason, the puppy has taken up with me. Every time I go over there the puppy follows me around, she is always in my lap, or laying on the beside me, and I play with her, and take her on walks. I am bonding more with her than her owner because I never see the owner doing any of these things. She lets anyone and everyone do these things for her. Therefore everyone else is bonding with the puppy. I told my friend that she was going to have a hard time when she takes the puppy to college with her because she is not going to want to do a thing she says. There is something to be said for bonding with your puppy.

The Dog Days Of Summer

Since today was the first day of Summer, Molly and I celebrated by taking a long walk in the hot sun. We usually try to walk in the shade but that wasn't even cool enough today. After a few hundred yards, Molly even looked at me and was kind of like "You have got to be kidding me!" It was too hot and muggy outside to walk so we came inside and enjoyed that invention called air conditioning. We can walk around my apartment if worse comes to worse.

Good Bye Nova

Molly has to say good bye to another one of her neighborhood buddies sometime next week. Nova and her owner are moving out next week but Molly has no real emotional attachment so I believe she will get through it alright. Dozer the Black Lab puppy moved out in January and Molly did not miss a beat. Nova did help Molly break down her cold exterior some on the social interaction and with a little time, who knows what would have happened. Honey the Boxer and Molly became fairly close over the years that they lived beside each other but that is as close a friend as she has had. Molly has always had a streak of "lone wolf" in her and that will probably continue now.

A Tangled Web

Molly and I went for our usual afternoon walk yesterday and we ran into Nova the Husky and her owner, Lana. Lana and I are getting a little braver and we let the dogs get close to each other just to test the boundaries to see what will happen. Yesterday it turned out not to be such a good idea. Nova just wants to be petted and to play. Her and Molly went nose to nose for a couple of minutes with Molly growling her disapproval before Nova focused her attention on me. I started petting her and giving her belly rubs and that got her all excited. That was when Molly got involved and the next thing I know, Molly, Nova, Lana and I are a tangle of leashes, dogs, and people and it looked like something right out of a Three Stooges short. We couldn't help but laugh. Lana sat down on the grassy hill after she unhooked Nova while I tried to untangle the leashes. It was like trying to untangle Christmas lights. We finally got everything sorted out and we agreed to not be so brave with our experiments again.

Father's Day

Molly honored me for Father's Day by waking me up early so she could go out, she didn't cook me breakfast but she ate half of mine, and brawled with all of the other dogs in the neighborhood for good measure. As long as Molly had a good time, that's all that matters. I honor my father every day by continuing my relationship with dogs. Towards the end of his life, he would have much rathered to hang out with his "pack" of dogs than he would people. My father was a wise man.

The Dogs Of War

The phrase "dogs of war" was first used in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. What made me think of it was someone had posted a picture of a dog in front of a United States flag for Flag Day yesterday and the dog looked like Molly. War dogs have been important in just about every war and have been used in a variety of capacities mostly as scouts, sentries, and trackers. In the United States most recent war in Irag and Afghanistan they have been used to sniff out IED's. Many dogs have received the Medal of Honor and have achieved hero status as a result. There is even a United States War Dog Memorial in New Jersey. Molly would have been a great war dog as she has a nose second to none and could have sniffed out the smallest of IED's.

Relationships And Dogs

Today I am pissed at the entire female population because they picked today of all days, to piss me off. Not just one, but it seems like every woman I know. Luckily, that doesn't extend to Molly. The only time I have ever really been pissed at Molly is when she wakes me up to go outside after I have only had a couple of hours sleep. She aggravates me until I finally stagger up and take her outside. It is better than the alternative to her leaving a big pile beside my bed but still, aggravating, none the less.

Pure Energy

I believe that pure, unharnessed energy comes in the form of a puppy. I went to a cookout on Sunday and a puppy was present and she was tireless. She played and played and then played some more. She wanted to wrestle with me and after several well placed nips to my arms and rib cage, I decided to go for the big finish and landed several well placed elbow drops. They did not faze the puppy and she moved on to some different victims. After a quick five minute nap in the arms of her owner, she was ready to go again. At some point and time she had to crash and burn hard, I just wasn't there to see it. She was pure energy, nuclear lightning, all rolled into a furry package.

Molly's New Buddy

Molly has a new buddy in the neighborhood that we have been running into more frequently and her name is Nova. She is a beautiful brindle-colored Husky and she is as playful as they come. Molly, however, is old and grouchy and hardly ever in a playful mood. Nova tried making her case today for Molly as a mentor but Molly's reaction was "I have to take a dump." I guess that was her answer on being a mentor.

Rainy Days And Mondays

I believe it was the Carpenters that sang rainy days and Mondays get me down. Today was a real downer. My place of employment, in their infinite wisdom, decided that I needed to start working at 4 AM. That means an hour earlier for my wake up time but my place of employment did not consider what effect this would have on Molly. Going in an hour earlier means that Molly's bathroom schedule got bumped up an hour and it may not seem like much, but it makes a huge difference. It was raining this morning and since Gargantua the Great Dane moved out, we pretty much have the run of the place that time of morning. It was not a heavy rain and Molly and I like walking in a light rain. It kind of cleanses our souls and gives us both a fresh new start.

A Social Life

As a single adult, having a social life is sometimes difficult terrain to navigate even without a dog. With a dog, it is ten times more difficult. Every time I close the door and shut Molly up in my bedroom, she looks at me with those sad eyes knowing that she is going to be shut up in my bedroom for several hours. She has my bed all to herself but it is not as much fun as me trying to root her off of my side of the bed. Asheville is a very dog friendly town but Molly is not a very dog friendly dog. I try to spend as much time with Molly as possible, taking her on long walks and longer naps, and she understands my need for my own socialization.

The Flying Kamikaze Squirrel

Molly and I was walking out behind my apartment building late one afternoon a couple of weeks ago and I hear this rattling noise like someone walking up a metal ladder. It was kind of like "chink, rattle, chink, rattle, chink" and I look up to see where the noise is coming from. I didn't see a ladder but I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye. I saw one of those squirrel feeders flapping in the breeze and then I heard the pitter patter of little feet running across the roof top. I saw something flying by Molly and me and the squirrel had performed a perfect flying leap off of the Third floor balcony. He landed perfectly on his feet and took off into the trees. It happened so fast, Molly didn't even react until it was too late. The squirrel had some mad Superman skills.

I Came, I Peed, I Conquered

Molly knows how to get the most out of her every ounce of pee. She has got it down to a science. I remember one time in Gastonia when I took her to one of the local parks, she peed 17 times and took 2 dumps, all in about 30 minutes. Our neighborhood now is not that exciting but I can tell when she really wants to make a statement to another dog. She will pee, take a few steps, and start scratching the ground real hard. The grass and dirt will be flying, and once in a while, she will lift herself off the ground and she will start growling. I believe that is Molly speak for "Take this with you" and "top that." If Molly is going to do it, she does it with style.

The Smell Of Fresh Cut Grass

I used to love the smell of fresh cut grass when I was growing up because that meant I had "new" grass to play on. The ball bounced faster and truer and it was much cooler to slide on. Molly thought the same thing this afternoon but for her it wasn't baseball on her mind. Fresh cut grass means thousands of new smells and its almost like a whole new world to explore. She revels in the flowers, the grass, and the other dog smells that permeate her air.

Molly's New Buddy

Molly was introduced to another new dog in the neighborhood the other afternoon, a Husky named Nova. She is a beautiful dog and she is brindle colored and I have never seen a Husky quite that color before. Like all puppies she is rather exuberant about life and all it has to offer and she was a little too exuberant in her introduction to Molly. Molly was okay at first as they went nose to nose for the standard sniff test. Molly's problem was when the dog kept coming at her. That is when Molly growled her displeasure. Molly's bigger problem came when I started petting Nova. That was when she really growled her displeasure. Molly never was to good at sharing.