Grouchy

Molly and I are pretty much like any other dysfunctional roommates in the fact that we have disagreements once in a while. She snaps at me and I yell at her. We always bury the hatchet within a short while and quickly become best friends again. She sidles up to me and rubs up against me and I consent by giving her a belly rub. Apologies accepted all around.

Dogs Are Better Than The Whole Of Mankind

Madame de Stael once said "The more I see of men, the more I like dogs." My father prescribed to that philosophy. Towards the end of his life, Pops spent much more time with his dogs than he did people. The more I am around people, especially working in retail, I am beginning to be a believer as well. I have better conversations with Molly than I do the majority of the people I run across in a days time. She is more personable and she listens much better and shows more concern. All she asks for in return is a few belly rubs and to be walked whenever she so commands it. It is probably a good thing she can't talk.

Milkbone Underwear

"It's a dog eat dog eat world out there and I am wearing Milkbone underwear." Norm from Cheers. That has been my sentiment for the past couple of weeks, and luckily for me, Molly prefers Wal-Mart's Munchy Bones to Milkbones. Everybody that I have come in contact with the past couple of weeks has tried tearing a hunk out of my ass and Molly has been my saving grace. It is so nice at the end of a brutal day to come home to my apartment and have someone, that being Molly, is actually happy to see me. She jumps, she dances, and she talks to me. We take a nice relaxing walk, let her stop and smell the roses, and it helps me regain some of my composure and collect my thoughts. Molly would never be labeled a "therapy dog" because of her unfriendly nature but she is almost all of the therapy I need. Throw a goatee and a pair of glasses on Molly, and she could pass for Sigmund Freud.

Rain And More Rain

This has been the rainiest summer that I can ever remember. Some lady at the store the other day told me that this is the rainiest summer that Asheville has had since 1905. All of this rain has hampered my and Molly's afforts at taking some walk. It has brought out more bugs than we can fight off but luckily for us, we are the only one's in the neighborhood that takes walk in the rain. Molly doesn't like thunderstorms or downpours but the light rain we can handle. Sometimes we have no choice and we have to tough it out. When it is raining really hard, I take an umbrella with me and hold it over Molly's head while I dress up like a combination of Indiana Jones (the hat) and Captain Ahab (the rain suit). We have to do whatever works.

Do You Need A Hug?

The other night I had had a particularly bad day and I was lamenting everything that had gone on that day. I was writing in my journal and I look over at Molly laying on the bed. She was staring at me with the most wistful but caring look on her face. It was like she wanted to help but she did not know what to do. She is very in touch with how I feel, physically and emotionally. She acts on it by making herself available for belly rubs and lots of attention. The other night she put on a show for my friend Richard. She would roll over on her back and growl and snarl, signifying that she wanted some attention. She got lots of belly rubs that night and lots of attention.

I Want Something Different To Eat

Molly displayed her dissatisfaction at having to eat the same old food everyday by taking her paw and flipping her dog food bowl over and flinging her dog food all over the living room. This was after we had a little tussle with one of the neighborhood dogs a few minutes earlier and Molly was all keyed up. She looked at me with a bit of contempt and I told her, "Fine. You can just eat it off the floor." Her response was to crawl up on the bed and go to sleep. It is so hard to live with a doggie Diva sometimes.

Not A Chick Magnet

Most dogs are chick magnets. They are cute, furry, and friendly and Molly figures two out of three is going to have to be good enough. Molly is a chick repellant because of her unfriendly nature. There is this one young lady that lives upstairs, very beautiful, about 21 or 22 years old, and she owns two dogs. Her dogs and Molly can't stand each other and every time they see each other, it is like a canine version of the WWE. She pulls her dogs one way, I pull Molly another, and we are both shouting apologies to each other. Molly just doesn't care how smokin' hot the girl is and I can't seem to make her understand.

Wake Up! I Have To Go Out Again!

The other night my friend Richard came over to watch the Seattle Mariners-Houston Astros game with me. Molly has been around him before so it was no big shock to her and she wasn't that upset with a stranger being in the house. She would not allow herself to go to sleep until he left (she didn't feel that comfortable with him) but I told him before he left that I had a feeling that she was going to have the trots before the night was over. I hit that one right on the money. I went to bed at about 11:30 PM and she woke me up about every two hours after that needing out. I will admit, that is better than the alternative Molly left me with on Thursday, so I dutifully staggered up and walked her and each time, she really had to go. I am sure I looked like Otis Campbell on a Saturday night (an Andy Griffith Show reference) staggering down the sidewalk being led down the sidewalk by my dog. It reminded me of the episode where Otis got the cow. We accomplished her mission and I did not fall down the steps so all was good.

A Dog And His Feelings

"Show me someone who says dog's don't have feelings and I'll show you someone who has never met a dog." Oscar Rabeiro. I honestly have no idea who Oscar Rabeiro is but he must know something about dogs. I saw a video on Youtube today where a dog's owner had been away for 6 months and he came home. The dog was beside himself with joy and he met this guy at the top of the stairs and the dog was all over him, hugging him, and jumping for joy. Then the guy finally made it to his chair and the dog was up in his lap and the dog started talking to him. It really brought a tear to my eye for a dog and a man to show that much love and affection for one another. I do not think I could go off to war and leave my dog behind. It would be to big of a burden to bear for me and probably for Molly as well.

The Ability To Ad Lib

Molly has that rare ability for a dog to ad lib and do things off the cuff. She had another accident yesterday while I was at work. Actually it was a big accident. In several different locations. I thought I made a brilliant move by removing all of the clothing for her to cover up any more accidents Molly might have. Molly, ever being the quick thinker, improvised by covering up one of her accidents with a power surge protector. When I walked into the bedroom, I looked over into the corner and my surge protector (luckily there was nothing plugged into it) was laying right in the middle of a big pile. I could not help but laugh at her ingenuity. I am glad that when she did that she did not get electrocuted while using that surge protector to cover up.

Molly Leaves A Present

When I came home the other afternoon and Molly and taken a big healthy one in my bedroom but that was my fault because I had not been patient with her that morning and given her enough time outside before I left for work. I have never had a problem with Molly using the bathroom in the house so I didn't get mad at her but it was funny because she decided to try to hide it with my laundry again. I am sure most of you have seen the pictures posted on Facebook where you see some dog greeting his owner at the door with a harried look on his face and the caption says, " I am glad you're home! Someone pooped in the house!" That is the look Molly had on her face.

2:30 AM Is Not Early Enough

I have always heard the old saying "the early bird catches the worm" but Molly took that one step further last night. She woke me up at 1 AM because there was a cat outside. I thought she had to go to the bathroom but once we got outside, I realized what Molly's real purpose was. Her nose pointed right at the cat as soon as we hit the bottom of the steps. Even though extremely pissed, I indulged the dog and let her go look for the cat. I saw it and Molly could smell it, but I would not let her track it down. I did not feel like being a part of a bad Sylvester and Tweety cat chase at one in the morning. I guess I would be playing the part of Elmer vFudd one more time.

The Watcher

Molly watches everything. No detail goes unnoticed. She will sit at the window like a cat and watch everything that goes on outside. If there is a dog coming down the sidewalk she always lets me be the first to know. Anything out of the ordinary that she spots, she sounds the alarm. Mostly Molly watches me. I have never figured out why. A lot of times I will be sitting at my computer and I will look over and Molly will be laying on the bed staring at me with such a look of intensity. It is like she is protecting me from some unseen force that is about to cause me harm. She especially pays attention when I grab my car keys or grab the leash. She knows I am going somewhere and if I grab the leash she knows she is going to.

Caught My Attention

There are times when I struggle to find things to write about as some of you who read my blog can tell. This morning as I am sitting there in the laundromat, I picked up a copy of some old Reader's Digest and it had an article about animals displaying their human qualities. There was a blurb within that article entitled "All Animals Think," by Virginia Morell taken from her book Animal Wise. In that blurb, she expressed the opinion that animals have minds that function much like their human counterparts. She believes that animals "have personalities, moods, and emotions; they laugh, and they play." I have always thought that and I was taught that concept by my father who liked hanging out with dogs more than he did people. Him and his dogs spoke their own language only understood by them. Each dog I have ever owned have all had their own unique personality. Molly's can best be described as arrogant and she is a lone wolf. She prefers the company of one or two people instead of being the life of the party. That is why Molly and I have always shared a special bond. She exhibits a great amount of jealousy whenever someone she doesn't know is around. When it comes to me she stakes her claim and plants that flag hard. It is quite funny to watch how she can try to work her way in between me and whoever happens to be over here. She laughs, she plays, and she demands attention. I know when she is happy and I know when she is depressed. I guess I do have a lot of my father in me.

We Are Surrounded

Molly and I just went out for our nightly walk and we were surrounded by other dogs. Molly wasn't about to put up with that. I believe that people are even importing dogs in here that don't even live here to walk their dogs. Molly and I just eventually came back in because it was pointless to even try. It was like swimming with the sharks.

The Excitement Of The Great Outdoors

Sometimes Molly gets so excited to go outdoors that she gets downright giddy. When she knows that we are going outside, she will run over to her leash and pick it up with her mouth and hand it to me. I just wish I could that excited about anything. Molly stops and smells everything like it is the first time she has ever been out there. I am sure there are so many different smells out there every day it is like a different planet for her.

Is That A Snake?

I took Molly out for her 3 AM walk this morning (as well as 1:30 AM)and there was something laying on the sidewalk that, at first glance, resembled a small black snake. Molly was curious, I wasn't, but Molly's curiousity won out. It wasn't a snake and I couldn't tell what it was. All I know it was that it wasn't moving and wasn't trying to bite either one of us. That is always a good sign in my book. One of my neighbors seems to think it is a hair extension. It is also still laying there. I always wondered how Molly would look with some extensions?

The Hunter

I always tried telling my father that Molly would have been a great hunting dog with the proper training. Hunting was one of my fathers passions. He did not give my belief in Molly's nose much credibility but she has a nose like a bloodhound. We can be walking along and she will sniff out a mole in an instant and be able to go right where it is at. Squirrels, rabbits, and cats do not stand a chance. She knows when there is a dog outside and if Molly could talk, she could probably tell me which dog it was. Not every dog is like that. She does not have a purebred pedigree but she does have a purebred nose from the finest of sniffers.

Treat The Animals Well

"I looked up my family tree and found three dogs using it." Rodney Dangerfield. I have been around dogs since the day I was born and I was taught to love and respect dogs. A friend of mine made a post on her Facebook page this morning that every morning she wakes up, she can hear her neighbor lady yelling at her dog, either "No!" or "Bad dog!" and she never heard her say anything nice. It's to bad the dog can't yell "Bitch!" or "Dumbass!" because anyone that teaches the dog with such disrespect does not deserve to own one. Instead of the Dog Whisperer maybe they should call in the Dumbass Whisperer. It sounds like the owner is the one that needs to be retrained.

Creature Of Habit

Molly is definitely a creature. When those habits get altered a little bit, it makes it harder on me because she gets to sleep all day. I have to take these heavy duty sleeping meds and one night I fell down the stairs, last night I walked out in a driving rainstorm with only a t-shirt and a pair of shorts on (that will wake you up), and I staggered down the sidewalk one night with the cops sitting there. I need to alter Molly's bathroom schedule as soon as possible before something bad happens to one of us.

Where Are You Going With Bed?

In order to stay with the theme of a useless maintenance man, my ceiling started leaking again last night. He supposedly fixed the problem but you cannot put a bandaid on a dam and expect it to hold. It was right over the bed and fortunately I was awake when it started dripping. Luckily I was home and I was able to pull the bed into the living room to safety but Molly was not really happy with me moving the bed while she was on it. All I got was a growl as she held on for dear life until she jumped to safety. I doubt she would much like roller coasters but I don't expect to be taking her on one any time soon.

Singing In The Rain

Molly has never been a big fan of the rain and it has rained all week long. Yesterday was the worst but we had managed to avoid the worst of it. Last night it was a little more problematic because the drain at the bottom of the steps to my apartment building is clogged with leaves. The complex maintenance man is a sack of crap who is to lazy to lift the grate and clean out the leaves. So last night when Molly and I went on our final walk, we had to walk through 3 to 4 inches of standing water in order to get to the sidewalk. Molly was not happy and since our maintenance man lives in the building right up above me, Molly and I briefly contemplated throwing a flaming sack of doggie doo-doo on his balcony but cooler heads eventually prevailed. Not to mention the fact we could not keep the bag lit because it was raining so hard.

The Slow Rollover

Molly just sauntered up to me a few minutes ago and laid down beside me. That is usually indicative that she wants some attention. I have been very preoccupied lately so I start petting her and she just slowly rolls over on her back like I had hit a button or something that slowly rolled her over. She did the slow rollover and that back leg slowly went straight up in the air like she was raising a flag. Those kind of maneuvers deserve a belly rub. She got the belly rub and now she is asleep. Life as a dog must be good.

Dealing With A Changing World

Molly and I are a lot alike in the fact that we do not deal with change well at all. We like things to stay the same. We like and need that consistency in our lives. Unfortunately, life is all about change and it is a constant, especially since Molly and I are both getting older. I am rapidly approaching middle age and Molly is getting late in her life and any type of change is hard on both of us. My life right now is all about loss as is Molly's. I do not have the option of sitting idly by while the whirlwind spins around me. I am caught up in it and as a consequence, Molly is right there beside me. "I need some perspective to give my life objectivity." Temperance Brennan, Bones. I need a different way of looking at things and I need to let things go. I need to pass that on to Molly.