A Lazy Saturday

Molly and I have come to appreciate lazy Saturdays where all we do is lay around, watch TV, and nap. This is the first day of the college football season and Molly really doesn't care one way or the other about that, she is just happy about having a nap buddy. She is a rwal good nap buddy if I can get her to share a pillow and some of the bed. That is always easier said than done and it is met by growls and dirty looks from Molly. She does not like to share bed space.

The Attitude

I have always heard that attitude is everything in life. If you have a good attitude, positive things will come your way. If you have a bad attitude, only negative things will knock at your door. Wal-Mart has a "Social Media" policy that basically "prevents" me from saying bad things about them and their business practices. That policy, however, does not prevent Molly from saying anything about them. "I see Dan drag home everyday with the saddest, forlorn look on his face because I know he hates his job. I try to cheer him up by letting him rub my belly and by letting him take me on long walks. He cheers up a little bit but it is not enough. If Dan enjoyed his job it would improve his outlook, his health, and more importantly his attitude." I believe the attitude is the key and Molly wants me to hang around a few more years.

A Hummingbird At My Window

I was sitting here typing out my blog the other day when a humminbird suddenly appeared at my open window and hovered for several seconds before he flew off. For a second or two, I was afraid he was going to fly in my window and the havoc that would have ensued briefly flashed through my mind. I quickly came up with two scenarios. Molly and I could be flogged to death by a hummingbird before I could get it back out the window. The other scenario has Molly tearing my apartment apart trying to get at this hummingbird. If Molly is anything, she is tenacious.

The Lone Wolf

Molly has a lot of "lone wolf" in her. She doesn't play well with others, has never been a lap dog, and only really craves attention from me. That is all well and good but we are in close proximity with many more people now than we ever have been and she acts friendly towards some and not so much towards everyone else. She is still not going to let anyone pet her though.

Ritz

I remember an old Andy Griffith commercial from the mid-1970's for Ritz Crackers where the closing line was "Everything tastes better on a Ritz." I hate to break this to the dearly departed Andy Griffith but Molly is not quite feeling it or tasting it to be more precise. I have been having to give her Ritz Crackers as a substitute for her Munchy Bones. Molly begrudgingly accepts the Ritz crackers but she would much rather have the Munchy Bones. Molly is disappointed in me that I keep forgetting to buy the Munchy Bones but remembered to buy myself something. All I want to point out to Molly is who has a job and who doesn't.

The Persuasive Molly

Molly was blessed with the power of persuasion, or a strong will, and a long streak of stubborness. Call it whatever you want to but she has a way of getting her way. This morning when I woke up, I was laying sideways across the bed with my head hanging off one side and my feet off the other. That is exactly how Molly lays on the bed and sometime during the night she must have influenced how I was sleeping. She was sleeping just fine. I guess I should just be thankful that she "allows" me to sleep on the bed much less how I lay on it.

A Wrestling Match

There is an old hockey joke that goes something like "I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out." Molly and I have a slight variation of that and it goes something like "We went to a wrestling match and a walk broke out." Sometimes walking Molly is like getting a wrestling match with a miniature bear, especially if there are other dogs outside. Last night when I got back from the baseball game, it was about 10 PM, but I think everyone was having a late night. It seemed like all of my neighbors had their dogs out. As soon as we got to the bottom step, we ran into Martini and her owners. I knew the hot babe and her dogs were out because Molly could smell them and I could hear them. I dragged her down to the end of the sidewalk and Molly did her thing but it was a real brawl. I got her back into the apartment without any more conflict but I had to go back out to my car. Right as I started down the steps, I ran into the hot babe and her two dogs. It was funny because she had heard my door open and had stopped halfway up the steps to see if I had molly. The look of nervous anticipation on her face was funny. She did not know whether to run back down the steps or if it was okay to continue on. Inviting her into my apartment was not an option.

Chihuahua On A Leash

There is one of my neighbors that has a Chihuahua puppy that can't be more than 3 or 4 months old. It is an off white color and the poor kid has to walk him around on a leash and it looks so funny. The little monster already has am attitude as I saw him/her fighting the leash this afternoon. Most Chihuahua's have a canine Napoleon Complex anyway and this little guy is starting up already.

The Belly Flop

When Molly wants a belly rub real bad she kind of does this ungraceful, roll over, belly flop on the floor and then she will look at me and give this little growl meaning "Get over here now!" It is an ungraceful, dry land version of a whale doing a roll over. I doubt that Molly will ever make National Geographic TV or even Animal Planet, and it might be ungraceful, but it is effective. She gets her belly rub.

More Talkative Than Normal

Molly has been talking a lot more than normal lately. She will sit at the end of the bed and really start woofing at me and sometimes I have a hard time interpreting this but this time it is pretty clear. I have spending far too little time with her here lately because of my work schedule and she wants more attention. She has been much more clingy and literally under my foot and I have been trying to take her on much longer walks but yesterday we saw our first snake. That makes me not want to walk as much. I believe it was just a Garter snake but I could care less, a snake is a snake. Luckily Molly didn't see it and the snake just laid there and didn't draw any attention to himself.

Run, Molly, Run

Molly has really started slowing down and I have really noticed it over the course of the past month. Back in her younger days, everywhere we went, Molly went at it going a thousand miles an hour. We ran everywhere. On our leisurely walks, chasing squirrels and rabbits, going to greet other dogs- it didn't matter. She used to run through the house just to be running. She would run just as hard as she could go from one end of the house to the other. She would jump up on the bed, she would throw herself against the couch, and every once in a while she would use me or my wife as a springboard. There was one time that there was an Ottoman sitting in the middle of the room and she did an impromptu sprint around this Ottoman at full speed. She kept circling this thing at full speed for several laps like a calf around on of those barrels in a rodeo. It was so funny. I wish I had it on video. I miss those days but we all slow down and youth does not last forever. At least we are slowing down together.

Part Of The Family

My sister Denise lost part of her family some time yesterday and I don't know the exact cause, but his name was Champion ("Champ"), a Chihuahua and part of matched set, kind of like salt-and-pepper shakers. If a dog is treated right, he is part of your family. He has his own place at the table so to speak, he is present at family dinners, reunions, Christmases, birthdays, and whatever other family event might take place. My favorite memory of Champ is a picture of him and his sister sitting in my lap at Christmas and nothing promotes love and the Christmas spirit like a lap full of Chihuahuas. This reminds me of a dogs last will and testament that someone else had posted of Facebook the other day about a dogs last wish being to pass that loving home on to the next dog that fate drops in your lap. Molly and I raise a Milkbone in your honor Champ!

The Needy Dog

Molly has never been a needy dog in that she has never felt the urge to crawl up in my lap and stay there for hours or constantly need my attention or anything else. That is until the other day. I pace when I talk on the phone and the other day I was on the phone and Molly almost had to be in my back pocket the entire time. She followed me, step for step, through every room in my apartment. If I sat down, she was right under my feet and it got really aggravating after a while because I kept tripping over her or stepping on her. I never did figure out what she wanted.

"I'm Going To Bed, You're Making Too Much Noise"

The other day I was unwinding with some music and evidently Molly didn't get enough sleep in the 9 hours I was at work, so she was trying to take a nap on the bed. I must have been making too much noise because she got up, gave me a dirty look as she was walking down the hallway, and went and got in her pet bed in the other room. She did it with such attitude, I couldn't help but laugh. She is always the Diva.

The Balcony

In every apartment I have ever stayed in, I have always wanted a balcony. I can just sit there in my chair, drink a beer, and watch the world go by. I can also sit there and write about the world going by. Molly sometimes makes sitting on the balcony a little bit difficult. She can smell another dog when it comes within about 50 feet of our balcony. I am afraid Molly is going to do a half-gainer off the balcony onto some poor, unsuspecting dog and their owner and that could get ugly. Molly does like relaxing on the balcony and taking the world in but she only allows a certain part of the world in is the problem.

A Meet And Greet

Molly finally met our neighbor's dog the other afternoon. He is a mixed breed, German Shepherd mix named Pryor, and it went better than I thought. As soon as we walked out the door, I knew something was up. Molly went barreling down the steps and Pryor was waiting for her at the bottom with his owner in tow. They just basically touched noses but Molly was in her "brawler's stance", ready to pounce if the need arose. Luckily it didn't and everyone walked away calm and happy with no boken bones, contusions, or fur ruffled. Molly is just curious as to what the other dog is about.

If You Are Going To Piss Your Owner Off, Do It With Style

Molly is a firm believer that if she is going to piss me off, she should do it with style. I have to get up at 2:15 in the morning anyway so Molly decided to play Foghorn Leghorn to my Farmer Brown and wake me up about an hour before my alarm went off. Rather than just tap me on the shoulder or something subtle to wake me up, she gets up on the bed and does a full out belly flop on top of me to roust me from a sound sleep. My reaction was to call her a few names and roll over. She follows the belly flop with several hip checks that a hockey player would have been proud of. When all that got was a a few pillows fired in her direction, she finished with the tried and true standard of woofing and barking at me until I got up. All she needed was some water and I staggered around the apartment until I filled her bowl full of water.