(My) Mister is such a villain....................

Boy! That goes against all the good things I have said about him in the past. Decide for yourself if you would give him that title.

Our female dog just had puppies again. Before you jump to conclusions about what Mister did, or think "I just love puppies." Let me explain.

When a female dog goes into heat, their bodies go through a cycle of pregnancy and birth whether they really get pregnant or not. They gain weight, their breast swell up, and boy are they moody! Anyone reading this that has ever been nine months pregnant can relate to the horror of this. Going through all of that without getting a baby at the end, how terrible would that be? (As soon as I wrote that, I realized that some of you may have experienced just that, loosing a late term pregnancy. I am sorry if I upset you.)

When we got our dog, the plan was to breed her, so we did not get her fixed. (I can never remember if a female is spayed or neutered.) We even tried to get her knocked up once, but she wouldn't have anything to do with the male dog. (Boy, was Buddy - the male dog - upset about that!) Right after that failure, we got her papers back from the Kennel society telling us they would not register her because of the fact that her du-claws are on top of her feet instead of down. Being a responsible pet owner, I decided that it would be wrong to have puppies without a pedigree. (Okay! Don't think I am prejudice against the common dog...... I just agree that there is a pet over-population problem, and having puppies for the simple reason that I wanted the experience of puppies is not a good enough reason, as continuing the blood line, breed would be.)

Now I am sure you have figured out by now that since trying to breed her, and deciding against it in the future, we have never gotten around to taking her in for the operation. I have the best of intentions, but seem to put it out of my mind until she is going into heat, and then I think it would not be a good idea to interupt that whole cycle thing. Last week, she "delivered her puppies." The first sign of this, is that I notice I am not tripping over her a hundred times a day. (I like to call her shadow, because she is always at my side.) The next sign is noticing that several of her toys are in a bunch on the sofa. These are her babies, and she only leaves them to eat or relieve herself. She nuzzles them all up to her breast and "feeds" them, and if you try and move them, she patiently gets them and brings them back. Oh yes! If our male dog wanders too close to the sofa, she becomes devil dog and tears his head off. (Talk about major PMS!)

The vet told us that the only way for her to move on, was to take the puppies away from her. That is what (my) Mister did last night. (Okay! I will admit that my daughter and I made him be the bad guy. We didn't want our baby mad at us after all.) All evening she kept coming up to me and letting me know that someone had stolen her children. When I got up this morning at five, she was already up and still looking for them. Now she is laying beside me sad and depressed. I feel so bad!

Some of you might be thinking, "Get over it! It is just a dog." I used to be one of you. When I was finally able to open my heart to feeling, I changed my mind about dogs (and cats) understanding and communicating with us. Okay! Doctor Dolittle may be a bit of a stretch, but they do have a way of making their needs known. They also have a way of reading and responding to our moods. When I am sad, both of my dogs try and comfort me. (I know! They try and lick my tears because they taste salty, not because they know I am sad. Leave me alone, it makes me feel better.)
Regardless of your personal beliefs, it is a proven fact that pets make our world a better place. (As long as people clean up after them..... Be responsible people.) Many people would be sad and lonely without their pets to love and talk to. Seeing this first hand when I did home care, was what pushed me over to the side of pet lover. My pets make me laugh (more than they make me mad because they have been naughty) and we all know laughter is the best medicine.

In a day or two, our female dog should be back to her bouncy little self, (and our male dog will be allowed back on the sofa beside of her,) and all will be well. I promise to work harder towards getting her surgery so she doesn't have to go through this again. And (my) Mister is off the hook, until the next time I make him be the bad guy.)