6 1/2 years ago when we bought our first house my husband started talking about how a boy should grow up with a dog. That he really wanted my step-son to have a dog so they could grow up together. Now I have never been a huge animal lover, not that I am a hater! I just never had any pets growing up and the idea of dealing with dog hair, accidents or puke was not very appealing to me. But being a new wife I wanted to please my husband so I went out and got our family a dog! My BFF told us about this family she knew that had the most adorable puppies!!!! So my husband and I got in the car and drove to the middle of nowhere and as we pulled into the drive a million dogs came running at the car. I of course did not want to get out of the car at this point! The family brought us past the pack of dogs outside and led us through the house to a back bedroom as week peered into the dark closet I heard the little mewing of what was to be my baby girl. There were 4 little balls of cuteness huddled together but she was the one for me. After several weeks we came back to pick her up. She was a little ball of black and white with mismatched eyes. I held her in my arms all the way home and then snuggled her ON THE COUCH (first rule broken). By the time my step-son came a few days later to meet his dog and name her (PRINCESS LEIA which we have never called her) it was too late she was my dog.
We got P.L. the beginning of October which meant all Fall and Winter you would find us out back in the middle of the night walking the dog. Hmm maybe we should have put a fence in before we got the dog! But by Spring she was using the dog door and the fenced in yard like a champ! After we got through the potty stage we went through the chewing through everything stage. We gated her in the kitchen once and went out for the evening when we got home not only had she eaten the rug in front of the sink but she ate a hole through the wall. This dog drove me nuts.
When I was pregnant with Noodle my little P.L. would snuggle next to me and follow me around wherever I went. After he was born she never left his side. She guarded him like a little nursemaid.
When She was 2 she was very rambunctious!!! I had a 9 month old little boy and a crazy puppy!!! I was rethinking the stay at home mom thing! One beautiful summer afternoon I had gotten Noddle down for a nap and I was enjoying the quiet of the house. P.L. was laying on the recliner and I kept thinking what a good girl she is today. I figured she was just enjoying the sun on her back! Then I heard her gagging in the living room!!! I ran around the corner and she was puking all over my brand new rug! (Noodle had puked all over the old rug only 3 days earlier) I started yelling at her to get outside I tossed her out the back door and started bitching about kids and dogs and ruining everything I have that is nice. I dragged the new rug out to the curb and grumbled all the way back inside. As I walked past the back window I saw her laying motionless in the yard. Crap! I brought her out a bowl of water and she just laid there. She didn’t move. Something was wrong.
I searched the yard to see what she had eaten, she ate everything. I found a ripped open container of Gorilla Glue. I said “Crap” or maybe something stronger and went inside to look it up on the internet. I called the Vet as I was searching and the woman who answered the phone said “The Dr is at lunch.” I said OK well can you tell me if this is serious? “Sorry the Dr, is at lunch” I love helpful people. So I called poison control as I was looking on the website the woman said “I’m sorry I can’t help you with Dogs, call this number 1-800 blah blah blah” I called that number and it was going to be $10 to answer my question. Ugh I hung up the phone and found the number on the Gorilla Glue site for customer service. I called the number and the woman said “Oh this is bad! Rush your dog to the ER she will most likely die, sorry have a nice day. Thank you for using Gorilla Glue.”
I then called my husband at work he didn’t answer. I left an hysterical message on his VM which he later told me he played for all of his coworkers and they all laughed! Great thanks!!! I called my mom and asked her to come over to stay with the baby while I took P.L. to the Animal Hospital. As I carried her to the car I started crying. I drove to the Animal Hospital and just kept telling her how sorry I was for leaving the Gorilla Glue out. I thought for sure this was the end of the dog. The dog I hadn’t really wanted, didn’t really like, complained about all the time and hated cleaning up after. The dog who I had grown completely attached to and deeply in love with. I pulled into the hospital and there was my husband. I started crying and told him I was sorry I had killed the dog.
They took her back immediately, after about 2 minutes they pulled us back to an exam room and showed us X-Rays. The Vet explained that the Glue expands and adheres to the stomach lining. That they had to operate immediately or she would die and that she had like a 50/50 chance even if they operate. Now I had literally just quit my job a few weeks before this. I had banked about 2 months of our mortgage in the savings for emergency and quit be home with the baby. I knew we could not afford to fix P.L. The Vet just stared at us with her hand on the consent form holding the pen. My husband said “Could you please tell us how much this would cost?” She looked at us like we had driven a stake into her heart! She left the room and I started balling my eyes out. When she came back with a print out she said it would cost anywhere from $1500 to $3500. My husband asked her to give us a moment. I said We can’t afford that we don’t even have that much in the savings. He looked at me and said “Honey are you going to tell Christian that you killed his dog?” Well…..she got the operation!
She came through with flying colors and over the years she has eaten her share of poptarts, steak, cookies, crackers and everything else she can get her hands on. The kids are a great source of accidental treats! Somehow no matter how hard the boys try to get her to be their dog she wont leave my side. She sleeps in my room at the foot of my bed on a dog bed. Even though the boys offer her their bed every night. She wont go to sleep at night until I do, she wont come down stairs in the morning until I do. She waits for me outside the bathroom when I shower and she gets anxious when I am out for the evening!! She is my baby girl even though I didn’t expect it.
Today she turns 6!!! She is calmer and fatter she still sheds too much and is sometimes annoying but she is the best dog and she is all mine!!!
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