The Pepper Predicament - Prequel

Part of adopting a rescue dog is being uncertain of the past. Miss Maxine, as you may recall, started as a mill dog who had a litter or two very young. Then she was a farm dog, fed only scraps of people food and (probably) given no real love. Then she was adopted by a couple who brought her back within a month because she wasn't the right fit for them. While we know the general outline, we don't know any of the specifics. With Pepper, it's even less clear. All we know is that his owner died, he was transported from Kentucky to Wisconsin (in the dead of winter), and now he's our little man. Who knows what happened during his 10-12 years of life before us?

Part of adopting an older/senior dog is being uncertain of the future. Maxi was probably about 2 when we adopted her almost 5 years ago, so she's about 7 now (maybe as young as 6 or as old as 8). She still thinks she's a puppy sometimes, and she's always full of energy and excitement. We figure she's got a decent amount of time left with us, and we'll do whatever we can to make sure that's the case. When you adopt an older dog, every day going forward is more precious, but less certain. Pepper is our old man. The people who first rescued him thought he was about 7 years old. Then the vet in WI took a look and decided he was more like 10-12, but probably closer to 10 since he's still pretty spunky. This past week, we were told he was more likely on the upper end (more precisely, we were told he was "older than [we] thought"). We've had him for almost 6 months now, but we have no idea how much longer he'll be in our lives. He's in heart failure, has thyroid issues, urinates ALL the time, and is a crotchety old man. And even though we don't know everything that the future holds, we do know that we're in it with him all the way.

Part of adopting ANY dog (really, any animal at all) is love. Unconditional, intense, instant, everlasting love. If you don't love your dog, it's not the dog's fault... Our dogs can drive us absolutely insane. They steal our food, make messes in our house, demand attention at inopportune moments, bark their fool heads off for no real reason, need to be taken out in all kinds of weather, and frequently act like our desire to cuddle them is an annoyance at best. But we wouldn't change a thing. We chastise them for stealing our steak, but still share our bacon. We clean up their messes and blame ourselves for being inattentive. We shirk our responsibilities to make sure our pups know they're loved. We let them bark, take them out in a foot of snow or the dead of night, and we force them into cuddling even if they squirm the whole time. And we do it all because we freakin' love those little furballs more than we can even explain.

And it's that love that means we'll do anything if we think it will help them stay in our lives even for one more afternoon, one more walk, one more cuddle. We know they won't live forever. We might hope and pray that they will, but somewhere inside we know that they will leave us eventually. And as heartbreaking as it is to lose a family member - furry or otherwise - we know that we're better off for having had them in our lives at all. And if we've done things right, we know that they were better off for having been part of our family, no matter how briefly.

This may all seem obvious (especially if you have a pet that you love with all of your heart), but I felt it necessary that I explain all of this before diving into the events coming in the next few posts.

To be continued...

I'm baaaaaaaaack

So, it's pretty much been forever since I posted. OK, so it's been since December. Still! That's a long time. Here's a brief recap of what has been going on.

December 20-31: Christmas (got an iPad!). New Year's Eve (saw my sisters). 

January: Went to NC to see my bestie. Started spring semester.

February: Adopted a new dog (Sgt Pepper).

March: Work, school, sleep, repeat. Niece (Bestie's baby) was born!

April: Finally done with spring semester. 

May 1-14: Saw Fluffy. Went to our 1st Brewers game of the season.

And now you're caught up.

You might notice some fairly big things in there. The first is that we adopted a new pup. If you're curious about Pepper, here's the description from the shelter: "Pepper is an approximately 10 year old mini schnauzer and was a transfer from Adams County Humane Society. His owner died and he was grieving and shutting down at the shelter, so they asked if we could take him for some more individual attention."

He lived most of his life in Kentucky, so he's not a fan of snow or winter. He's a tiny little thing (around 16 pounds at the vet in March), especially compared to Miss Maxine. He is an older dog and has health problems. He has a heart disease and, with it, a murmur. He's missing most of his front teeth (except for his ginormous canines), has a big bald spot on his back, and doesn't always have control of his bodily functions. He's thrown up more since we got him in February than Maxi has thrown up in the past year. And we have a vet appointment today where we'll probably be getting some blood work done to see how advanced his heart disease is and/or whether we can "fix" his bald patch. 

On the plus side, Maxine is wonderful with him. They sleep in the crate together all day, and then Pepper sleeps in bed with us at night. He gets super excited for mealtime and loves to romp around outside (as long as the weather is good). For the first few weeks we had him, Pepper didn't make a sound (unless you count the wheezing noises he makes when he's relaxed). These days, he barks more than Maxi does, mostly out of excitement. He's still cautious around us, not completely trusting us, but he's opened up a lot since February and already we love him like he's always been part of our family. 

The other important thing is that my new niece was born! Yes, I know, she's not technically my niece. But I am Aunt Riki, and that's good enough for me. If you want to know more about her, check out the Disney Hippy's blog for info and updates. Suffice it to say, she is one adorable, lucky, spoiled, and LOVED little girl. <3

Now that I'm on summer break, I should be back more often to update, but don't quote me on that. I do have my hands full with 2 pups in the house! Here's to my sanity... 

Gotcha!

Nov. 6 - Today I am thankful for...

Maxine McPupperkins! :)

Today is Miss Maxi's "Gotcha" day. Three years ago today, we drove to Bichon & Little Buddies rescue to pick up Maxine and bring her back to her forever home. We had already gotten her a bed, some toys, a leash, food and water bowls, food itself and probably some other stuff that I can't remember right now, so it was just a matter of bringing her home and loving her forever.

This is the first picture I took of Maxi. That night was full of new experiences for all of us. Maxine was hesitant to come onto the couch with us (boy, did that one change quickly) and wasn't sure about coming upstairs. She didn't quite know how to handle being in her crate all night, and I didn't know how to keep my heart from breaking when she whined and cried. But somehow we got through it.

The past three years have been wonderful, in no small amount due to Maxine. She makes our house a home and she makes us smile every single day. Her couch cuddles are the best, and she can bust a move like none other. And when Hubby's gone overnight, she's better than any alarm system, and sometimes even sleeps in bed with me for extra security.

Sure, she steals the occasional block of cheese or steak, and she doesn't always listen to us the first 17 times we say something, but we have no doubt that she loves us, and we certainly love her.

So yes, I am very thankful for Maxine, today and always. Love you, puppers!

Maxine McPupperkins

We all know I love my dog.  I'm a proud puppy parent!  It happens.

Anywhoozles, if you love my dog, your own dog, any dog, all dogs, any animal, ALL animals, etc...  Please vote for Miss Maxine as Bissell's MVP here.

I really don't care about Maxi being on some Bissell box, but the $10,000, $5,000 or $1,000 for her rescue shelter would be beyond fabulous!  Bichon & Little Buddies rescue was a life-saver for Maxine, and they never gave up on her.  We're so thankful they didn't!! 

You can vote once per day for a whole week, so mark your calendars, set your alarms, and vote, vote, vote!!  :-)