BarkingProse

There’s four of us mutts now at Asherpark. Me, Tess, Jack and Nellie. I think some kind of magic brought us all together.

Mom paid money for me. It wasn’t a lot of money, but it helped pay for expenses at my birth home.

I had everything going for me from the start. My dog mom and dad were selected for their temperament and sports ability. From the day I was born people carried me around and taught me to trust humans.

The first seven weeks of my life were filled with kindness and good care.

I had trips to the doctor to make sure my eyes and hips were good. I got all my shots. I even learned a few manners before my real mom came and took me home to Seattle.

My Aunt Codie taught me well. She had been the only dog for many years and did not welcome my arrival. But over time she came to appreciate my company as long as I was respectful.

After Codie left us Mom knew I needed a pal. She found Tess through the internet. Tess had been picked up as a stray and then adopted for six weeks. But her new people couldn’t keep her and they wanted to find a home for her so she wouldn’t have to go back to the shelter.

Me and mom went to interview Tess the day before Tess was going to be returned to the pound. I liked her right away so mom said we could keep her. Mom gave some money to the lady who had Tess and off we went to Asherpark.

Jack got sprung from a shelter after his court case was settled. He had been taken from his owner because he was neglected. After five months he came to Asherpark through Old Dog Haven. Jack was a tough nut. I think he was a gangster in his former life. He marks on everything. Still leaves a splash here and there in the house when he gets bored. I tried marking over his mark once and got in big trouble.

Over time us three mutts got things sorted out and became tight. We were a pack of three. Me, Jack and Tess. Then Smellie Nellie showed up.

Nellie is another Old Dog Haven rescue. Everybody makes over Nellie because she’s little and fragile and sort of goofy. She has a blue eye and a brown eye. Her head sits crooked on her neck making her look confused. She’s really goosey. If someone tries to pet her she jumps like she expects to get hurt.

When we go outside she has to follow a person. Her sight is real poor and she gets lost. One time she was busy sniffing and didn’t notice we all went back to the house. Mom saw her way down in the pasture looking scared. I had to go fetch her and show her the way home.

Nellie doesn’t smell so bad anymore. Her drugs stopped most of her leaking. Some frozen turkey necks helped clean her rotten teeth a little. On Tuesday she’s gonna have surgery. She has to have a lump removed from her eyelid. While she’s knocked out the vet will clean her teeth and take some x-rays to see why she’s so gimpy.

Mom says she hates to put Nellie through the surgery but the junk on her eyelid has to come off. If you’re not too busy maybe you could think a good thought for little Nellie. She hasn’t been with us all that long but we can’t imagine life without her. We’re hoping she gets better quick. I’ll keep you posted. See ya!

 

Life is back to normal. A new normal, that is. It’s been over a month since we added Nellie to the pack. Now it feels like she has always been with us.

When you bring a new mutt into the pack it kinda messes things up. Sometimes you think it’s not gonna work, and then a month later everything is okay again.

When Nellie first arrived she smelled so bad nobody wanted to be around her. But once she got rid of her pee trap infection and started taking plumbing drugs so she won’t leak, we liked her a lot better.

She made a couple of serious mistakes. She tried to play with my special blanket. That’s the one thing nobody can have. When I barked real mean at her she understood. Now she won’t even look at me when I have my blanket. She walks real wide around it like it’s some kind of snake.

Poor Jack had the hardest time. He always feels rejected when somebody new comes. He gets real clingy and pesters mom all the time. Then he started lying on Nellie’s bed to show he was more important.

Nellie changed our feeding rules too. Mom had the three of us trained to sit and wait until she put our bowls down. Nellie doesn’t quite get that so she has to be on a leash. She eats last in the pantry with the door closed so us bigger dogs don’t muscle her out of her food.

We go out for our last walk just before dark. Jack and Nellie won’t go unless mom takes them. Poor mom. She’s always got the two old deaf dogs following her around like a caboose. I know one of these days she’s gonna trip over one of them and land in a big heap.

Mom says now I’ve got no excuse for not posting my barks. Everybody is healthy, we get along fine and we got no worries. I have a lot of catching up to do. Silly stories about little Nellie taking my tennis ball and Tesse’s amazing adventure in the big city.

So come back soon and see what we’ve been up too. Gotta run!