daizie pinky pan-a-cake.
i like her.
there are moments when i see here cuddled up with one of my babies and i think- this is why you are with us.
there are moments when i wonder if i can keep her another day.
she poops in my basement.
i think of her like the diggingest dog.
she doesn't understand when we take her out that her job is to potty.
she gets so excited, her tail is wagging, she sniffs, she pees... but she doesn't always poo.
and then when she's inside she's not sure what to do, so she sneaks in the basement.
not often.
but sometimes is TOO much.
i'm not sure what to do about it.
she also growls at my baby.
eve is not always gentle with her,
but, even when eve is nearby and focused on something else, daizie will go up to her and growl.
i've seen daizie nip eve's finger.
i don't like it. and i'm not sure what to do about it.
i try petting her and telling her it's ok when the baby is near.
i've tried saying no and snapping her collar.
when she bit eve's finger i pushed her off the couch and yelled "No!"
daizie used to growl at lily also... but she has learned that lily is sweet and kind.
now they are best friends.
and, she barks at people.
when we first got daizie she NEVER barked.
well, she would bark at other dogs-- but NEVER at people.
i really thought we had the perfect, non-yappy chihuahua.
i think she was scared.
she is "coming out of her shell"... she feels safe here...
and now she barks when people come over.
i'm not sure what to do.
if i stick her in her cage, she just barks and barks the whole time.
i can put her on a leash and keep her near me and that works pretty well.
at jakob's party i just told everyone to pet her and tell her it's ok... she warmed up quickly.
she is a nice dog, she just sounds ferocious.
i also got a spray bottle of water. if she won't stop barking we just spray her and she'll stop.
sometimes i worry that i'm giving her more mental issues.
i was whining to a friend the other day about daizie's pooing and growling and barking.
she said, "What? You got a dog that poos and barks? Didn't you tell God you wanted the non-pooing, non-barking dog?"
i laughed, kind of.
my conclusion about this dog?
she is just another imperfect being that God has sent me so that i can learn to love more.
she brings goodness to our home.
she brings growth to our home.
she had a hard past and has some issues.
i need to learn how to teach her and learn how to love her better.
{seriously, as i'm writing this post leah screams- "Mom! Daizie is throwing up..." she's never done this before, i think she must have eaten something on the floor. gumballs-- the throw up has blue, green and red specks in it that match the gumballs my kids have been sneaking from my pantry. i start gagging as i'm trying to clean it and she is trying to eat it again. nasty. oh, pooch?! what are we going to do with each other?)
i guess it is true-- nothing good in life is easy.
sometimes i just feel my life.
my home, my finances, my husband, seven children individually and collectively, my extended family, my kids' coaches, my friends and neighbors, and now MY DOG...
learning to love, connect, serve, enjoy, teach, and learn from them takes work.
sometimes i laugh that marriage is hard work.
people look at me like i'm crazy.
they may say something like, "marriage isn't hard, but being a mom is hard."
i think they must be better than me.
maybe some people have dogs that don't poo or bark.
seven claps for them!!
me, i have to learn every step of the way...
every really great thing in my life has come because i was willing to work at it.
it's hard for me to always be a nice wife,
it's hard for me to always enjoy my children,
it's hard for me to be clean and orderly in my home,
it's hard for me to go to bed early and wake up early,
it's hard for me to not be defensive with my extended family,
AND it's hard for me to love this yappy, stinky dog.
BUT
hard is GOOD.
hard has refined me and made me better.
i'm grateful for the hard.
and, i'm grateful for daizie.
daizie is NOT a perfect dog.
but, she is perfect for us.
life is all about learning and growing... this is just another chapter in my book.
and, it's all about perspective.
i was talking with a sweet elderly woman from church last week.
she said, "your children are always so well-behaved."
i said, "really? you think so."
she said, "i love to sit behind you and watch your kids during church. they're perfect."
i asked, "my kids?"
i'm not just saying this... my kids are good kids-- but i never feel that they are good at church.
maybe if i were sitting a couple rows back things would look prettier.
and maybe, daizie would seem like a perfect dog too...
if i were a couple rows back.
she really is a fun little dog.
but, she is still a dog... a pooing, growling, barking kind.
gotta love it.
because of the poo, i decided we needed to take more time with daizie outside.
(we do have a fenced in yard, but if we let daizie out she just stares at us through the door-- she really doesn't understand "go poo")
this is still my kids responsibility- but i decided to "embrace the experience."
i have been taking 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes at night to walk the dog.
it is SO BEAUTIFUL outside.
i love the quiet time- just me, God and Daizie...
i'm kinda grateful for her poo, because it gives me an excuse to get out.
life is good.
now, i need to go clean my carpet.
and... read up!!
and i'll say, "really? you think so?"
and you'll say, "she's perfect."
and, i'll agree.
she is perfect.
kinda.
7 comments:
We got a shock collar for our dog. It helped a ton and he got lots better with barking and jumping on people. You need to have the dog outside until it goes potty. If he does go inside we would put our dogs face in it and say NO! We did not have any accidents have a couple. Good Luck!!! Having a dog is like having another kid for sure.
our dog barks, she's part beagle. I, too, was hoping she'd missed the barking gene of her breed...but no such luck. I always get embarrased when people stop by, but they always think she's adorable. Maybe it's just because they are our responsibility that we can't sit back and just see the glossy. I often think my kiddos are awful at church, and then when we leave my MIL says how wonderful they were. ") We are all doing better than we give ourselves credit for. Bark, bark, squirm squirm...oh well. ") And speaking as your extended-extended family, I think you're pretty great.
Oh no! The kids have finally talked us into getting a puppy next week and I'm scared out of my wits. I don't know what I'll do if it poos inside! Oh dear....We'll cope I guess.
The Dog Whisperer guy (I think I see his book in your pic) is amazing. You can watch a couple shows on Hulu.com in all that free time of yours :) and catch onto his main techniques pretty quickly. I think with a nipping dog he always puts the dog off the couch and turns away ignoring it. However, I don't actually have a dog so who knows! It sure looks like it works though. Anyway, glad to hear you all are doing well. We miss those Moss kids at Westwind!
I like your conclusion that good things take time & hard work. Our youngest cry-screamed for TWO hours last night during dinner, FHE, homework w/other kids, etc.... and I just kept calmly going to him & talking to him & snuggling him. Which is SO not my typical reaction to extended cry-screaming! But I learned it from you... THANK YOU!! :-)
You are right--life is good. And really, really hard! I try so hard to do more than just endure it, but that sure takes work. After a horrible afternoon, dinner, and FHE (oh, Mondays!), my husband made us all watch the MormonMessage "My New Life" (by NieNie). To remind us (me? him?) that teaching children the gospel is not just a duty--it's a privilege. Having a family is a privilege. I sometimes wish I could loan out that privilege to someone else... It is amazing to me, though, how much I've learned and grown and changed just be being married and having children. It really is miraculous! Good luck with the dog. You are braver than I am!
{smile} i love all the lessons that can be learned from a pooing dog.
thanks for the dog training ideas... i need them. and, as always happens, once i wrote this post daizie seemed to stop growling, pooing and barking as much. well, maybe just my perception changed, again.
and, my advice for hard kids-- just learn from the elderly. lock them in their room and fatten them up with candy... then eat them. it has always worked for me!
Post a Comment