Why did I get a puppy????

@CaptAmehrican Thanks! His name is Torben. He turned four months on July 4th (we’ve had him since he was eight weeks) and he’s fifty pounds of energy and fuzziness. I love him to death, but this morning was not fun. I normally love his cute fuzzy feet, but not this morning. I was even taking pictures of his feet yesterday, but this morning, they were just shit catchers.

@pitamuffin You’re right, I couldn’t. I was snuggling with him soon after posting this morning. Of course, then he wanted to romp and bite, but still.

@juststephen Most definitely worth it.

@currawong You’ve just given me an idea how to wash a rescue cat who can’t keep her long fur clean. We give her a sanitary clip, but it’s still bad. She won’t like it, but I think immersing her halfway, in a hardshell carrier, into a tub of warm water, might work. Must think about it.

@currawong Thanks! They are definitely a lot of work at this stage. I didn’t really want a puppy in the beginning, but our adult dog wouldn’t accept any of the adult dogs we introduced, so we went the puppy route.

@OldCatLady While I get what you’re doing, that sounds horrible for most cats (there are those that like water).

@baqui63 We adopted her when her monstrous previous owner moved out and left her sitting at the curb. She had been an indoor cat all her life. Her long fur was so matted that the vet had to sedate and shave her. He offered to testify in court if we ever found and prosecuted the monster. She had never been groomed, and a year later, will only allow limited brushing. And yes, it’s worth doing.

@OldCatLady So sad/enraging… (ok, rage isn’t quite the right word, but it does make me angry).

In case it wasn’t clear: I am not condemning your actions in any way. As a pet owner (and parent) I have had to do a number of things that were necessary, the best thing possible and also horrible (probably the worst was putting a beloved cat to sleep by myself).

@j0da

/giphy you don’t get party invites, do you?

Ugh, why giphy no work?

@j0da

/giphy you don’t get party invites, do you?

It worked for me…

@baqui63 Thanks, I tried several word combos thinking there were no results before deciding it was an issue with my phone or something and just left it at that. Seriously though, I love my dog, shit and all. It’s not the first crate I’ve cleaned like that, just the most recent (and the first overnight-even-though-it’s-really-only-been-two-hours accident.)

@j0da where spiders poop is a good reason not to eat spiders. Here is the recipe (from my daughter) if you have any interest in eating tarantula (be wise to get a big one as they can have bodies 8" or so across as with little ones this would be too much work).

Step 1 - put spider in boiling water
Step 2 - a grownup takes the poison thing out
Step 3 - kids pluck off all the hair and then cut it up into little pieces
Step 4 - stir fry

And after she told me how to do this I was wondering how I’d ask petsmart for their biggest, juiciest tarantula and no tarantula food. But then I lucked out as when asked if that is what she wanted for dinner (this is the kid who brought home a wasp she caught and was holding by the wings to put into dinner and then was baffled as to why I put in a jar with air holes LOL), she said, “No mom, spider no good. In this country we have chicken.”

And when I showed her the article about Angeline Jolie eating tarantula with her Cambodian son in Cambodia she told me that poor Cambodian people are smart because they trick rich people from other countries into thinking that they want to eat what poor people (and no one else) only eat because they have to.

This is the same kid who wondered why we feed the cats when they can catch their own food and then if they caught their own food we could take it away from them and eat it ourselves.

Gives a far different measure of poor than we use in this country (I adopted her as a grade schooler).

@PurplePawprints Pee pads are a lifesaver. The dog still needs to be washed but they do catch most of the crap, and it isn’t forever, just until things quiet down.

@OldCatLady We tried putting those in his crate right after we got him, but he likes to shred them. Haha We gave the rest to my MiL because her dogs are…special. He doesn’t pee in the crate anymore, or in the house, as long as we don’t miss his cues. I had to shampoo my bedroom carpet last week because I misstook his whining for something else (he’d just been out) and he walked around the bedroom peeing as he went. Haha

@PurplePawprints I certainly do not get party invites. No one enjoys having super-intelligent autistic people hanging around them, refusing to drink because they develop pancreatitis when they do.

@j0da Yeah, I’m pretty sure if you aren’t getting invited it’s not because of any of the reasons listed. I don’t get invited anymore because I’m a bitch, not because I’m a hearing impaired home body who doesn’t like large groups of people. Intelligence, autism, and soberness aren’t detriments, though I do understand some places on the spectrum can make social situations difficult or awkward. Most people are pretty understanding if you’re not an asshole otherwise, though.

Also, in case it really wasn’t obvious, I love my dogs and am fully aware of what their care takes and what I signed up for. Every now and then, people still need to vent about shit, both literal and figurative types.

/giphy no partying here

@Thumperchick That’s what I keep telling myself!

@alexthegirl That would definitely not have been a fun experience for anyone involved! I’m glad she has settled in well since then, though.

@lisaviolet My husband’s response is always “That’s not my dog. I don’t have any dogs. You have dogs.” sigh

@PurplePawprints That makes me sad.

@lisaviolet In his defense, he loves the dogs and he gives them their baths more often then me (hurts my back) and tracks when they should get their monthly preventatives. He also makes sure they and the cat have the best quality kibble we can (barely) afford. That’s just what he says whenever he doesn’t want to go down to the basement to let them out or clean up messes.

@PurplePawprints Well, that’s different, then. Seriously, who’d clean up shit if they could get out of it (like me trying to stay in bed longer than him)?

@lisaviolet Exactly.

@magic_cave We lost one of our dogs, Galen, in March also. We tried to bring in other adult rescues a few weeks later and our older female was having none of it, so we ended up with a puppy. I don’t think I could handle two. Haha I’ll post more pics if I can see pics of your puppies!

@PurplePawprints We fostered a blue heeler rescued from a dog-fighting ring (supposedly a ‘bait dog’); turned out she was expecting. On June 12, 2011 she gave birth to 9 (!!) healthy puppies. We spent the next three months taking care of them and working to get them adopted. THAT was a chaotic summer! We ended up keeping one pup (Blackie) with whom the boys fell (more) in love and couldn’t bear to part with.

@compunaut Awww! How awesome of you to do that! You gave her, and her puppies, a chance to have a normal life. I can only imagine the chaos, but you changed their world for sure.

@moonhat Keep trying until you wear him down. You know you want to!

@beachbum Thanks!