This is how my dogs Grace, Joy, and baby Joseph will celebrate Mother’s Day with me.
1. Grace and Joy rise at 4:30 am and give me wet willies in both ears. Joseph awakes wiggles and jiggles in pure delight then pees on the floor.
2. All the pups go outside, and while Grace and Joy do their business in their designated places, Joseph bites the bark on the new little tree we just planted. I tried spraying the tree with Bitter Apple, but I think he likes it. Then he comes in and poops in the kitchen.
3 Grace and Joy immediately play tug of war. I try tug of war with Joseph where you hang on until your teeth fall out. Then I throw the toy and ask Joseph to bring it to me. He grabs it and at a full run slams into me. New game = “Fetch and Slam.”
4. Time for our morning walk at the cemetery. The girls walk happily at my side, while Joseph tries to clean up all of the remains of previous dogs, eats bugs and berries and throws up in the kitchen as soon as I open the door.
5. I take the dogs in the truck to the gas station, bank, post office and a quick grocery pick-up. The girls sit beside me, while Joseph is like a ping-Pong ball in a tiny wind tunnel at hurricane speed in the back seat. At home I open the truck door, the girls jump out and Joseph doesn’t. I leave the truck door open and he’s just where I left him, like if he sits there long enough, I will take him for another ride. I’ve become a doggie chauffeur!
6. After the pups take a seventeen-hour nap we start over with #1
P.S. I understand puppies come with a certain amount of inconvenience, but they are good for the heart. And blood pressure. They make us feel loved, but more, they make sure we know we are needed. They really don’t do well without our care and we don’t do that well without their unconditional love.
Blessings and Happy Mother’s Day,
Dianne Hammontree, secretary of Homeward Bound Dog Shelter.org
