My kids love animals. They really do. When they see a dog or cat they are running over to the animal and hugging and petting and showing all their affection to the animal. However they area NOT ready for one as a pet.
Since we have a large fenced yard, we occasionally dog sit for hubby's friend. While his black lab is the sweetest dog, there are a few problems every time the dog comes over.
1-First of all the dog is named Alexander. Dog owner was watching the movie Alexander the day they got the dog and it seemed a good fit. While Alexander is a good name, it is my sons name. While the dog is called Alex and I call my son Lex, my FIL still calls Lex Alex even though we have done everything we can think of to get him to drop the *A*. So if we call "Alex, here boy" my son comes running. If we call out "Alexander" my son cries and insists he has done nothing wrong. If we call the dog "Al" he does not respond because he is not used to it and does not know that Al is a nickname. We can not call the dog "boy" because hubby affectionately calls son boy when they are playing soccer. We have resorted to "Dog" since that is what the kids call him, but he looks at us with disdain when we do.
2- There was a really bad wind storm here last December. We lost power for a week and had to move in with the ILs for a week. While the house was not damaged, we lost a few 6' sections of our fence. We fixed all the fence except for one. The section we have not fixed is sandwiched on both sides by numerous blackberry bushes. We can not walk to that section of fence to fix because the bushes are so thick. The dog however could care less. He will go into the back yard to do his business, but as soon as you turn your back, WHAMO he is gone out the fence and frolicking in the street. To make things worse the 3 houses across the street all have small lap sized dogs that roam free during the day. The neighbors have doggy doors that the dogs use at will. That means that they roam the neighborhood pooping at will. That also means that dog is chasing them to play or to eat (I have not figured yet which he is attempting). Being that he is a good dog (rescued from the animal shelter after being abandoned in a dumpster at approx 5 weeks old) he will come if we call. However calling him brings us back to number one and the problems there.
3- Daughter loves dogs. If she sees one on TV or walking around outside, she will get on all fours and crawl around and bark. Well when dog id here, she will also imitate whatever doggy does so she puts her plate and bowl on the floor to eat. She tries to rink from the doggy dish. She will "lift her leg" while crawling around and she will carry her shoe around in her mouth.
4- Son is potty trained. He has been for a year. However he has this weird attachment that someone (either hubby or I) have to take him and see him sit on the toilet before he will go. He will walk over to us and tap our shoulder or take our hand and inform us that he has to go. However when dog is around he no longer does this. Instead he will drop his drawers and start circling in the middle of the room. He will then crouch like sitting on the toilet and if you do not notice him, he will go right there, just like the dog. It is really funny to see and I have to keep myself from laughing, but it is really really annoying and I hate letting him see the dog go potty because I know that he will start his circle dance soon after.
5-Hubby is generous in watching dog whenever needed, but he forgets to find out how long we will be watching him for. He says drop him off whenever and pick him up whenever. While I do not mind having him around, I wish I knew how long he would be here so I can plan accordingly. I really dislike leaving him here alone for extended periods of time, so if I need to grocery shop (like I desperately need to do now) I need to know to go either before of after he is here.
The kids are so very happy with dog being here now. We are one big happy family...Are his owners back yet??
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