It was Rob's birthday yesterday and unlike last year, I was able to spend it here with him. We had a good day: breakfast at Pete's, shopping, I baked a cherry pie and Lindsay and Ryan came over for a great steak dinner. Colin dropped by later with Dexter.
We're also watching Dena's mom's dogs while Patty (Dena's mom) is in the hospital. The dogs are really cute; a small white poodle named Titan and a shi-tzu name Stache or Stash, for moustache. The poodle Titan spent the first day on the stairs, waiting for Patty to come back. Stash, the little one, worried about Titan, but really started having a good time with the other dogs. Brindle saw Patty with her new dogs -- Brindle had lived with Patty for years -- and has been angry with the latest interlopers, but Fuser and Rascal seem OK with the new guys.
I think if anyone had told me when I was 20 that I would turn into one of those little-dog-loving old ladies, I would have balked, gagged and denied it vehemently. I had always liked the idea of animals, but my family was never really an animal family. Even though we had family dogs, they were treated like animals.
It wasn't until Rob came along that I really started to appreciate pets. Jersey was our first pet together. I had promised the kids I'd get them a dog. We went to the local Humane Society-type place, but they wouldn't let us have a dog unless we had a note from our apartment complex. I didn't want to get one because we would have to pay extra for our rent. So I decided to hell with them and went to a store and bought a cocker spaniel, Jersey.
The idea was to let the dog sleep with the kids, but Rob took his turn sleeping with Jersey and wouldn't let her leave our bed. Jersey was a really pretty dog, although she had an underbite that made her less than ideal for breeding, even though she was AKC registered. We wouldn't have bred her anyway, but it was kind of a ripoff. She was also the cutest little dog, along with being imperious and temperamental. She absolutely detested other dogs. She kind of liked little white fluffy ones, but Rob says she thought they were kitties.
Sadly, Jersey died when she was about 15 1/2. It broke our hearts. I lasted a few months, but I really needed my doggy loving, so I started looking for another dog. Dena had given us the idea of getting a small dog -- maybe a King Charles Spaniel or something. We really didn't want another cocker spaniel because we could never replace Jersey. We found a group online -- Four Small Paws -- and I contacted them saying we would like to adopt a dog. About a week later, I got a call from a lady saying they had a small dog who needed a home. We arranged to have her come out. She said he was a chihuahua mix, and I'd always thought chihuahuas were kind of ratty dogs.
The lady showed up with the little guy she called Chewy. He immediately proceeded to walk to the fireplace and started peeing on the fireplace irons. At least he got that out of the way. He then sat next to the Four Small Paws lady and shook. He looked so scared. I showed her around the house and she must have liked what she saw because she left the dog with us.
We immediately decided we didn't like the name Chewy and because he was a rescue and had only had the name a short while, we changed it to Fuser -- after Motorcycle Diaries, where Che Guevara was called Fuser. Rob came up with the name after I ruled out all the stupid names, like Pepe or Paco, although we did struggle with calling him Lord Peepee because the little guy does like to mark. He bonded with me because I took him in my lap the first day and just held him and talked gently to him because he was so scared. He started to calm down.
Fuser hated Rob at first, so we took him to obedience classes so we could get him over his dislike. It really didn't work. What worked was me going to Ohio for Cody's birth. One of the problems with trying to train Fuser is that he's the most non-food driven dog I've ever met. He'd starve before letting Rob feed him at first. Fuser gets really nervous around food and can be a flighty eater. But there is one thing Fuser can't live without -- one thing that's more important to him than almost anything else and it's cuddling. After I left, he was stuck hanging out in the bedroom and growling at Rob when he came in the room. After a couple of days, though Fuser couldn't take it and came out into the living room. He then crawled up next to Rob to cuddle, but if Rob looked at him, he growled. He's come a long way since then and really loves Rob now.
Brindle came to live with us shortly after. We'd watched her for Patty from time to time and then Patty went to Oregon and asked us to watch Brindle and she never asked for her back. Since Brindle is actually Dena's dog, I think Dena decided to have us keep Brindle so she would be close to her. Fuser and Brindle formed a really close bond. Brindle has taught Fuser how to behave out in the world. Where Fuser was afraid of his own shadow, Brindle has taught him how to handle bigger dogs -- she goes submissive -- and how to run around and smell things.
Finally, we got Rascal. Lindsay's roommate Coral found him wandering around filthy and half-starved in Oxnard. She thought he was a brown dog because he was so dirty, but when they washed him, they found out he was white. Lindsay brought him over here and we got one more dog. Poor Rascal is our "special" dog. He was badly affected by the neglect of his early time and he has a real hard time learning new things. He's the biggest of the dogs and the most timid.
These guys are in addition to our two cats, Mythos and Lily, both joined our home by coming to our door and crying to be let in. Mythos is about 17 pounds and is the second biggest pet. He thinks he's a dog. He has to run outside with them and wants to have his belly rubbed. Lily is pure cat. She comes around when she wants to and she'd as soon look at you as scratch you. In fact, she got me up today by sitting at the side of my bed and hitting me with her claw.
We love our animals and they give us so much joy. They have such distinct personalities and they show unconditional love and affection.
So there we were on Rob's birthday with six dogs running around while we had steaks with baby potatoes and scallions I got at the farmers market. I made up a big salad with frisee and bibb lettuce, also from the Ojai farmer's market. I served the pie up on some beautiful plates Jennifer got me. All in all it was a lovely birthday celebration.
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