Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Black (10/15/09)
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TITLE: Dash | Previous Challenge Entry
By Wanda Leslie
10/15/09 -
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Dash is a black collie pup, and a wonderful dog. He was a stray my daughter discovered while on her morning run. At the time he was only 28 pounds, solid black from nose to tail, with inquisitive friendly eyes. He loved water, running and my daughter. They ran daily and when it was hot Dash would jump in the creek to cool off.
He was eagerly adopted into the canine part of the family. He had a doggy brother, sister, his own pool and a loving home. When he came to visit grandma, he made the small water feature in my garden his own, chewed up my flowers and playfully chased the feral cats that had taken up residence in my yard.
There was a sad side to Dash too. If you raised your voice, even playfully, he would roll over and yelp as if you were beating him. Dash had apparently been abused. That only made us love him more. He had our hearts, and he gave us all the love his long black tail could muster with every wag.
About the same time my daughter rescued Dash, she had six other rescues in process. A litter of lab mix pups. A co worker of my daughters found them dumped in her yard and was going to give them rat poison. My daughter rescued them, and then she and her husband began the task of finding them wonderful forever homes. I was the doggy sitter / grandma.
My daughter and her husband had a trip planned out of town, and they brought the six grand dogs to stay with grandma. I love animals too and have eight rescue dogs of my own.
When they were all little pups it was really a lot of fun. I did not even mind the clean up part. But they were not so little now. Dash had grown to a healthy seventy pounds with the others not far behind. My eight ranged from five pounds to ninety-five pounds. I had crowd control baby gates, three separate yards and enough love for them all.
Trying to find enough space in my small house for feeding time to avoid any possibility of conflict took some ingenuity and scheduling. But when what went in came out in the blink of an eye, from a 60 pound dog in my living room floor…well… Yuk. A whole can of air freshener later the room was once again tolerable.
For the sleeping arrangements, my four insiders were to sleep with my husband in our bedroom. My four outsiders were to camp out on the back porch. My daughters’ three foster labs were to sleep in my utility room; her three regulars were to sleep in the living room with me on the couch to referee if needed.
Well, Dash decided it would be fun to chase my cat Rowdy, who kept running laps up and down over me. At the same time, my little pup Pele was running laps up, down and over my husband. Baby, my five pounder, was barking at the world trying to get everyone to hush, from her spot right next to my husbands’ ear. Cody was under the bed and expressed himself in a non verbal manner. He peed.
Meanwhile, I decided to rearrange the group inside my “control”. I let everyone in the living room with me. One lab pup chose a recliner, one lab pup laid on the floor next to me. Dash and the other lab pup continued to chase my cat in spite of frequent squirts with the water bottle.
I was exhausted after several hours of sleeplessness, and many trips outside trying to appease them all. The final straw came at four am. Dash rounded up his pack, went to my back window and had all six of them barking at all five of mine…all on their hind legs looking through the window at each other. When they were puppies, they could not see each other through the window. Now all eleven of them were barking, at the top of their little doggy lungs, and were being accompanied from my other three in the bedroom… next to my once loving husband.
I lovingly told my daughter when I took her pack to her front door at 5 AM, “Yours are wonderful, mine are wonderful…all together… not so wonderful”.
From now on, I doggy sit her dogs at her house. I hope I can sleep there.
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