Is dog ownership like having a baby?

Anyone who says that having a baby is like having a dog, hasn't had a baby.

Lovely portrait of Lucy - June 2013

Fostering a dog for a breeder

Recently, an acquaintance told me about her dog that she is fostering. I was curious because a) I love dogs and b) am curious always to learn about dogs.

She told me that she had wanted a gentle breed like a golden retriever since she has a child who is very rambunctious and she wanted to avoid any issues. She also didn't want a puppy to house train. She claims that she went to local rescue organizations trying to find an older dog to adopt but couldn't find one. I tried to stand there and accept what I was hearing, but found myself being judgmental. I mean, usually rescues are full of older dogs that no one wants, so it struck me as hard to believe. I tried to keep smiling and just listen and stop judging. Anyhow, she found a reputable breeder and liked the mother dog, named something pretty like Jolie. There were a litter of puppies up for adoption but she told the breeder that she wanted a young adult dog. He was surprised and claimed he didn't hear that often. He suggested his foster program. Essentially, she'd get a 2 year old dog who had been house trained and gotten all of her shots. The dog would then be in her foster care for a few years and she'd bring the dog back to get impregnated and then to have at least 3 litter of puppies. During that time, all vet bills would be paid by the breeder. After the third litter, the dog would be her full responsibility and she would officially adopt/own the dog. I'd never heard of this and found it very interesting.

But in my heart, I feel that it's sad to breed dogs when so many beautiful, loving dogs are in shelters around the area and country and so many are put-down in kill-shelters. It really bothers me. I have to step back and try to release some judgment and realize that sometimes people really do have issues that need a certain breed, like those highly allergic to dogs but who love dogs might need to purchase, say, a labradoodle from a breeder. It's a compromise. But I find it hard to believe that there wasn't a single young adult dog of golden retriever origin or mix in the entire rescue community of our area. Then again, this acquaintance is very busy working woman with a child at home. I guess Lucy was my first "furry baby" as I call her and I love her so much and she was a rescue. I just see that rescue dogs can be so wonderful that I don't understand the need for dog breeders. *sigh*

The Large Frozen Strawberry

Lucy is usually respective towards food that falls on the kitchen floor, staring at it, then back at me to see it's okay. But yesterday afternoon, I was making a fruit smoothy, and my husband was power-washing the deck outside which meant that I couldn't hear anything else. While making my smoothy, it seems a stray frozen strawberry hit the floor. Since it was so noisy, I didn't hear the thud. Otherwise, I would have grabbed it before Lucy could make her move.

Needless to say, seeing that I didn't notice the lost frozen strawberry, Lucy made her move. She doesn't savor food, she devours it. She swallowed a large frozen strawberry whole.

After I made my shake, I sat down and noticed Lucy by my side on the kitchen floor throwing up. I was concerned and then I saw the fully formed large red frozen strawberry. *sigh* Poor thing wasn't able to chew it down and thankfully she didn't choke on it either. I had just fed her dinner too so her entire dinner was up and out on the floor. I cleaned up the mess and tried to comfort her.

To see if she were sick, or if it were really just the large frozen strawberry, I waved her favorite dog toy at her. Her squeeky stuffed duck toy made her tail wag and she played immediately.

Even though, I was pretty sure she wasn't sick to her stomach, I went ahead and made her some plain rice to give her later.

Still concerned, I watched her closely on our evening walk. But Lucy, our lovable durable Lucy was her usual curious self on our walk. I was grateful for that.

Pullen Park Outing & Lucy's new Great Dane friend

Today, we took an outing to the lovely Pullen Park in downtown Raleigh with Lucy. It's really a park for families, rather than dog-lovers, but was still a fun outing with Lucy. Lucy made 1 new dog friend, a large great dane puppy named Dude. Check it out:

Greetings, Turtle - on our wedding anniversary

Today is our wedding anniversary. On my walk this morning with Lucy, we saw a baby turtle crossing the road. He moved rather quickly to my surprise. Lucy was so excited by this turtle, that I had to hold her back and make her sit a few feet away while we watched him shuttle across the road. Lucy’s tail was wagging as we watched the little turtle.

We stood in the warm rain, the whole surroundings were a lush jungle-like green. It was so peaceful and quiet. Once the turtle was almost to the other side, we walked up slowly to the turtle and Lucy gently sniffed him. The turtle jutted his head in and out of his shell and I said to him that we just wanted to say hello and didn’t want to hurt him.

After a few moments, I had to almost drag Lucy away from her first turtle sighting. We walked a few minutes and then turned around. I walked over to where the turtle had been and poof, gone, he had vanished. Well, at least to my human eye he had vanished. But Lucy, sensing we both wanted to see our turtle friend one more time, put her head down on the ground in wagged her tail. Following the scent, in just a minute, we located the turtle nestled under some brush. We said hello again and then walked home.

I think that seeing a turtle today was a good sign. Turtles carry their homes wherever they go. In Native American folk-lore, turtles represent carrying the whole world with you wherever you are. And today, on our wedding anniversary, I feel that wherever my heart is, is my home. My heart is with Stuart and wherever we are together, that is my home.

Instaframe pic -- "Many faces of Lucy"