Of Writing and Interrupting Family Members by Konnie Enos

 Look closely, there is only one dog in this picture, the other one is a picture of a dog.

Yes, I’ve been thinking of my post and what I could write about. Writing my post is on my to-do list, so I’ve been contemplating it since at least Sunday.

When my alarm went off this morning, only the thought of having nothing written down before the deadline got me to sit up and open my computer.

Of course, computer open, Word open and fingers on keys, is not stimulating any ideas.

The writing experience isn’t usually putting words on paper in an easy flow of words. It’s usually choppy. Typing/writing a few words, reconsidering it and erasing all or most of them. Getting a paragraph or two down and then deciding you started at the wrong place or left information out. Typing a few sentences and realizing they just don’t fit the flow you’re trying for so deleting them. Or just plain pausing for minutes, hours, even days, trying to figure out how to go from where you’re at to get to the end of the line, sentence, paragraph, page, chapter, book.

And the hardest part isn’t coming up with the ideas but trying to get the words to flow in easy, readable lines that clearly present your ideas.

And amongst all the attempts to just write you have to deal with all the activity around you because, unless you live with no other living beings, you are going to get interrupted for one reason or another.

If you have a cat, like my sister does, then the likelihood of having said cat sitting on your keyboard to get your attention is high.

I don’t live with cats, but we do have dogs.

Our largest, and youngest one, Lakota, does not like me. She’ll get on my bed but only on my husband’s side and I can get her off simply by saying hi to her. Our tri-pod, Xavier, isn’t getting any younger and often just finds a soft place, often on the foot of my bed, to sleep. Except for his snoring and his incredibly stinky farts, you wouldn’t even notice he was there.

But the one I’ve been dealing with the most lately is our little guy, Ivan. He’s 16, which is incredibly old for a dog, and his health is showing his age. He very much prefers to be snuggled up to a warm body sleeping all day.

Now even as old as he is, he still has the presence of mind to prefer a warm body that isn’t going to be moving that much over one that is constantly getting up to do something, even is that something is pacing the hall.

In my house those warm bodies include my husband, who is constantly moving from one place to another. Finding him at any given time is an exercise is eliminating which seat he isn’t in at the moment. Even then, he is rarely still. So obviously, Ivan has no interest in snuggling with him.

My daughter, who is his first love, also does not sit still for long. She runs this household and spends much of her morning making sure our house is as clean as she can possibly maintain it at. And when she’s not cleaning or cooking, she could just as easily be pacing, either getting out energy or just thinking.

As for my son, he spends a lot of time in his room, I’m sure a good chunk of that is sleeping, but he’s just as prone to pacing as his sister is and changing where he is sitting as his dad is. And maybe Ivan has other reasons too, but he doesn’t spend much time with my son.

Then there’s me. I’m easy to find. I’m generally sitting right where I am right now. In my bed. Sometimes I’m on my tablet. Sometimes I’m reading a book or crocheting. Sometimes, like now, I’m on my laptop though what I’m doing on it varies.

I’m not writing anywhere near as often as I think about doing it. Most of the time when my laptop is out I’m watching something or dealing with bills and such. Anymore, I do most of my writing when I have to. Like when my post is due.

For all these reasons, Ivan has started spending his daylight hours sleeping next to me. Well, usually.

When he came in this morning, he seemed much more intent on curling up in my arms. So, about half this post was written with eight pounds of soft fur sleeping in my arms. He has decided to be next to me as usual now. Perhaps he finally figured out that my arms simply weren’t as still as my legs are. You know, since I kept moving them to type.

But at least his activity helped me to get my post written.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

Of The Holidays and Pets by Konnie Enos

We didn’t have multiple parties to attend. We didn’t have to do any stress inducing last minute shopping trips. (Okay, I generally plan well enough that I never have to do gift shopping at the last minute.) We didn’t have any company come over, unless you count my son coming home Christmas Eve for a day or two.

My son and daughter finally managed to get our tree up about a week before Christmas. And my daughter took it back down again by this past Sunday. I even got my Christmas Village taken down already. So, it has to be the shortest time we’ve have ever had our Christmas decorations up.

Beyond that, the only things that have happened in the last month are a couple of our dogs needing urgent trips to the vet.

It started with Xavier getting sick and throwing up just before Christmas. It was serious enough that we ran him to the doctor at the earliest possible moment. We didn’t wait for our preferred doctor to be on duty first. (She only works Friday thru Tuesday, and it was a Thursday.)

And, as usual for a vet visit, the cost was several hundred dollars to do some blood work and give him something to calm his stomach. All that and I don’t think anyone figured out what was wrong beyond possibly a cold. After a few days rest he returned to his normal happy self. Though the vet did have us repeat one of the blood tests because the numbers weren’t good. Thankfully the repeat showed they are fine now.

Then between Christmas and New Year’s, my daughter had to run Ivan to the doctor. More bloodwork. They came home again with no issues but within minutes of them getting home Ivan started bleeding again.

Now, when we call the vet’s office they generally ask us if we are having an emergency or if we can wait on hold for a few minutes. I assume because the front desk staff are doing three things at once most days. And in the nearly twenty years we’ve lived here, that was the first time I told them that no, I could not wait because I was positive it was an emergency.

We were told to get him back to the office as soon as possible. Now my daughter can drive, but at that point she was a bit panicked, and someone had to hold Ivan to keep pressure on where he was bleeding from.

We discussed me getting dressed and holding Ivan while she drove, but I didn’t think that was the best solution. One because my daughter was that upset about Ivan’s condition. Two because of the time it would take me to get dressed. And finally, three, because she has the most knowledge and skills to deal with a pet emergency to begin with. (She is a veterinary nurse after all.)

I told Jerry to drive while my daughter held Ivan.

What apparently happened is that the site they drew blood from started bleeding again. They stopped the bleeding and sent him home, but we had to keep him quiet for a few days.

Now we have three pets currently. Ivan and Xavier are both seniors. Lakota is barely fully grown, and still has some of her puppy exuberance. One would think keeping Lakota, our largest and youngest dog, away from Ivan would be the biggest issue. It was not.

Xavier, by then fully recovered from his bout of sickness, was energetic and playful enough that he was the reason Ivan started bleeding again. We were afraid we’d have to keep them apart for a few days, but Xavier managed to be his less than energetic, senior self while Ivan was recovering.

But the trip to get Xavier’s bloodwork rechecked was an experience.

Per his usual he rode in the backseat all the way to the vet but as soon as we parked he climbed into the front seat. And for whatever reason he never went back into the back seat. He stayed in my lap for the duration of the trip home.

Now he is not a huge dog, but having nearly thirty pounds of mass on my basically non-existent lap was a bit much for the roughly 20-minute drive. But the really annoying part was when he switched his position so he could see out the window better. He was pretty much standing on my stomach and completely blocking my view for the last five minutes or so of the trip home.

He clearly enjoyed it, but I wasn’t comfortable.

How are things so far this year, for you?

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

Of Old and New Family Members by Konnie Enos

 My house has been a house full of pets since my kids were young. At the beginning of last year, we had a total of six dogs and a cat.

That number quickly dropped. Reeses and Tiger died the same weekend and devastated our family. Then a few months later Mabel finally succumbed after fighting liver problems for three years. Lastly, Hmwun went back to his first owner, a man Hmwun adores. He is old, lonely, and adores Hmwun too. (Jerry is still able to see him regularly.)

This left us with just Ivan, Gunner, and Xavier. All of which are solidly senior dogs. Ivan and Xavier probably have several years left but Gunner is already at the edge of his life expectancy and has liver issues (like Mabel).

After so much loss last year, we decided to hold off getting a new member of the family for a bit.

Well, now it’s well over a year after Reeses and Tiger died, and I’ve been thinking about it. I don’t ever want my house to be without our fur family members so eventually, we’ll have to get one, or two, or maybe more.

This has led me to consider what type of pet I want.

I considered getting a cat. Said cat would have to be fine with dogs. My issue would be the need for litter boxes and thereby cleaning them regularly. That being said, this cat person probably won’t be getting one anytime soon. I also rejected getting a caged animal of any kind because of the need to regularly clean said cages.

Dogs, on the other hand, while there is some necessity to clean up after them, it is not anything I specifically have to do. I could even hire someone to clean up the backyard if need be.

The issue with dogs is they come in all sizes with a variety of breed-specific traits. I therefore put some thought into what type of dogs I would consider.

I don’t want a large dog like Hmwun. He is large enough to look me directly in the eyes while still on all four paws. He is also very enthusiastic with his greetings. I did not relish the thought of someone that large knocking me over while attempting to be playful.

Gunner is only medium-sized. I can stand beside him and easily pet him without bending over. He is also a good 50 pounds and loves to climb in Melinda’s lap. I wouldn’t be comfortable with even a medium-sized dog attempting that with me.

Mabel was a smaller dog, but still over twenty pounds, which is also about the same size as Xavier. Having either one of them try to climb into my non-existent lap is too much.

Ivan, by contrast, is little, under 10 pounds. Plus, he loves to snuggle up to his person. For this reason, most of the breeds I’ve considered are smaller ones.

I’ve also looked into what traits each breed has. I know some dogs need to herd and others have more guarding tendencies. Some are super friendly with everyone while others tend to be aggressive with strangers. And, of course, all dogs have their personalities to go with any in-bred traits.

Outside of these considerations are the grooming needs of each breed.

Some breeds require daily brushing, regular bathing, and frequent nail and/or fur trimmings. Some breeds shed more than others. Understandably, I’d prefer one that didn’t need extensive grooming routines.

There is so much to consider.

Jerry, on the other hand, just wants a dog and he likes large ones. So now we have Lakota. A German Shepard-Pyrenees mix, an intelligent, guarding breed. She needs daily walks, regular brushing, and other extensive grooming measures.

So everything I didn’t want in a pet.

She adores Jerry and Melinda but will run from anyone with facial hair or a top knot. Our boys rarely shave and I keep my long hair corralled in a top knot most of the time.

Lakato will run from me if I try to feed her and she won’t get in my bed unless Jerry is nearby. She similarly avoids Royce and growled at Tony. Though, the funniest thing about her is how intelligent she is. On her very first night here she figured out that she couldn’t sleep anywhere in my path to the bathroom because I would come, often, day and night. It’s also funny to see her dashing under Jerry’s desk when I walk into the room.

She also follows Jerry everywhere. I used to have a little grey shadow (Mabel). Jerry now has a large white one (Lakota).

I’m still thinking about a dog, but one of the best breeds for me is Chihuahua. Ivan is the only one I’ve ever liked.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.