Puppies: WARNING, not for the faint of heart.

I was going to say that I didn't grow up with many pets...Correction: we had many birds. At one point we had 17 birds! Yup...nutty! I've decided that I do not like anything but big birds. Little ones wake up too early, make tons of messes, create mayhem when they escape. "I do not like them, Sam, I am!"

I was bitten by a German Shepherd when I was 10 years old, the dog of a neighbor. I was taking something to their house, and afraid, so I ran from the beast. He attacked. Luckily, the physical injury wasn't very serious, and a tetanus shot later, I was fine. But, I was always a little frightened by dogs. Funny how life can make you take a 180...

So, last night I had this horrific dream about planting gorgeous trees and flowering shrubs in our yard, but while I was trying to supervise the menagerie, I found just the skin of our little doggie, Suki. She is a little Shiba Inu, and other than liking to bark, she is a great dog! The first time I realized I was having this nightmare, I woke up at 4:00 a.m., and realized that Suki was fine. Every half an hour, I'd awaken after more of the plot unfolded in my dreams. I couldn't believe the mess I found in my yard when the crew of volunteers had finished planting things wherever they wanted. I was just too distracted with dealing with who had hurt our beloved little dog. It turns out that we had an entire man-hunt to find the beast! It was some kind of unknown beast, and realizing it had to be at least 15' tall, we finally found it. It was a lizard-like, two-headed, mongrel with long, sharp teeth. It got its punishment, but it was not enough to satisfy me. Not surprisingly, I woke up this morning unsatisfied, unhappy, and told the whole strange tale to Jim as he hurried to get ready for work. Jim had recently told me about someone who was torturing little dogs, leaving them skinless and headless. I blame them for my dreams! Crazies! (Couldn't be that I have an overactive imagination...sarcasm...surprise! The serious, workaholic has one!)

Anyway, long story short, I got this email from Jim this morning with a photo of our Keeshound who we had to adopt out before we first moved to Erie, PA in 1999. Kiesha (now named Molly-cringe) was my pal. She had an assortment of nicknames and songs written by 'the kids' over the years. Names like: Keewoo, Kieshaweesha, Fluff-Butt. Rhymes like: 'Cause she's the Kiesh, 'cause she's on her leash, 'cause she's the Kiesh, 'cause she's on her lease...'

I remember Kiesha while I was pregnant with Jace. I had a very difficult pregnancy, it fact, it agreed with me very little. I threw up repeatedly every day. Kiesha would jump up on my bed and come to "check" me about every 30 minutes when I was home. So, I thought of her as my little nurse companion.

She also did irritating things like eating a lb. of butter, which then gave her diarrhea for a week! Yuck! That is a memory best left suppressed. But mainly Kiesha was a pleaser, and loved to do her little tricks. We all loved and miss her.

After that, we adopted the most troubling dog EVER, Rogue. She was aptly named...but Daniel and Briana have tales to tell about her. What I remember most was her barking, her jumping about 3 feet in the air to get your attention, and her pathetic behaviors. She was trouble "caninized." She was weird! I was sad when we have to move and she went to a farm, but she needed a place to run where she wouldn't tackle little boys and tear their clothes!

Now we have Suki and Spud, Shiba Inus, who are both cunning, and fun. Suki, the tattler, was barking incessantly on Mother's Day. Jim kept telling her to be quiet...what she was really doing was letting him know that Spud was stealing all of the bacon he had cooked that morning...all 50 pieces! Yes, they had their treats that day too! She is really Briana's dog-they are bonded. I know that Briana misses her, almost as much as she misses us (or maybe more!) Suki is so intelligent, and is able to tell verbal commands so easily, it makes me wonder what is really going on in her head sometimes. Even my mother, a professed animal hater, loves Suki. She said to me one day, isn't it sad that this is all Suki can be? She is such a sweet dog, I would love to just talk to her! Shock doesn't even come close!

Spud-well doesn't that name say it all? He is really a funny, and happy-go-lucky dog, and we lovingly call him our "Homeland Security", because he lets us know whenever someone is 3 blocks away from our house! He loves to play fetch, hates to be tickled, and really screams when Jim gets him going...he's a good friend.

So, I'm a reformed dog-hater, to a dog-lover, and I'll never change. As much work as they make for me, I do like having my little companions around. They anger me, they play with me, they lick me, which I dislike a lot, but mostly they care and entertain me.