Doggie Troubles

I will be the first to tell you that I am sucker for a four-legged animal with a sweet face. Jake and I have a black lab named Tipper. We have had him since the summer after my sophomore year of college. That was a tough time. I had just put my dalmatian to sleep because of a bulging disc in her neck that caused her immense pain and left her unable to walk or control her bladder. I wasn't looking for a new dog that summer, but Tipper was found under my dad's truck. Like I said, I am sucker. As much as I tried to ignore the puppy, he stuck to me like glue. He spent the next two school years outside. When I came home on breaks and during the summer, I retrained him to be a house dog.

Off and on, we have had our trouble with Tipper. He likes to go in the trash can and take food off of tables. For some odd reason, he knows not to go on the counters. You can leave your plate of food on the dining room table, and it will get gobbled up. You move it 3 feet to the counter, and it is in the "safe zone." When I lived at my parents' house, Tipper would walk into the bathroom and jump in the shower with you. He won't go near the bathroom at our house unless it is a really HOT summer night. Since we have moved into our house (4 years ago), Tipper has dug through the bottom of a cage straight through my carpet. (There was a plastic tray on the bottom and he was trying to get out.) He chews on our window sills in the dining room. (We have really LOW windows...almost to the floor.) However, lately, my dear puppy has taken to digging up the carpet in my dining room. He isn't in a cage any more. Jake and I are completely baffled by this. We're not gone more than usual. We do have two kids now, but they LOVE him more than Jake and I ever could. My thought, though, is that he is still craving attention. So even with my stuffy nose, my goal is to get up at 4:30 am tomorrow morning and walk the dog. Wish me luck!

Our other doggie trouble :( has to do with my next door neighbors' dog. He likes anyone in the world except for a member of my family. :( I love and ADORE my neighbors. They are some of my closest friends. The last time he got out, my neighbor told me she was going to get rid of him. When I read that email, I cried. I read it in the parking lot at school, and I cried. I know that that dog is as much a member of their family as Tipper is a part of ours. I am praying that something changes so that they will not have to get rid of their dog. I do not want bad blood between us.