Poop

So, the title of this post says it all, and I'm sorry that I'm writing about this topic, actually not very sorry, but I'm obsessed with my dog and her pooping. Every time someone takes her out for a potty break I immediately ask when they come back through the door if she went poop. It's actually the one thing that has made Brent want to give her back. I'm OBSESSED with her pooping. I haven't quite figured out all the details of the obsession and why I feel this way. I think it started with the fact that I didn't want her to poop in my house and now I just want her to be successful. I'm a tad crazy I think! But this morning I saw the coolest poop ever. Maggie's getting a little more free reign of the house because she's being successful and she's also learned to jump. Yesterday she jumped up on the couch and to the table in the family room and pulled down my almost eaten but the kernel popcorn bag from the night before. I wondered if she'd really eaten any. Well, I got my answer this morning, she ate quite a few, and a few other things I tried to see, but couldn't get close enough to tell. I almost picked it up and dissected it. I tell you the obsession is really odd. I asked Brent when I came back in if he wanted to take a look and he declined. I thought of posting a picture, but then I thought again, maybe someday....but maybe I should just find a good therapist and spare us all!

Maggie

As many of you know I made a life changing decision a little over a month ago. We added a new member to the family and her name is Maggie. I'm telling the little story of how she came to be because I know in a couple years I may try and rewrite how she wormed her way into my life!

Whenever we're at the mall we always have to walk into the pet store and look at the puppies. It's just one of those things we do, I'm sure many of you do too! We were at the outdoor mall playing and I always shop while they look at the puppies, but I was trying to be good and reminding myself that my girls don't need any more clothes. (Sometimes I wish I'd just bought them a real nice new outfit!) As we're looking at the puppies, Brent says, "come look at this one, it looks like an ewok." Well, I rounded the corner and it was love at first sight. I asked to go into a private holding room and we played with her, although she just wanted to sit in our laps. She was adorable. But we left. I mean, realistically speaking I work full time and the kids are little and we're renting. All of those variables were not suitable for a puppy. As we're driving home I'm trying to come up with a name that has to do with an ewok suitable name and then Brent says, "I think we should call her Maggie." Well, that was all it took to push me to the end of insanity. Each night as we sat on our couch I would look at him and say, "I think we need to go get Maggie. I think we need to bring her home." Brent just said it was up to me. I called the pet store every day to make sure no one had bought her. I talked about waiting until they marked her down again. I visited her again. Hannah cried herself to sleep one night and I couldn't stop obsessing about the need to have this puppy. So, on a Wednesday after school we went and visited her again, and I did it, I bought her. I bought an over-priced mutt (or as we mutt owners like to call them, designer dog) She is a Shi Tzu Poodle, yes a Shi-Poo, but don't ask my brother-in-law what he likes to call her! I'm sure you can imagine.

She really has been the sweetest puppy ever. She is sooooooo good with the girls. I wish they were as good with her. She's only ever cried one night through the night. She is still working on the house/crate training but she's doing pretty well. The only major issue was she was diagnosed with giardia and really bad too. So we had to clean everything in a bleach solution every 24 hours. Not let her lick our faces, wipe her bum after she pooped, and wash our hands anytime we came into contact with her. Let's just say the house was clean, our hands were raw, and we were tired. She's been cleared by the vet and is on the mend. And this week with the kids on spring break we introduced her to the back yard or dirt. For any of you who have seen the movie holes, that's what our backyard looks like, although she's had a little help from the oldest two girls in the house and some shovels. Some days I wish I hadn't fallen in love, but most days I'm so glad I "rescued" her from the pet store. (That's what I like to tell myself to make me feel better about adding a little more stress to our lives.) It's really Brent's fault, if he hadn't named her he wouldn't have made it so personal!