Dog Mother

As suitcases and backpacks pile up in the nursery, the four legged kids in the house have become a little concerned. There are no leashes or dog cookies going into the suitcases, and they are starting to get suspicious that they are not coming to China with us.

Many couples who have had difficulty getting pregnant have tried out their parenting and nurturing skills on a pet and we are no different. Tony was not a dog lover when we met, but my first dog loved him so much, he was converted, and now we are parents to 3 dogs.


The first dog we adopted together is Tasha - a white cocker-terrier-poodle mix who is now 14 years old, blind, deaf and has had Cushing's Disease for most of her life. We named her Tasha after Tasha Yar on Star Trek, because from the beginning, she has been the chief of security at our house. Because of her endocrine problems, Tasha is chronically hungry. Over the years she has eaten bars of soap, loaves of bread, a bag of Presidents Choice Chocolate Chip Cookies, the Easter Bunny, the mail, a bottle of cod liver oil, diapers, tin cans, an entire lasagna including the pyrex dish, a birthday cake and our cockatiel. We have child locks on the kitchen garbage otherwise Tasha would eat its entire contents every day. Despite her poor health, we have not been able to say good bye to her as it just seems wrong to put down a dog that manages to outsmart me most days. Lil calls her Tasha the Tank.

Lucy, fondly known as Loose Goose (because she has a couple of screws loose) is our 13 year old mini-schnauzer who allows us to sleep on her king sized bed. Lucy has had an anxiety disorder since she was a pup and is deathly afraid of high pitched electronic beeps, rings and thunder. It is unfortunate for the Goose that her Daddy is an OB, as he packs more electronic devices than a suicide bomber. When he gets up in the morning, she starts to shake. She is also quite frightened (as am I) of the smoke alarm which she now associates with me preparing a meal. Not to say that I am a bad cook, but the family joke as been that dinner is usually ready when the smoke alarm sounds. Saves me yelling for the family. Given my background as a therapist, I thought I would try some positive associations during the last thunder storm...as soon as the noise started, I brought out her favorite ball and tried to get her to play fetch. Now she is afraid of balls. Lucy however, is not afraid of the road, car tires or skunks.

Public Service Announcement: For anyone who has a dog that gets skunked, washing them with Massengill vaginal douche does remove the stench very effectively but you must suffer the indignity of standing in line at the all night drug store, smelling of skunk and purchasing six bottles of douche.

Bella the Bolt is a three year old mini-schnauzer and the newest addition to our dog squad. Bella has never known life without Lily, so she thinks Lil is her sister and she has tried to play the piano and jump on the trampeline with her. It was difficult to find a photo where Bella was not attached to either Lil or I, or both as she just doesn't understand the concept of personal space. Lily's very first sentence as a toddler was "Bella no jump on me". Bella is chubby because she has hypothyroidism, so she and I do our walk at 6 am each morning. This dog is better than a personal trainer - she starts pulling at my arm at 5:45 am and will bark at me until the running shoes go on. Bella the Bolt should be Bella the Boss.

I am sure that our three canine kids will have a lovely time with the house sitter, getting pets, walks and cookies but we will so miss them and would take them to China with us if we weren't afraid they would end up in a pot of soup. And when we get home, I expect that they will take the new one in and show her the ropes as they did with Lil.