angledge: (polar bear paw)
Angela ([personal profile] angledge) wrote2003-09-18 10:34 am
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news from the JV squad

Having a dog is like Junior Varsity Child Rearing. I think everyone wants to have a kid should get a puppy first. If, after a year or two, the puppy is healthy & well-socialized, then its owners can consider trying to raise an actual human child.

Today has really been a JVCR sort of day. The morning always starts with basic dog maintenance chores: all three dogs go out in the yard, Brayden gets fed, & everyone gets water & breath mints (well, not breath mints, but these hard, crusty treats that supposedly clean the dogs' teeth, thus improving their breath). I noticed this morning that Brayden (Stacy recently informed me that I've been spelling her name wrong for months) wasn't exactly smelling like a rose, so I hauled her into the shower with me for a quick bath. Now here's the part I don't understand: I use shampoo, conditioner, & body wash to clean myself, all three products having strong scent components. I wash Brayden with one quick all-over application of doggie shampoo. Yet, after getting out of the shower & drying off, I smell like Perfect Coat Tearless Protein Shampoo, not Bath & Body Work White Tea & Ginger Body Wash. Not really the perfume I was looking for. But at least Brayden smells better.

Post-shower dog care includes drying Brayden (she ferociously fights off the towel throughout this process) & brushing out her beard & furnishings (the long fur on her legs & belly). Then Hershey & Sydney get a little brushing so no-one feels left out. To reward them all for being good during grooming, I decide to give them my favorite treat - Kong Stuff'n. Basically, this stuff is liver paste in a Easy Cheese can. I give it to the dogs by squirting it into these three hollow chew toys (Kongs). Then the dogs chew & lick the toys for hours, providing me with a chance to play Free Cell uninterrupted.

Except that today, Hershey decided that she should have all three of the Kongs. Of course this caused a squabble, with everyone trying to steal everyone else's Kong. I have a low tolerance for all the noise, so I ended up shutting Hershey in one bathroom, Sydney in another, & Brayden's currently locked in the computer room with me. If they were actual human children, I figure this would have been the point where I was screaming, "YOU'RE ALL GROUNDED! GO TO YOUR ROOMS!"

When do they start half-day kindergarten?

[identity profile] ebontigress.livejournal.com 2003-09-18 10:14 am (UTC)(link)
I strongly believe in the puppy-as-acid-test-for-rearing-children idea.

Sounds like you did good. The youngest is clean, the others are fed, and you didn't kill anybody yet. (shucks and we can't give you a rap for child abuse?) Plus, you've got some down time.

You get a star for being a "Good Mommy".

And no, puppies do not go to kindergarten. You could however, start looking into pre-schools.... :)

[identity profile] angledge.livejournal.com 2003-09-18 01:27 pm (UTC)(link)
The only reason I can handle the three of them is because I can lock them in cages for hours at a time & it's called "crate training", not "child abuse".