Crazy Life

Life has been busy lately, lots going on at home and at work. I've had the opportunity to do some really cool things, and I've worried a lot, and been very nervous. I'm working on improving my classes, and improving our handling of animals at work, and myself and our family and home in general. The dogs aren't always the priority that they ought to be, and we need to work on that, but they're all great dogs in their own way.


I love our dogs, they've given us so very much, and it all started with a little white puppy who could make sounds like a goat. About three and a half years ago, we stopped to see a Jack Russell Terrier puppy, knowing that in a "No Pets" apartment (where we already had two cats) that taking her wasn't an option. But, we saw her and held her and went on our way. We hadn't gone far, before Brandon turned around, that was it, I was too sad, we were going back and getting her. She was an impulse, we were completely unprepared.

Bindi was a bit past the normal puppy adoption age, and had spent who knows how much of her life living in a cage, but we had no idea that any of that would mean problems for us. We drove her home to meet our families (and do some laundry) which was where we'd been heading in the first place. She did great for the majority of that ride, but threw up on my purse and the floor of the car right as we were pulling into Brandon's Mom's driveway.
She was little and adorable, and everyone loved her, until we took her home to meet the cats. They were understandably freaked, and spent a fair amount of time on top of the fridge. We didn't really do anything to work on that, but with time, Jack learned to love her, and Jill could be tolerant.
Then there was house training...not an easy task in an apartment where you have to sneak the puppy in and out. This was a serious failure! We bought pee pads, we didn't make her sleep in the crate at night because we were so terrified of her making noise, there wasn't really any housetraining to speak of.
We didn't last long, the stress was incredible and though I'd reluctantly mentioned a breed rescue Brandon was already too bonded, too attached, there was no way that puppy was going anywhere, so we moved. We paid a ridiculous amount of money to get out of our lease, and we started apartment hunting back home. This time pet friendly was the only option. We were incredibly lucky to find a little house for rent in a lovely neighborhood, it wasn't too expensive, we'd had privacy, and not only would they allow our little puppy, but the nice couple who became our landlords didn't even require a pet deposit.
We moved in, I started three different jobs before settling in part time at the vet clinic, house training was still a nightmare, we still didn't really know what we were doing, and Bindi had several freedom runs through the neighborhood.
And then came Gus...