Tales of Hunter, the accidental pet

As Hunter's "guardians" until our daughter and her family come back and take him home, I feel it is necessary for him to know where he is and how to get around and find his way back should the need arise. So to that end I try to walk him around the whole neighborhood. Many of the families here have pets, the majority are dogs, and they all make themselves known as we pass by. Hunter will usually not respond to the barks or growls from those behind a fence, but occasionally we will encounter another dog on a leash with its owner or even one that runs up to the edge of their yard barking loudly making it known we are about to trespass into their territory.  Some are overly friendly, while others are not friendly at all. One of those is Brutus. Brutus was abandoned by his owners and taken in by a family in the neighborhood on a temporary basis, until a permanent home could be found. That was awhile ago and the family he is with has just kept him as their own. He is also an accidental pet.  Enjoy.


Hunter meets Mitzy and Bitzy

Today Grandma and I went for a walk down past her friend Joan's house. She has two dogs. Both just barked at me while Grandma and Joan talked. I just ignored them. They just wanted to make fun of me and I was in too good of a mood to let that happen. The weather was nice and Grandma was home all day today. We played and she petted me and we played and she petted me and we played and she petted me until she finally said we needed to walk. Fine by me, I was almost played and petted out anyway. I like walking in the neighborhood. Most of the dogs we see are inside fences. Some come out into the yards but for the most part it seems I'm one of the few who get "walked". As Grandma was talking I heard her say "... he just seems mean. I don't like walking by his house. I check to make sure he is on the lead before I take Hunter by there. Unfortunately we have to go by there to go almost anywhere in the neighborhood. Besides he always chases my car into the driveway. I'm afraid I might hit him." "I know, but he is really quite timid. If you speak loudly and firmly he backs right down." said Joan. "I have had to do that a couple of times when I take the kids for a walk." " That would be scary!" said Grandma. " His previous owners weren't the best. They even abandoned him. Just up and left him in the back yard one day when they moved away. The Jones took him in after a couple of days, when it became apparent they weren't coming back. It was them or the pound." What? Brutus? Abandoned? Who would do that? No wonder he seems so grumpy all the time. Always barking at us or chasing cars. He probably wonders where his family is. I know where mine are and its hard enough, but to not know and not know if they were coming back would be awful. " Well he still frightens me, but I guess its better knowing why he is so aggressive. Thanks Joan, but we must move on. Lots of walking to do today. Bye." " Bye! and goodbye to you too Hunter!" said Joan. So on we went. All the while my mind was racing. Brutus was as accidental pet too. How funny is that? I was so preoccupied with thoughts of Brutus I got blindsided by not one but two yapping hair balls.

 Just as we turned the corner these two long haired chihuahuas came running toward us, FAST!
  "Hi there! You're Hunter right? We're Mitzy and Bitzy. We're twins!" They said in unison. "We heard you were new..." "... And walked the neighborhood with your grandma..."...wanted to meet you...""... And say hi!" " so..HI!" Argh! I had to swing my head back and forth between them to see which one was talking! They kept jumping up and down, up and down! It was too much! Squeaky voices talking real fast, finishing each others sentences. Grandma take me away, please!  We finally got started back down the way we came and they followed us. We walked faster and they kept coming. Where were their parents? They kept talking the whole time! Didn't they need to take a breath? We turned the corner onto our street and as I looked back to see if we were safe, they stopped and said "Bye Hunter! See you next time!" and turned and went back to their house. See me next time I thought. Not if I see you first you won't. As we walked home I heard someone snicker. It was coming from grandma's friend Joan's yard. Her dogs were laughing at me. " Hi Hunter" they said in high pitched squeaky voices," I see you met Mitzy and Bitzy. Those girls are a trip." The bigger one said. "Yeah a trip." Said the smaller one laughing. " They have set their sights on you my friend and I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. You are fresh meat and all they have to do is get their mom to come outside and talk to your grandma while she's walking you and you will be a captive audience. Since you're on a leash and all. They think they are so cute and the world revolves around them and that EVERYONE wants to know about it." More laughter erupted from the two of them. As I pull grandma down the road toward our house. I hear one of them say " I kind of feel sorry for him." "Not me. " Said the other "I'm just glad it's not us!"

I'm in such a hurry to get back to the house I don't even notice Brutus. He is the last thing on my mind. All I want is to get away from the "Twins".  Once inside and my mind has calmed a bit I start to wonder. Could Brutus really be an accidental pet too? Could he and I have something in common? Could we be friends? I'm not sure but I know one thing. It has to be easier to deal with Brutus than Mitzy and Bitzy. Either way I have some planning to do.


Hunter getting ready to go out for a walk. Waiting impatiently of course.

 

Tails of Hunter, the accidental pet

I am not a neat freak. I want to get that out in the open. I have tendencies I'll admit, but after 35 years with my none neat husband I have turned to the dark side, if only a little bit. I am not one of those people who loses it if something is out of place or constantly goes behind everyone cleaning up as they mess up. I just like everything neat and clean. I can go for days and not vacuum or dust, at least I could till you-know-who came to live with us. I now have to curb those tendencies even more. The rate in which he loses hair is greater than the rate that I can vacuum. It is a vicious circle and I feel myself getting caught up in it almost daily. It will drive you insane. I commented to my daughter about the hair loss and she said " Well Mom it's not like I didn't know he sheds a lot. I just didn't care." Insane I tell you, INSANE!


Hair of the dog

"Argh! every time I think I have a handle on it I find more! My beige carpet is gray." Beeeep beep beep. Beeeep beep beep.

"What are you fussing about?" Asked Grandaddy. " I just vacuumed yesterday and now I could fill the thing up again with dog hair. How can one dog lose so much hair and not be bald?" Said Grandma getting the vacuum. "The Hair Club should really look into this. I'm sure they could solve the problem of hair loss for millions of people around the world if they could figure out how he does it." I don't know what she's talking about. It's not like I go around all day deliberately dropping handfuls of hair. I don't collect it so I can fling it around the house. What does she expect I'm a dog. " There has to be something I can do to at least slow it down. My vacuum is getting a lot of mileage put on it. And I'm not talking highway miles either." Said Grandma. " I'll just have to research it." "Oh no, not that." Groans Grandaddy.  "Every time I hear her say that it usually means someone will suffer." Looking at me he smiles and pats my head and says "Sorry buddy." Uh oh! I'm the one to suffer.

There is something about vacuums that just bothers me. They are loud and constantly move back and forth plus they eat stuff. How do I know it won't eat me? I don't, so I have to bark at it to let it know that I am not food and to let it know I'm not scared of it. Not very scared anyway. Grandma can keep it under control but I still worry. I've seen it eat stuff right off the floor in front of me. Some of it my stuff. It eats the crumbs left over from one of my treats that I was saving for later. It eats bits of paper. I have even seen it start to eat a small rug but Grandma grabbed it and pulled it out of its mouth before it could swallow all of it. Then it makes a high pitched whine that hurts my ears. I try to stay out of its way but it just roams all over the house with grandma holding onto its tail and pushing or pulling it. Vroooom! Look out here it comes! "Hunter move!" Don't worry, I'm out of here. Grandma vacuums downstairs so I go upstairs. I hear her stop, open the vacuum up, dump the contents in the trash and put it back together. She does the stairs and then brings the monster upstairs. I run downstairs. All the while she's mumbling about hair everywhere and something about shaving. Soon she is done and dumps the last load in the trash. She puts the vacuum away (finally) and sits down at the computer. There is an almost erie silence as she taps away at the keyboard for an hour.

The next day grandma brings home a soft looking mitt. It's supposed to capture all the loose dog hair on me before it falls onto the floor. Nope. But I did like the way it felt on my back. After that it was a brush. She brushed me everyday, sometimes more than once or twice. She brushed me so much I would run if I saw her with her own hairbrush. She got a special comb and spray, even a new broom. "The broom works best of all but it only gets up what has already fallen off of you." She would tell me. She would even  roll me down with her lint roller on the off chance it would catch a few stray hairs. " I give up." She said. " I guess we will just have to live with it." Thank you! While I enjoy all the attention, I was starting to get sore from all the rubbing and brushing. If there was a way I could stop shedding I would. I would do it for Grandma. She and Grandaddy have taken me in and made me part of their family. Besides I don't think I want to find out what shaving is.

 

 

 

Hunter waiting to get brushed. This is the only time he was still.

 

 

 

 

Tales of Hunter, the accidental pet.

 

I have worked at the same place for 19 years. It started out as a  semi-temporary thing to help with the bills after we built our house. I wanted to buy new furniture and in order to do that I needed a job. My plan was to work a few months, save some money, get new stuff and then start with the school district or something so I could have the same time off as the kids. I wanted better stuff. Stuff I did't have to worry about being ruined by movers because this was our last move. So I took my time and got what I wanted and with the upgrade in furniture you also have to upgrade in accessories. So I did things up right. Got new stuff all around. I then developed a habit of getting more new stuff, so I kept working. Well then life happened and time passed and a couple years ago it was time to get new stuff again. This time the kids were grown and gone and it was just Charlie and me. So we got better stuff and once again I was very particular about what I got to go with it. I wanted a certain look and spent many a shopping trip looking for just the right thing. Hence the pillow. It was not expensive, nor was it very unique but it did fill what seemed to me, to be a gaping hole in my decor. Enjoy.

 

 

Hunter and the pillow

I've been with grandma and grandaddy almost 2 months now and we have a nice routine. I stopped sleeping in the crate after about a week and when I realized I was staying here instead of going to my family I decided to make myself at home. Grandaddy has his chair and Grandma sits on the love seat so I took the couch. It's nice and soft and long so I can stretch out when I need to. Grandma got a blanket of some sort to put on it to protect it. I don't intend to mess it up but I do have big feet and long nails. I also drool a little when I sleep. Kind of gross, but I can't help it. I have a favorite pillow I like to lay on. It's one of Grandma's favorites too I think. She keeps taking it away and fussing about it. I told you she can be bossy just like Coco. I keep sneaking it back and she keeps taking it away. There really is nothing special about it but it reminds me of my mom and dad. They would sit on the couch and use this pillow when they were here and I can still smell their scent on it. It's comforting to me to know they were here and will know where to come and get me when they come back. I can also smell YaYa and Elyse. I smell her mostly on the rug and carpet. She crawled around a lot and drooled too.

 

Anyway, Grandma and I go through this routine almost every day. She takes the pillow away, I take it back. She puts the pillow up, I go get it. She hides the pillo, I find it. It would be funny if it wasn't so serious. It's not like I'm asking for a lot. One morning Grandma comes down early and catches me sleeping on the pillow. "Eww! Dog drool on my good pillow. Hunter, what am I going to do with you?" She exclaimed. I'm not sure what the problem is. Mom and dad didn't mind if we layed on their pillows. We could get on the couch and love seat, lay on their blankets and throws and even get on the beds. But here I can only stay on the floor or the couch. It's kind of annoying. I'm being good and not messing anything up. Why can't I have this one little pillow?

 

Not too long after I got busted with the pillow Grandma comes downstairs early again and this time she has a bed pillow with her. " I thought you might have my good pillow again, so I'm going to give you one just for you" She said. "It's one your mom and dad slept on when they were here. Hopefully that will satisfy your need for their scent and you won't keep messing up my good pillow." Yay! You finally figured it out. I don't know how but I'm glad you did. "My friend Lynn at work raises German shepherds and I was telling her about your pillow fetish and she told me about the scent thing and how that was probably why you liked that pillow so much. She suggested something else that had their scent on it would work just as well and since I wasn't going to have your mom send me dirty t- shirts in the mail, I decided to try this. I hope this will do." Oh yes ! This will do nicely. It has a much stronger scent than the other one. I lay on the new pillow and take a deep breath. Ahh! Almost like home. Grandma takes the other pillow and starts to put it on the love seat. I look at her, then the pillow, then at her again. "What? You want this pillow too? No, you have that pillow now." She says as she puts the pillow on the love seat. But Grandma! I give her my best sad puppy dog eyes. Please? "No I said." I place my head on her lap. " No. That's one of my good pillows that I searched all over for so it would match my new furniture. You can not have it." She stated firmly. I wag my tail and nudge her hand. "No." I scoot up closer to her and gently lean against her leg giving her the sweetest look I have. "CRAP! OK! Fine, just get off me. How about I put it on the back of the couch, that way you can see it but not mess it up? Will that do?" She exclaimed. Yes, yes it will. "Can't believe I let him have the pillow. I got him a better pillow but he still wanted the other one and I let him have it. I can't believe it. How did that happen?" She mutters to herself as she leaves for work . I know. It was the puppy dog eyes. They work every time.

Tales of Hunter, the accidental pet.

I like to decorate for Christamas. I put up two trees. One in the living room and one in the Gone With The Wind room. That's another story. Needless to say I tend to go overboard and both of our daughters go the other direction. This year I was worried about Hunter and how he would react to all of the things that get put out and up, most of which can not be replaced. I have my mothers nativity set, a nativity my son-in-law brought me from Iraq and one of my own. They usually end up on the coffee table. I have angels I have collected from all over and some are old and fragile. It caused me more than a little anxiety worrying over their safety. I did modify my plans and just didn't risk losing any of the ornaments or sets that mean so much to me. That being said we did have two beautiful trees this year and next year maybe we can build on that to include more. Enjoy.

Hunter gets a toy for Christmas

Things around here are nice and pleasant. We have a routine that  I like and I am getting to know the neighborhood. All is well.  A few weeks go by and things start to change. Grandma starts rearranging the furniture and all the stuff on the tables in the living room. It's weird but maybe that's just how she is. Then she has grandaddy bring in this big box. She opens it up and pulls out a tree! A tree in a box! I know about trees but had never seen one in a box before. It looked sort of funny. It was in pieces. Grandaddy pulled out this metal part and set it on the floor then they stuck the biggest part of the tree into it and it stood up. Branches fell all around in a circle. They did it again with another piece and another. Each time branches would fall around in a circle. I was amazed and had to check this out. " Back up Hunter you are in the way." grandma said. Alright but let me get a good sniff first . " Hunter! Back up!" grandaddy said as he almost tripped over me. OK, OK I will. I sat on the couch and watched as they made this funny looking thing look like a tree. They fussed and fluffed and turned and twisted until they were satisfied with the shape. Grandaddy stepped back, looked at it and said "whew, I'm done." Grandma said " No you're not. There is a lot more to do." "Honey" he said " my job is to set it up and your job is to decorate it." he said smiling . Grandma put her favorite Christmas album on the record player and started to work. There were lots of twinkling lights and glass balls. Piles of crystal ornaments and a multitude of angels. There were so many. Grandma would take one out and look at it then put it back, shake her head and take another one out, put it back and another. Grandaddy finally asked " What are you doing? Why are you being so choosy about the angels? I know each one has a special meaning to you but you normally put them all on the tree. That's why we need such a big one." Grandma looked at me then, hard. My heart skipped a beat " I don't know how Hunter will react to the tree and I don't want to lose any of the them. Some of these can't be replaced and I don't want to take the chance of them getting broken." " I understand" he said. I tried to tell her not worry, I wouldn't break any of them. Grandma kept at it until finally grandaddy stood on the step stool and placed the big gold now on top. Wow! It was beautiful! I got off the couch and approached the tree. "No Hunter, not for you." she said. Grandaddy said " Let him go. Better to do it now while we are here than when we are at work." "You're right." she said. " OK Hunter, be careful." I will. I slowly walked to the tree and sniffed. It didn't smell like any tree I knew. I walked around it, kept my head low and my tail in check. So far so good. " Good boy Hunter! That's right just sniff it. Now you leave grandma's tree alone, OK?" Sure! I had passed the test and was so happy my tail got to wagging real fast and CRASH! I had knocked the candle and the candy dish off the coffee table. "Oh my!"grandma said " at least nothing is broken." Whew! "I guess I won't put my nativity sets out this year. Don't know if we can control that tail well enough to keep from breaking them. They certainly can't be replaced." She sighed heavily.

The next night grandma and granddaddy's other daughter and her family came to visit. They have 3 pups and all are bigger than Elyse. Two girls and a boy. The boy, Lee was very happy to see me. " I love big dogs!" He says wrapping his arms around grandma in a giant hug. "Can I pet him?" "Sure." she says "remember though, he's not been around big kids before so go easy with him" Lee nods his head and comes to me slowly. I try to be very careful and let him pet me. He pats my head and grins real big at me. Nichole, the oldest comes by and let's me sniff her hand and gives me a gentle pat in the head. I wait for the other one, Alexis to come by but she hides behind her mom. I figure that she is just shy and I need to go to her. So I get up and approach her and she bursts into tears and runs into the other room. Well that was rude. I didn't do anything to her, I didn't even bark. Well I did when they first came in the house but I was excited to see new people and grandaddy made me sit still and be quiet. Grandma stands up and goes to the kitchen. When she comes back she has Alexis with her. They have one of my favorite snacks in their hands. Cheese. Grandma says to Alexis " Honey you will have to get used to Hunter being here. He will be here for a few years until his family comes home. I don't want you afraid to come visit us because of him, so you need to make friends with him." I waited until she looked at me and said my name, then when she held out her hand I took the piece of cheese very carefully so I didn't scare her. She giggled and patted my head. The other kids came up then and told her what a good job she did giving me a treat and they wanted to as well. Great! I like it when I get treats. We all played together. I had to be careful around  them and the tree. It was hard but I did it.

  Later on that evening another tree in box was brought in (Yikes!) and grandma and the kids decorated that one. It had colored lights on it and lots of mismatched ornaments and ribbons and bows. Everyone laughed and had a good time. The very last thing they put out was a musical carousel. Finally it was time for the kids to go home. Hugs and kisses were given and Lee and Nichole both hugged me as they went out the door. Alexis timidly patted my head as she went by.

After everyone had gone grandma says "That went pretty well." Grandaddy says "I almost forgot! I got Hunter a toy today." Yay! I love toys. He gets out a bag and pulls out a tug toy. One where he can hold one side and I can hold the other and play tug of war. I like to play tug of war. It was a favorite game I played with my dad. We started playing and it was so fun! I didn't want to stop but grandaddy and grandma had to go to bed. They were going to church the next morning and needed to get up early. "Goodnight Hunter. Sweet dreams. Merry Christmas. You did well ." and up the stairs they went. I got my new toy and jumped up on the couch to go to sleep as well. I decided to practice the game grandaddy and I played so when we played again I could win. I practiced and practiced. The next morning I didn't feel good so I went up and laid on the floor in their room. Grandma said " Good morning Hunter. Did you sleep well?" Actually I didn't sleep too well. I don't feel good. " Urkk"" I said. Grandma turns around and looks at me and says " What's the matter boy? Too much excitement last night?" No, not too much excitement. Too much toy. Uh oh! Here it comes! "Blech!" Oh no! "Grandaddy! Come quick! Hunter is sick!" " What happened!" " I don't know he just...well you can see what he did." Oh great now I have really made a mess. "I'll get some towels." Grandaddy said and brought back some towels and cleaner too. "Wonder what brought this on?" Grandaddy said " He was fine last night." It's the toy I said, the toy. "What's this?" Grandaddy says. " it looks like part of the toy I got him. Hunter did you eat the toy?" Not all of it and I didn't mean to. It started to come apart last night while I was practicing and I swallowed part of it by mistake. " Hunter, I'm sorry. I should have gotten you a better toy. " Actually, I feel a little better now. " Is that all of it?" Grandma asks. "I hope so." Grandaddy says. Me too! Uh oh! "Urkk!" Oh no! "Burp!!! Yep that's all of it. "I'm sorry buddy, I'll get you a safer toy tomorrow. Lets get you cleaned up." Grandaddy said. The next day true to his word grandaddy came home with a safer toy. A great big bone. I like bones. Especially big ones.