They Never Stop Testing You

Linda and I are dog lovers to be sure. Since we got married nearly forty seven years ago we've had seven different dogs. We started with a West Highland Terrier named Daffy and we had her for four cross country moves and fifteen years or so. She was a pistol to say the least but we loved the energy a terrier has and so not learning our lesson we then got ourselves a Jack Russell Terrorist named Zippy.

Zippy turned out to be zappy as she was the most laid back, sweetest, and helpful mom dog you could ever want. We thought, these Jack's aren't as bad as everyone says they are so we went out and got five others over the years. Turns out, everyone was right.

They are the most stubborn, willful, anger inducing dogs you can imagine while maddeningly at the same time the most loyal, affectionate, loving, and sweet dogs you will ever own. It's like they know they have to be cute and sweet or they will be killed by you at an early age. However, they will test you every single day.

Our last one we will ever have, Ellie, just turned eighteen and she has us turned into knots with her daily bad behavior. Here she is above as a youngster when we lived in the Chicago area. She loved being in the snow, and being on neighborhood watch, but she was especially incensed when her nemesis, Mr. Squirrel would sit on the window sill and taunt her.

Back in the day she was ball obsessed. She had her tennis ball in her mouth everywhere she went all day long. She would toss it at your feet and get you to throw it so she could chase it and have you do it over and over for eight to ten hours at a time.

Now she loves to pee and poop in the house after coming inside where she did nothing for ten minutes. She is reverting back to her puppyhood antics, and like then, she doesn't care that it pisses us off. This morning I came into the family room to see her tracking poop all over the carpet and floor after she pooped in her bed, and next to it, and then fell in it and walked in it.

Thinking it was only on her butt and back legs I picked her up ad washed her off in the laundry sink and then realized the bigger mess was the half pound of poop on her front paws which were now all over my shirt and pants from where I was holding her. Did I mention she is not cooperative when you try to wash her feet and butt. We now have poop and water everywhere and I'm swearing like a long shoreman who dropped a container on his foot.

After getting most of it off her I tackle the carpet and floor and clean them enough to get by until I can steam the carpet and wash the floor after Linda gets up. I take her outside to get her to pee and that is when I get her latest game, this.

She just stands there for ten minutes and does nothing. She did it at midnight last night when she woke me up to let her out and then again at 4:30 this morning when we got up and I knew she had to go but she refused. So after getting really pissed at her and dragging her back into the house I go to change my clothes and come back out to see her look me right in the eye and then squat down and pee right on the family room carpet.

She almost died and it was all I could do to not break her neck.

Now, she can't hear, and she can't really see, and she gets these brain twitches that send her into a backward stagger so its hard to get really mad at her but when she does this stuff...

Linda and I have to remind ourselves that she is eighteen and she won't be around forever so we just need to roll with the punches and enjoy the time we have left with her but sometimes she makes it really hard. Just when I think, that's it I can't take it any longer, she will go and fall asleep in my arms for two hours like a sweet newborn.

Like I said, Jack's never stop testing you.