When you’ve become “those” people at puppy class.

We should have seen this coming–after all, there were warning signs. Not being able to make it through a polite conversation on the phone without yelling “RUBY! DOWN.” or “OFF” or “DROP IT!” or the absolute worst, “RUBY, NOOOOOOOOOO” that follows an accident (hopefully number one, because two is just devastating) because not only do you have to clean that shit up but it also signals to the person on the other end of the phone that aside from being borderline obnoxious, you are also failing (at least momentarily) at housebreaking your pup. I once had this happen on the phone with my boss. Smh. If you’re looking at your computer screen all puzzled right now because you don’t know what “smh” is, click here.

Socialize, socialize, socialize. That’s what they said and that’s what we did. Ruby girl loves EVERY human and dog she meets. Others though, are a bit trickier, especially since she had her first run in with Crazy Larry. We first heard of Crazy Larry a few weeks ago. He had been described as showing up on neighbor’s doorsteps and letting himself into their homes without invitation. You can always hear Crazy Larry coming before you see him. Needless to say I wasn’t too interested in making Crazy Larry’s acquaintance. Who is “Crazy Larry” you might ask? Oh, just one of the many neighborhood cats. Fun fact: sometimes that blessed little bell around his neck wakes me up in the wee hours of the morning as he wanders, somehow, past our 6 foot fence and through my garden. And so the day came when Crazy Larry greeted us on the porch as we prepared to depart for a stroll, to make Ruby’s acquaintance (read: hiss and snarl at her on OUR porch) while Ruby gleefully tried to get close enough to give him a kiss. I told Crazy Larry to buzz off and he has, for the most part, ever since. Anyways, I digress. The point of all of this is to say that Ruby is a HAM. Hamming it up in the car, at the vet, from the porch and on most especially on walks. She just wants to say “hello” and be loved and I can’t really fault her for that. After all, we all need love. Rubes never barks at folks but she does try to jump out of her leash and collar if she’s denied the opportunity to give her greetings- you would think this would have clued us in… NOPE.

Flash forward to the first day of puppy class, almost exactly a month, to the date, from when we adopted her. We’re back at the Oregon Humane Society for “Puppy Manners: 101” and are PUMPED to get this party started. The first class is parents only and I sit back with a sly little smirk on my face as I listen to all the other parents quietly comment on how their puppies don’t know their name (OURS DOES!), how some pee every.damn.time. they get excited (NOPE, WIN!), and how the beast of a German Shepard puppy has such bad separation anxiety that the other parent had to stay home to comfort it (SMH). Silly, silly problems I say to myself, we are eons ahead of these people! At this point the universe was smirking. Probably my parents too.

Well, Jack and I had something along the lines of a rude awakening when we walked into class day 2. All these tiiiiiny, tiny one month old, well-behaved, mellow little baby puppies just smiling and acting cute and going about their business. Enter, Ruby- 3 months old, 25 lbs, happy as a clam and READY to MINGLE. To make matters even worse, there is a little 9 lb pit bull mix who is her identical twin and is the cutest, meekest, little thing you’ve ever seen. Ruby and mini-Ruby’s demeanor’s could not have provided a starker contrast. Basically, just envision Ruby as GODZILLA pouncing over the rest of the puppies (Pomeranian, Chihuahua/terrier, mini-Ruby) literally losing her damn mind with excitement and you get the idea. The trainers told all of us to be mindful of helping our dogs to interact with the other puppies. During “drop your leash and meet” time the trainer booked it over to us and said, sweetly, but firmly “Oh, not you!” Umm, did you think we didn’t know that?! We’re not blind. Another direct quote to the group: “If your puppy is maybe scaring some of the other puppies, try to redirect her attention away from them to give them some space.” Hint, hint. When the time came to sit and everyone else kindly shut their traps and sat their butts down, Ruby got vocal (to say the least) and looked like a canine superwoman in her never ending leash/pull/fly move. Jack hung his head in embarrassment knowing Judy would be ashamed and I made bad jokes about actually being “those” people to rest of the class, pleading with my eyes and too big smile to please not hate/judge us. Potential play date invitations with mini-Ruby from before class disappeared in the wind when class ended with a simple “We’ll get your number next week!” hollered as the nice couple booked it out the door.

Rewinding now to that magical, naive time before class. She knew “sit.” And her name. And she barks or grumbles by the door like 70% of the time when nature calls. WHAT ON EARTH did we do wrong in a month to have our dog go ape-shit in class?! Our wonderful trainer assured us that this was a natural “romp & play” stage that all larger breeds go through. We sighed, defeated, and acknowledged that we had our work cut out for us. We’re crossing our fingers that some other dog is the terror this week. We think that, coupled with a marathon walk prior to class and some serious training this week, could maybe begin to erase the stain of Ruby’s behavior in class last week. Here’s hoping…

Oh, and feel free to leave puppy tips in the comments. We need all the help we can get 😉

Love and Puppies

Puppies are the quick-dry cement of family foundation building. The minute Ruby got in the door we had an emotional and responsibility swoon. After the first “elimination” Marjani and I prepared to jump into action and maintain a vigilant watch to ensure this training happens as quickly as possible. We have become lighthouses operating around the clock ready for any awkward grunts or slow trots toward the back door. At the same time none of these long hours, teething marks, or rapidly depleted bottles of floor cleaner dampen the love we feel. Ruby became the third member of our family. We protect and nurture our own. We want to share all the moments together so years from now our little family can sit back on the porch reminiscing about the tides of life. The sense of family has always been present, but it was sort of a stored energy. Pushing out the metaphor from the first line, Marjani and I had the foundation–but Ruby filled it in.

Marjani and I have been building our familial foundation for the last five years and it has been the most wonderful time in our lives. Sitting on a hillside in Colorado overlooking the cityscape we decided to dig in.

The first meet. M&J circa 2009

The truest love is all that stuff that you keep in the basement. The small bits, the odds and ends we forget we have then can recall at a moments notice. Trips, couch purchases, and all the other basics are fun but love is found more in the unknown, but often, most important stuff. Knowing what kind of toothpaste we each like, the freedom to take personal risks, remembering the title of that one Prince song you love but can never remember the name of, learning how to argue constructively (don’t ask me why we added a third pitbull to the household), or what coffee mug is his/her favorite on a chilly Sunday morning. Piece by piece it goes up and provides the base for a lifetime of happiness. I’ve heard the quote “commitment offers the most freedom a person could ask for” and I know I sifted through the meaning over the last 5.2 years.

It is the reason I asked Marjani to marry me. We built our lives together on a foundation of love. A foundation that will carry us forward for the rest of our years. She is everything and will always be my everything. Sitting on the hillside here in Portland it was fittingly reminiscent of that first night in Colorado. Maybe I knew that first night it would all turn out like it has. Maybe I didn’t. Maybe not knowing was the most exciting part. What I know for sure is I was ready to begin building a life together from that night on and I am so thrilled we get to keep on building from here on out.