a three dog night

I love memoirs. I especially love sad memoirs. Some of my favorite memoirs are Isabel Allende's Paula, in which she writes about the death of her adult daughter to a sudden illness; Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking, in which she write's about her husband's death from a heart attack; and Abigail Thomas' Three Dog Life, about her life after an accident that left her husband of twelve years forever altered. I know, real uppers. I promise you, though, that there is something beautiful about reading these accounts of human fortitude and weakness, frailty and remarkable ability to endure, in the face of life's moments of deepest pain. If writing is an exercise in catharsis, then reading these cathartic accounts must provide some of the same benefits of cleansing and healing to the reader.

Thomas takes the name of her book from the expression, "a three dog night," which originated in Australia. During the cold winter nights, when the temperature dipped, the Australian Aborigines would cuddle up to their dogs to keep warm. The colder the night, the more dogs they would need to keep warm, and thus, a very cold night was referred to as "a three dog night."

I believe I'm going through at least a two dog moment in my life, and I am lucky that I happen to live with the world's most soulful and understanding dog heart. On Saturday morning I woke up reluctantly, hurting. Lola, who is usually too indpendent to snuggle up in bed with us, came over to say good morning, hopped on the bed, and lay down beside me. It was as if she was saying, "Okay, just this once I'm going to let you spoon me so that you'll feel better." It didn't last long, but it was exactly what I needed. She, not for the first time, got me out of bed that morning.

Kevin and I have often wondered what we ever did to get through the really rough times before we brought a dog into our home. We didn't know what we were missing. It's a type of comfort that only furry, four-legged souls can provide. Oh, Lola. I am so grateful. 

two years of loving lola

Two years ago today, after a series of very rational and level-headed "Reasons Not to Get a Dog Right Now" speeches from Kevin, and a very charming and persuasive "Okay, But Here's Why We Should Get a Dog" speech from me, we picked up our sweet Lola at our local Animal Humane Society. It is the best joint decision Kevin and I have ever made (other than the decision to spend our lives together, of course).

Lola, even though you can't read, I am declaring my love for you in this blog post. You are the doggiest dog in all the land, and I am in love with your pure and joyful soul. You are a wise, funny, playful, serious, silly, mischievous, howly, sleek, patient, crazy, noble, fast-running, tail-wagging, water-loving, mitten-chewing, treat-loving, crooked-eared fifty pounds of pure awesome. Also, you are very beautiful.

It has been an emotional and challenging year in our household, and Kevin and I agree that our lovely Lola has played a big role in getting us through the roughest parts. My love for this furry non-human being might seem a little over the top to some people, but I feel deep gratitude for the honest and unconditional love she gives. I marvel at the fact that we are two species co-habitating, enjoying our sincere affection for one another, and delighting in our mutual love of both rowdy good times and quiet nights on the couch.

This dog howls at weather sirens, patiently waits for me to go upstairs to bed at night, does whole-body leaps when we come home at the end of the day, sits quietly beside me when my heart is breaking, and wakes me up on weekend mornings by putting her paws on my chest and furiously wagging her tail. She's not "just a dog," she's family. Furry, couch-ruining family, but family nonetheless.

sleepy dog

Browsing through photos on my computer, and I came across these two iPhone photos (using the ubiquitous Instagram app) of sweet Lola. I love her!

dog love

Lola's reaction when Kevin gets home from work? 

Total excitement. I'm talking tail wagging, leaping in the air, turning in circles, and panting kind of excitement. I love her loving doggy heart. 

joy

Isn't this the greatest face you've ever seen? I certainly think so. What a cute little stinker. Am I going to be this obsessed with my human children? Very likely.

We're busy making plans for all kinds of yard-improvement projects we hope to tackle this spring and summer, and boy, are we ambitious! We have some friends who swear that, with their help, Kevin and I can easily install a privacy fence around the backyard. I am somewhat more skeptical, but I am ready to be amazed by my own as-of-yet hidden fence installing skills. However, if you happen to find yourself at our house at some point this summer, and you happen to lean casually on our brand new fence, and that fence happens to fall right over, don't say I didn't warn you: LEAN AT YOUR OWN RISK.

I hope you are all busy making fun warm weather plans too, and that you are all enjoying early spring as much as we are. If you're not, then maybe you should try sticking your head out of the back window of a moving car and just enjoy the feeling of fresh air upon your cute little face. Let me know if it helps!

lola the wonder-dog

At last! Some pictures of our dog daughter. She's only been in our home for three months,  yet it feels like she's been a part of our family forever. We are having a blast being dog owners again. There's doggy school, doggy daycare, dog parks, hikes with the dog, walks with the dog, doggy "yappy" hours, and lot's couch snuggling. We have definitely fallen in love with our sweet and spunky Lola girl.

Yes, she can be a total pain in the rear - early weekend morning wake-ups, chewing our laundry basket, chewing the rug, chewing my shoes, chewing her crate pad, chewing - but, I think that's part of the dog-ownership charm. We're not always so zen or philosophical about the mischief Lola gets into, but, we do try to keep some perspective and remember that she is still a puppy (not quite one yet), and, that, overall, she is an excellent dog. A wonder-dog, one might say.

She also puts up with us quite a bit. When we have a busy day and can't come home at lunch to let her out and play, when we are too lazy or cold to take her for a walk at night, when I subject her to ridiculous photo shoots - she's very tolerant of her crazy humans.

Here is our girl in some of my favorite pictures we've taken over the past three months.

Um, yes, I take a lot of pictures of the dog. You know, when people used to tell me that having a dog was great training for being a parent, I never really believed that, but, now I understand. 

P.S. Isn't she just too much?! 

la la la la lola

Perro has a name: Lola! We wanted something feminine for her, but we wanted to avoid anything too precious or cute since she's such a spunky girl. Lola just seemed to fit her (we tried it out all day today). We were also strongly considering Piper, but she didn't seem to respond to that as well as she did to Lola.

It took a little while for Kevin and I to come up with a name we could both agree on - he wanted Tater (as in short for Potato), and I wanted Franny (as in a tribute to our love for San Francisco). Here are some other names we considered:

Tarra (because she's black, like tar, and it was the name of one of my Grandpa Bill's black labs)
Lottie (I enjoy the idea of me calling out "Looooottie!")
Jules (a tribute to our street, Juliet)
Luna (Spanish for "moon")
Charley (as in Steinbeck's "Travels With Charley")
Tilly
Zooey
Bella (Kevin vetoed it on the grounds that it's too Twilighty)
Tess

Lots of good names, so I guess we'll just have to keep getting dogs until we get to use them all.

Right now Kevin and I are watching "The Biggest Loser" and Lola is asleep on the rug at our feet. She is totally tuckered out after a full day of playing and long walks. I woke up at 6:30am today to let her out and to play with her in yard for a bit, then Kev fed her breakfast and took her on a 15-minute walk before he left for work. She spent about 2.5 hours in her crate after Kevin left for work (while I caught up on sleep), and then she spent the afternoon hanging out with me at home. We went out to the yard and played crazy games of fetch and "chase" (she loves to be chased) all afternoon, and Kev came home for lunch and played with her for a while. When Kev got home from work this evening, we met up with our friend Emily (at her house just a few blocks away), and then the four of us (plus baby Guac - in Em's belly!) went for a 2.5 mile walk in the neighborhood. On our walk, we happened to meet a lady, and her dog Ginger (a seven-month old German shepherd), who is on the board of the St. Paul Animal Humane Society, and who knew all about the best doggy training classes (Ginger, also an adopted dog, was impressively well-behaved). Lola loved getting a little crazy with Ginger. We rounded out the day with a trip to PETCO for some more puppy-proof chew toys (the stuffed fleece toy I bought yesterday was toast in about 45 seconds), and then it was one last bout of playing in the yard.

No wonder she's sound asleep now. It's been a very full first day for our little pup (and for her owners)! Here's a cute video of Lola and me playing today.

Can you tell we're really enjoying life with a dog?

perro!

We've added a member to our family! Here she is.

Perro, yet to be officially named, is a six-month-old black lab mix puppy that we adopted today from the Saint Paul Animal Humane Society. She is so cute! We've always known that we would eventually get another dog (some of you know that when we were engaged and living in New York, we had a crazy little beagle named Scout who ended up running away from my parents' house in Southern California the month before Kevin and I got married - broke our hearts), and we've been more seriously considering it ever since we moved into the house. I mean, you buy a house with a fenced in yard and it's practically required that you get a dog.

Kevin had convinced me that it would be better to wait until next spring before getting a dog (since we had so much going on with getting the house together over the past few months), but it was always on our radar, and over the course of the summer we checked out a number of dogs at various shelters in the Twin Cities. Yesterday we decided, sort of on a whim, to go to the shelter in St. Paul, just to check things out. I ended up falling in love with Luvvey (as Perro was called in the shelter) instantly. Kevin was super nervous that we would end up going home with a dog that night (I married such a practical man), and was also hoping to eventually convince me to go for a Boston Terrier, so he didn't let himself fall in love with her right away. I agreed it was too impulsive to make a decision that night (it's definitely my usual style to just go for it - I showed uncharacteristic restraint), so we put down a $25 holding deposit which allowed us to mull things over until 6pm today, without any risk of someone else adopting her.

We went to PETCO last night and made a list of things we would need to buy, and then we went home to talk about the cost of owning a dog, the lifestyle changes required, and why we wanted to be dog owners. We came to no consensus last night, despite our practical pros/cons talk, and I think both of us spent a lot of time thinking about it all today. By the time we met up at the shelter at 5:45 tonight, we were still undecided (though, if I'm being honest, I'll say I had pretty much made up my mind that we needed to take her home with us!). We each played with her in her kennel for a bit, and then we took her out for a short walk (where she showed us the utter lack of leash manners that she had cleverly kept hidden from us yesterday - I was mentally urging her to behave so that Kevin wouldn't have a real reason to object to her going home with us), and then I said the most brilliant thing I've ever said: "Kevin, we're just going to get her. We'll never be really ready for a dog, so, we just have to go for it. You know in 10 years we'll be laughing about the fact that we debated so much over the decision to adopt her. Everything's going to be okay. You know it is!" Brilliantly convincing argument, no? And then Kevin looked at me, resignation mingled with anxiety and excitement on his cute face, and shortly after that we were handing over our money and signing adoption papers. Woot!

A quick trip to Fleet Farm (I can't adequately explain that place to my non-Midwestern readers, but, let me say that it kicks serious butt) for supplies (the awesome ladies at the shelter tipped us off to how much cheaper Fleet Farm is than PETCO), and then we we were home with our sweet girl. She seems to be taking the transition in stride so far - lots of sniffing around in the back yard, casual checking out of things on the main floor of the house, and she has taken to her crate beautifully (she even stays in there when the door is open). She has a great temperament, has puppy energy without being insane, is friendly and engaging, and, it should be said, is stinking adorable (though I am very partial to black labs). Not to paint myself as an overly naive new dog parent, I will admit that she has a chewing problem (currently being remedied by a Kong toy that she's been going to town on all night), and, as previously mentioned, she has abominable leash manners (she almost took me out when we were walking her at the shelter today). Nothing some obedience classes, plenty of consistent discipline, and lots of exercise and affection can't remedy. We are so excited to be dog owners again, and we can't wait to bond with her and to introduce her to all of our friends' dogs.

Hope you are all enjoying a lovely Thanksgiving week!

P.S. - It's that time of year again: 3M holiday commercials are up and running! I can't find the paper cutter commercial that Kevin worked on last year, so instead I'll share this vintage (2003) one that I like.


P.S. #2 - Congrats to our friends, Emily and Tyler, who welcomed their sweet baby girl a week ago, and to our friends, Becky and Jarom (and their three older kids), who welcomed the sixth member of the brood, an adorable little boy, this past Friday. We're so happy for all of you!

to a dear old friend

Goodbye, old girl. We'll all miss you (and your room-clearing farts). You've been the loveliest of dogs and a true friend. See you again, one day. Good girl!