Wit-Less

My oldest son, Alex, recently adopted the puppy love of his life from the Dallas County ASPCA. HER name is J-Wit and SHE's named after the Dallas Cowboy player, Jason Witten. (Note to Alex's future wife - DO NOT LET THIS GUY NAME THE KIDS!!)

Since Alex's job involves some travel, he asked us if we'd keep Wit while he was out of town for two weeks.

Okay, no problem...we've already got two dogs, whose total combined weight equals THREE regular dogs, so we're already familiar with the territory, right? Uh, WRONG! It's been almost five years since we've had a puppy in the house, and I forgot just how very hectic and chaotic it can be. Something like a 24/7 version of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, with the added horror of your stuff either being shredded by little, sharp puppy teeth, or covered with little wet puppy puddles.

Our adventure started off with a bang - or make that a splash. Wit had been in our care for less than an hour when she fell/jumped into the deep end of our swimming pool.

It was COLD and had been raining non-stop for about three days so our 6 foot deep pool was more like 6 and a HALF feet deep. Very important difference to my husband Roger, who isn't a really strong swimmer and stands about 6 feet tall. As they say, the Devil is in the details - or in this case, she was dog paddling around the deep end of the pool.

That was the beginning of the Wit Rodeo and she took us through the barrels, let me tell you. I don't mean to sound like Jane Goodall, but it was very interesting to see the evolving dynamics of Canine Interaction in our house.

In no time, this little 18 pound drill sergeant had my two 80 pound Labs dancing to her tune. I learned that a Big Dog will do a whole lot of dancing to avoid those needle-sharp puppy teeth.

Walks were a different sort of challenge. I'm used to people staring at me as Layla and Dudley drag me from sniffing point A to sniffing point B. What I wasn't prepared for were the reactions of people seeing the four of us careening down the street, all three dogs on the same lead and Wit hanging off of Dudley's ear like a pirate's earring. More than one person stopped their car, rolled down their windows and asked me if I'd gotten a puppy. Only it was more like, "Tell me you DIDN'T get a PUPPY??"

Honestly? Having Wit here was WORK, and somebody should smack me if they ever hear me say the words, "I'm bored" again. But, even though it was a challenge to all four of us (me, Roger and the big dogs), it allowed me to see a side of Roger and the dogs I haven't seen.

Imagine a grown man, who isn't a swimmer, jumping into 50 degree water to save a puppy. Or two dogs, big enough to seriously injure a puppy, allowing that puppy to jump on them, wrap her paws around their heads and gnaw on their ears, while they patiently stand still and slowly wag their tails.

Wit wore us out, but I think having her here was good for us. At least that's what I keep telling Layla and Dudley. "That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger", right?

I hope they believe me...Wit comes back tomorrow.