The Animals, Oh, the Animals!

It is one thing to have a dog. We all know a dog's life in our families changes in every way, the prospects for just getting up and going to spend a weekend in the city for a romantic getaway, just the two of you. It doesn't take much to ask a friend to watch 'the dog' for a couple of days. It is another thing to have two or five, or six.


We decided to go to Europe during the summer of 2012, because Chuck could take advantage of flights from Kandahar to Paris, while I would only have to find flights for myself to and from the Continent. This is where having six dogs becomes tricky. Who do you call? I called a friend whose son might be able to do it. I spoke to a company where they would give them 15 minutes of time per day outside of the kennel. And I spoke to my neighbor, who knows my dogs quite well. Of course, the choice was my neighbor. The boy was not ready to be on his own for what turned out to be a month long trip. So my neighbor came, four times per day to make sure they were watered, fed, and that Luka had not fallen, and been unable to raise herself again. Thanks to Mary Starry, my trip was the most comfortable I could have taken, being in the knowledge that everything would be done according to our routines. It was a perfect match.


When I married my husband Chuck, I married a man committed to animal rescue, more precisely, dog rescue. We came into this marriage with his three dogs, my two, and another we rescued from a busy corner chained to a tree in Texas. But we managed! He spent 18 months in Afghanistan, while I worked to figure out the best way to keep my sanity with six very different personalities, while I continued to explore my love of writing and painting.


Over the 18 months that Chuck was overseas, we managed to find our groove. I figured out the best method to feed them, where who would potentially sleep, who would always get what spot, and what to put on the furniture to keep them off. And to let you know? I bought furniture, all but one chair and ottoman, made of dog friendly material, easily cleaned, that with 'dog' use would look 'distressed', and believe it or not, is pretty durable and not excessively ugly!


All six dogs became adjusted to each ones personality. I stopped taking them for walks once the eldest one, Luka, became heartbroken over the others walking, and her being left at home. I vowed not to put her through that emotion ever again, and I never did.


The hardest thing to do is to put a loved animal down. Anyone who has pets, or that has loved an animal knows what it is to take the dog to the vet, and weep your last goodbyes into the neck of your beloved. We had to put down our old girl Luka last week, and though it was very tough, she let us know it was time.


There is a temptation to keep her/him by your side no matter what. The best excuse is that they are having good days, why take that away from them? But when the good days are followed by bad nights, and painful mornings, their life has no more quality, and is a series of painful moments. It is a hard struggle to know when that time is. We become wrapped up in "but she..." fill in the blank. Luka let us know, and our respect and love for her would not allow us to ignore the signals.

Yes, having six dogs put a crimp in my life. But for the life of me, I cannot tell you what that crimp actually is. I get more in return from these six dogs, than I could have imagined. It is not a glamorous life, by any stretch of the word, to be sure. I clean poo two to three times per day. I feed twice per day, and medicate once in the morning; I have to change the water in the pool often, tie up plants that they have taken a liking to, sweep constantly, vacuum almost daily, and try to wipe the nose prints off of all windows they can reach every other day. Oh, and forget about having people 'stop by', no one drops in unannounced, ever! That is just not done, unless they are very familiar with our dogs, paws, licking, jumping, and flying shedding, dog hair.


So, to take a trip? It is most likely going to be a day trip. Feed before leaving, feed when return. But love, and love by six, or five, or more, or less, always.