Spoiled, Spoiled Dog

Allie Ba-Ba
Allie laying with her cousin Bella, the baby Boxer

My sweet baby!

The drawing I had done from a picture of Allie- It's framed and sits on Jim's credenza behind his desk. I think it's one of his most treasured possessions.

Have you ever wanted to change places with your dog? Do dogs have any stress at all? I guess they might feel stress while protecting their home or yard from intruding dogs, but that's about it. They don't worry about paying the mortgage, feeding children. Nothing like that.

I wouldn't mind changing places with my dog, Allie, at times. She might just be the most spoiled dog on earth. And, there's a reason for it. She scared us to death as a puppy.

We didn't even mean to get her. Mr. Hautemama and I were on our way to a movie in the next town when we realized we were too late to make it. I noticed that there was a pet store next to the movie theater and told Mr. H that we should go look at the puppies.

We walked into the store and went to the back where the cages were kept. Disclaimer*I hate that pet stores buy from breeders but that's another story.

Anyway, when we got to the windows of the cages I looked down and saw the sweetest little white dog with one brown ear. These were my exact words-said with a ton of dramatic flair.

"Oh My GOD, what kind of dog is that?!"

The saleslady said it was a White Boxer and I asked if we could see her. The lady put her in my arms, I thought I would die. I asked her if it was a male or female, knowing that if it was a male, Mr. H would never buy her. The saleslady answered, "It's a female."

I knew at that moment that she was mine! This little bundle of white fur felt just like a rabbit. She was so soft and cuddly I thought I would die if we didn't take her home. I told Mr. H that she was the sweetest dog in the world and I really wanted her. He tried to act tough like he wasn't sure but I knew he thought she was adorable too.

The boys were at their Dad's house and we got to surprise them on Sunday when they got home. They instantly loved her!

Allie came with a 14 day guarantee and on the 15th day, she wasn't moving when I got home from work. We had been putting her in her kennel during the day and Mr. H's sister was checking on her. I called and she said she was acting sick. We thought she probably just had kennel cough. We took her to the vet and they gave us antibiotics. About two days after she was on the antibiotics, she got really sick while in her kennel at night. I mean, really sick, as in, she pooped and threw up all over her kennel before we could get her out of it. She looked horrible and wasn't moving. I was so worried. We rushed her to the vet and he put her in the Intensive Care area and started her on an IV. He was worried that she had eaten something and was poisoned. We had sprayed for ants around the house right before we got Allie - I thought I had killed her. For a couple of days, the vet thought it was ant spray poisoning and they kept her in the ICU. On the 6th day of our puppy being kept at the vet in ICU, I asked Mr. H, "How much money is too much to spend on a 10 week old puppy in ICU?" He replied sternly, "That's my dog and I'll spend whatever I have to." I knew then if we had mortgage the house to pay the bill, he would.

The vet we used was so sweet, he met us at the clinic on the weekend so we could go see her and talk to her. I think he thought she was going to die so he wanted to give us a chance to say goodbye. The vet eventually decided that she had a bacterial infection which took a ton of guilt off of me. The vet upped her antibiotics and 8 days after admitting Allie, we eventually got to take her home. Her doctor told us to feed her anything she would eat. He even told us to try canned catfood. She had lost so much weight, we needed to get some meat on her bones.

When she came home, Mr. H held Allie in his lap every minute of the day that weekend. He was so worried she wouldn't make it, he was going to give her all the attention she deserved. She eventually got much better and continued to grow into the best dog in the world. She sleeps on our bed every night. Well, the boys lay in our bed, watching TV until 9pm and she lays right in the middle of them with her head on a pillow. We move the boys to their bed when we go to sleep and Allie lays on the foot on our bed hugging Mr. H's leg. She sleeps with her head resting on his thigh and her legs hugging his leg. Mr. H will sleep like that without moving just so she can be comfortable.

In the morning, I will get up, turn the alarm off and she will jump off of the bed and run to the bad door to go potty. After doing her business, she comes back into the house and runs to the bedroom where she gets under the covers and Mr. H lays with her cuddling. It's such a sweet sight. She is such a people person. She just wants to be close to her family.

She lays on our bed the entire time I'm getting ready for work and when she sees me put on my shoes, she jumps off the bed and runs into the laundry room to get into her kennel, without even being asked. When the weather is nice, we just leave her out back, but if it's rainy or stormy, she sleeps in "her home" during the day.

When I cook dinner, Mr. H will only eat about 3/4 of the plate so he can give Allie the rest. We also have a Beagle, Baylee. Mr. H definitely favors the White Boxer because that's his baby. If we pet Baylee, Allie will "talk" to us by singing and howling. It's hilarious!

Our favorite party trick is to love and hug on Baylee and tell her she's the best dog in the world while watching Allie pitch a jealous fit. It's the best cheap entertainment in the world! And, I know, the Dog Whisperer wouldn't think that was funny, but we do!

If ever there was a spoiled dog, it would definitely be ours! And, she's the best thing that's happened to us. We never knew you could love a dog so much! What did we do without her?