Puppy Love

“If you let us get a puppy, I’ll do all the work.  I promise” Jan said.1

“You won’t scoop its poop.” Barb said2

“Yes I will, and wipe up its vomit.” Kate upped the ante.3

“No”4

“Please!, please, please, please.  I prayed that God would change your mind.”  Barb’s two oldest children continued to nag, oblivious to their mother’s scowl.5

Barb looked at the faces of her three children and unsupportive husband and walked out of the room.  How much longer could she hold out?  The kids had been begging for a puppy for years, and she was always the bad guy.  Even before they were married, Dan had mentioned his belief that all kids should grow up with a dog.   But she knew reality.  Puppys meant pee spots on the white carpet, higher food bills and vet charges.  Besides, she just wasn’t a dog person.  Heck, she wasn’t even much of a child person.  How she ever ended up as a stay at home mom playing Susie homemaker instead of pursuing her dream of law school was a hazy mystery.  She’d probably done what she was about to do now, give in to her emotions over her rationality.6

She walked back into the room as her husband wrapped up their family devotional time.  She smiled a tight smile at her youngest child Jim, age four.7

“Okay, you guys win, we’ll get a puppy.  But I can tell you right now, this is not going to work.”  She turned and walked back into the kitchen where she loudly closed all the cupboard doors the kids had left open once again.8

There was no chance for a change of heart.  Less than 48 hours after her concession, her husband and kids came through the front door with a seven week-old golden retriever puppy.  She was cute, but Barb saw her only as another bundle of chores added to her daily drudgery.9

“Thank you, thank you Mommy.”  Jason, the four year old hugged her legs.  10

“Sweetheart, that was really kind of you.  This will work out fine, we’ll all help.” Her husband’s words grated on her.  Ever since he bought into this Jesus stuff two years ago, he just wasn’t normal.  11

“Well remember, you guys promised to do all the work.  Now, I’ve got dinner to fix.”  Barb watched as the kids took the new family member into the back yard.12

Her husband came and put his arms around his wife.13

“So, how much did this wad of work cost?” Barb asked.14

“A little over $300.00, they really wanted a golden retriever.”15

“And where is the money supposed to come from?  You know the girls’ tuition bill is due at the end of the month.”16

“It’ll be okay sweetheart, maybe I can work a few overtime hours next week.”17

“Call the kids in for dinner, okay.”  Barb cut the conversation short.18

Supper was a noisy affair.  Barb had worked all afternoon on the lasagna, homemade rolls, and Italian salad, but no one seemed to notice.  They were too busy laughing at the puppy who insisted on circling around the table greeting each family member with sloppy kisses.19

“Look, she likes you Mom.” Kate said.  Sure enough, the puppy, named Honey, had stopped and lay down with her snout across Barb’s slippered foot.20

“Wonderful.” Barb said in a sarcastic tone too subtle for the children to recognize.21

Dan, looked at her and smiled.  He silently prayed the puppy could love her way into his wife’s resistant heart.22

The first night the puppy barked from its crate from 12 to 2 pm.  Dan got up to let her out twice, but it was more loneliness than a desire to relieve itself.  Finally, the puppy seemed to go to sleep.  Exhausted, Barb shuffled down the stairs at 6 a.m. the next morning to start the family’s preparations for the day.  She turned to the crate and was greeted by a puppy tail beating against the side of the dog cage.  Fast asleep in the corner, lay little Jim, who must have come down in the night to comfort his new pet.23

Barb wrinkled her nose in disgust.  She woke her son and took him upstairs for a quick bath before preschool.  Because of that puppy, her routine would be thrown off by at least ten minutes.24

Despite the noise of the night, the rest of the kids and her loopy husband were soon bounding down the stairs, fully dressed.  They barely acknowledged Barb, racing instead to the dog.25

Dan snapped the leash on the puppy’s collar and the family minus Barb, took her out to the back yard.  Everyone cheered when the puppy peed.  Barb could hardly get the kids to take a single bite of the oatmeal she had made just the way they liked with stewed apples and cream.26

The days went on like this.  Honey was the star of the family.   Dan and the kids reveled in her puppy antics, Barb complained about the hair, the mud and puppy slime.   Soon, just as she had predicted, it was she who saw to the puppy’s needs.  Oh, the kids had tried, even insisted on doing the pet chores, but they made such a mess, dropping kernels of dog food on the floor, failing to get all the mud off her paws, and hanging her leash on the wrong hook in the kitchen.  It was easier to just do it herself.27

Overall, Barb had to grudgingly admit that Honey was  well-behaved, except for her naughty habit of getting into the family’s food.  Barb kept a bottle of Ammonia solution to spray Honey when she caught her in the garbage or on the table, but the negative reinforcement worked only for the moment.28

One day, Honey polished off an entire batch of cupcakes Barb had painstakingly decorated like basketballs.  She had volunteered to provide the refreshments for Jan’s end of the season team party.  Barb took the dog’s leash and whipped her bottom hard over and over.  Finally, the puppy, tail between her legs, slunk off to her crate.  Barb sat down and cried.  Then she dutifully got up and remade the cupcakes, complete with the orange crinkled icing and licorice basketball stripes.29

She began fantasizing about the dog’s death.  Perhaps Honey would slip out the front door and get hit by an incoming car.  Maybe on one of Dan’s evening walks, she’d eat some road kill and get a bacterial infection.  Barb was so sick of that dog!30

The months went on.  Honey dragged a chicken carcus out of the garbage and onto the living room carpet.  Honey chewed up one of her favorite high-heel pumps, a pair that had cost $59.00 on sale.  Her house began to smell like dog and she couldn’t even go to her Friends of the Library meeting without dog hair all over her pants.31

Her family didn’t see the problem.  The puppy was a delight.  Whenever Barb complained they recited all the joys of dog ownership and promised to help more with the chores.  Dan continued to lavish love on his cold wife.  The affection from Honey seemed to satisfy the need for affection he often didn’t receive from Barb.  Often it would be Honey snuggled up on the couch with Dan watching a basketball game or reading the paper.  Barb rarely sat down, there was just too much work to do.  32

Then one particularly wet and messy Spring day, Barb was making brownies while the dog barked at the back door.  Knowing that Honey would need her paws wiped, and perhaps a complete rubdown, she waited until the brownies were finished cooking before leaving them to warm on the kitchen table.  As the bitter cocoa smell hit her nostrils, she remembered from a Girl-Scout merit badge that dark chocolate was deadly for dogs.. Her next thought frightened her.  It would look so innocent.  A batch of brownies cooling on the dining room table combined with a naughty puppy.  Nobody would blame her if Honey ate the brownies and died.  She couldn’t remember the lethal amount, but the brownies had at least 6 oz of unsweetened chocolate in the recipe.  That had to be enough to kill a 40 pound dog.33

Barb carefully considered the ramifications of poisoning Honey.  The kids and Dan would be devastated, but the dog would die sometime.  Better now than ten years down the road when she was even more bonded with the family.   And that would be ten years without dog hair, muddy paws and greasy chicken carcasses on the carpet.34

Barb took the brownies from the oven and emptied the pan onto a cutting board.  She pinched off a crusty corner piece and popped it in her mouth.  Delicious.  She hated to think of her gourmet macadamia nut brownies wasted on a dog.35

The dog continued to bark to come in.  She was cold, wet and muddy.  Barb glanced out the sunroom window and noticed a new hole in the backyard.  Grabbing a clean white cloth from a stack by the door, she allowed the dog in.  Honey knew the routine and immediately dropped to the ground, paws extended.  Barb carefully rubbed her paws, nose and belly, avoiding looking into the dog’s brown eyes.  How this dumb dog could love her after all her harsh words and beatings was beyond her.  Perhaps it was because she was the one to give the pup her daily food rations.36

The brownies were cooling on a rack in the middle of the dining room table.  Barb went downstairs to do some ironing, leaving Honey free rein of the upstairs.  When she came upstairs thirty minutes later, the brownies were gone and Honey was sulking under the table.  A wave of guilt swept over Barb.  She thought about calling the vet, but admitting she knew that dark chocolate was poisonous for dog’s would put her under suspicion for leaving the brownies where the dog could get them.  The kids wouldn’t be home for 2 more hours, and Dan for 3.  Barb grabbed her jacket and left the house.  Having done her grocery shopping yesterday, she made her way to the local bakery where she purchased a cherry pie for dessert.37

She arrived home just as the kids got off the bus.  They each gave her a hug and Kate ran to open the door.  Barb hung back, going to the car to get the pie.  Her heart seemed to explode when she saw Kate step out the door and onto the front step.  Her eyes were wide with fear.38

The guilt that washed over Barb knocked her off her feet.  She grabbed the bumper of the car to keep from falling.39

“Mom, something terrible has happened.  40

Barb struggled to breathe.41

“The dog had diarrhea all over the living room carpet.”42

As if on cue,  Honey came bounding out the front door, knocking the pie from Barb’s shaking hands and planting kisses on her legs. 43

Barb reached down and scratched the dog’s chin.44

“Good Pup.” 45