Winnie 6-30-11

Miss Winnie, my first child. What a crazy little dog! My mom's friend's sister in TN had a litter of yorkie-poo mixes. A great breed for someone with allergies like myself. My roomie from Brazil in grad school had strongly advised me to get a female dog because they are better protection, and I had heard from other sources that they are easier dogs in general... He he! At 9 lbs, she IS a pretty fierce mop of hair. Mom's friend checked and double checked that I wanted a female. There were only 2, and the males looked just like Yorkies. Nope I wanted a female.

I had been a foster human for a very typical Schnauzer who was actually pretty easy going. Of course, I think that now. My only real dog experience. Yep, I was not at all prepared for Winnie. Apparently, I later learned that she was known as the ring-leader of the brood, and not the ring-leader of good behavior. Mom said that when they went to get her, they had put her and the other dogs in a tall box in the back of the car. They stopped at the drive through for a hamburger, and the next thing they knew, Winnie was practically in their lap trying to eat the hamburger.

And when I got her home. I was so afraid to leave her to go to work. I reasoned that it would be best if I blockaded her in the kitchen. I was only gone a couple of hours to show my face at work. I came home and rushed to the kitchen. NO WINNIE! I was panic-stricken, totally freaked out. I ran around my tiny 1 bedroom apartment. I could not find my 3 pound ball of fur. She drowned in the toilet! NO, thank goodness. I started hollering for her, hoping she would recognize her name and come to me. I went to my bedroom, and she looked up at me with sleepy eyes. She had been napping in my bed and was largely un-phased by all my uproar.

Not long after that, I had lost track of Winnie for a few minutes. Oh no, what's she gotten into now! I got up to look for her. I heard a "crunch, crunch, crunch" sound. What on earth. I followed my ear to the GARBAGE CAN. At 3 ft tall, I didn't figure I had to worry about her getting into it. Well, I guess the typical concern is that a dog will knock it over the trash and root around for stinky, nasty food and make a mess. Somehow, Winnie managed to get up into the top of the trash can without knocking it over. And she was marching, marching around the top of it in a circle. Fortunately, this event did not cause too much of a mess.

At 9, Winnie still thinks she is very much a puppy, just as playful and rambunctious. And I'm wondering how this whole baby thing will work out. Winnie can be down-right mean if you try to take something away from her, which has earned her the moniker "Vicious" from her aunt Debbie--"Winifred Vicious". I'm just seeing Boop reaching for a toy from Winnie and getting a smart bite on the hand <cringe>. Can't we all just get along? I'm thinking separate playpens--a Winnie playpen and a Boop playpen. Winnie went to Puppy Training, and we even have had private interventions. Me, very inexperienced dog human; she, Satan spawn. She has made a lot of progress, but we could only go far. So, we'll just try to deal with, er, Boop, in the best way we know how.

ADDENDUM 7-13-11, 6:00am: I just got an email from my mom. She said that this blog about Winnie sounds really mean, that "You should add how loveable and how smart she is. She really wants attention. She is still the baby for now." Alright. So since she won't comment, there you go. Fair and balanced, just like Fox News ;)