Back to Work Stories
All too soon, my vacation came to an end. I just dreaded leaving that little pup on her own; these would be 13-hour days she would have to contend with. How would she ever amuse herself? The day came... Greg was a 5 a.m. riser, so he got Neea-Kha out to the backyard to do her business and hopefully run off enough energy to nap while we were gone. An hour later I got up -- coffee -- then puppy proofing every room. Socks put away, no garbage bags sitting out, dishes washed, toys that say "use with supervision" put away, Kong toy, stuffed Smurf, ball without squeaker left out for her amusement. Let's see -- oh, bathroom door closed when we're not here, livingroom door always closed, wedges under open doors so she wouldn't get locked in, fresh newspapers scattered over the kitchen floor. Okay, ready to go; treat for Neea-Ka -- goin' bye-bye, see you tonight -- flip hallway light on in case it's dark when we get home (highway commuting traffic is always guess-work). Hi Ho, Hi Ho... I worried about her all day and couldn't wait to get home that night. Well, there she is, happy to see us -- none the worse for wear.
Same thing next morning - no biggie - see ya tonight! Third morning she had our routine down pat. Greg went into the hallway and into the mudroom, I was just walking across the room to go out when this little pup grabbed my ankle, encircled it with both her tiny paws and layed down on the floor. Nothing I said or did would induce her to let go of my ankle. I walked slowly across the floor dragging this little mite behind me. Greg had to come up and extricate her paws while I slid out the door. All I could see in my mind that day was little Nee, holding onto my ankle for dear life. It really tugged at my heartstrings. Got home that night and I saw one oven mitt -- minus the thermal insert -- on the floor. Must have fallen off the hook in our struggle to get out in the morning. Looked around for the insert -- not in the kitchen. Walked into the hallway and oooo - yuck - what the heck is that?? Well, it's sort of a white, fluffy, gooey mess - oh look, a thumb shape - EUREKA I found the insert! That little mouth had sucked up that big mitt, tiny teeth chewed it into a mass. Stomach contents amidst the fluff indicated that she had somehow swallowed the entire thing. I'm sure it came up as soon as it went down. I couldn't believe she could swallow something that big -- poor, innocent fool that I was. Well, no more anything hanging on the walls!
Day after, no problems getting out the door. In fact she was now putting on her tough-girl facade (one that I would see and love many times over the years). Gave her a good-bye treat and she turned her back on us and went about her day. That night, we found another squishy - albeit, smaller - gooey mass just outside the bathroom. Seems there had been a very small corner of the bathmat -- that missed my eagle eye -- just edging out from under the bathroom door. Most of the mat was intact but for one corner that had been bitten off, obviously inhaled, chewed up, swallowed and promptly thrown back up. Well, okay - bathmats are just one more thing to wash -- who needs them? Presto, no more fluffy mats around. Next day, we came home to find her stuffed Smurf, her constant companion for the past six weeks, lying limp on the floor. Hmm - stuffing's gone. Looked around for the stuffing but that didn't show up. All we could do was hope it all came out the other end.
All right - it's the weekend!! Greg would start laying new tiles on the kitchen floor tomorrow and finish the job by Sunday. These were cushioned tiles, stick-on backing, non-slip for little legs. Nee and I spent most of the time in the backyard so we couldn't hear the groans and sighs (not to mention some choice language) coming from the kitchen. We all made it through and Sunday night found us standing, admiring our new kitchen floor. A job well done. Off to work Monday morning relieved that our pup had a cushioned, non-slip floor to run around on. Evening found us coming through the door and staring at two bare spots on our lovely floor -- oh, what happened to our tiles? Found them across the room, each with a little mouth-shaped bite out of them. Well, at least we found the bitten out parts - chewed a bit but fortunately, not swallowed. Okay, Nee's prancing about - has to go out NOW -- out she goes, get her supper, get us supper, time for some repair work here. Good thing we had a few tiles left. Greg gave Neea-Kha a stern talking-to, showing her the tile, saying No, No, shaking his finger at her -- yeah, that should do the trick! Next evening, came home and found the tiles torn up - same spot as the last two. Same routine - out to the backyard, in for supper, two more tiles out (only three more tiles left in the box) - another stern warning and floor was brand-new again. As we got into the car the next morning, I informed Greg of the battle plan if we came home to find torn up tiles. We were not going to take Neea-Kha out to the back yard right away, we were not going to feed her right away, we were not going to acknowledge the damage with words at all. I was going to get the tiles out and "help" him install them. After that was done -- and it should take at least 15 minutes -- we could acknowledge the puppy's needs and get our routine going. Greg looked doubtful as I outlined my plan and I wasn't sure he'd go along with it that evening. On the way home from work, I reinforced the idea and he reluctantly agreed to try out the plan. Of course, we were met with a little pup anxious to get out -- and two missing tiles. Okay, ignore that little monkey prancing around our feet, whining to get out. If we cave now, we're doomed (or at least our kitchen floor is). We took our time, Neea-Kha whining, climbing all over us, licking our faces to get our attention. We managed not to cave and finished up the job, put the tools away and then it was greeting time, outside time, supper time. She was less than impressed with us that night. Next morning, Greg -- ever the doubting Thomas -- wondered if we should stop on our way home to order another box of tiles. I was steadfast in my belief that we wouldn't have any more tile issues. We got home that evening and walked into a kitchen with every tile intact. I was delighted - Greg was pissed (he always hated it when I was right!) but we both made a huge fuss over our little girl and never did have that problem again -- at least with the tiles.
Same thing next morning - no biggie - see ya tonight! Third morning she had our routine down pat. Greg went into the hallway and into the mudroom, I was just walking across the room to go out when this little pup grabbed my ankle, encircled it with both her tiny paws and layed down on the floor. Nothing I said or did would induce her to let go of my ankle. I walked slowly across the floor dragging this little mite behind me. Greg had to come up and extricate her paws while I slid out the door. All I could see in my mind that day was little Nee, holding onto my ankle for dear life. It really tugged at my heartstrings. Got home that night and I saw one oven mitt -- minus the thermal insert -- on the floor. Must have fallen off the hook in our struggle to get out in the morning. Looked around for the insert -- not in the kitchen. Walked into the hallway and oooo - yuck - what the heck is that?? Well, it's sort of a white, fluffy, gooey mess - oh look, a thumb shape - EUREKA I found the insert! That little mouth had sucked up that big mitt, tiny teeth chewed it into a mass. Stomach contents amidst the fluff indicated that she had somehow swallowed the entire thing. I'm sure it came up as soon as it went down. I couldn't believe she could swallow something that big -- poor, innocent fool that I was. Well, no more anything hanging on the walls!
Day after, no problems getting out the door. In fact she was now putting on her tough-girl facade (one that I would see and love many times over the years). Gave her a good-bye treat and she turned her back on us and went about her day. That night, we found another squishy - albeit, smaller - gooey mass just outside the bathroom. Seems there had been a very small corner of the bathmat -- that missed my eagle eye -- just edging out from under the bathroom door. Most of the mat was intact but for one corner that had been bitten off, obviously inhaled, chewed up, swallowed and promptly thrown back up. Well, okay - bathmats are just one more thing to wash -- who needs them? Presto, no more fluffy mats around. Next day, we came home to find her stuffed Smurf, her constant companion for the past six weeks, lying limp on the floor. Hmm - stuffing's gone. Looked around for the stuffing but that didn't show up. All we could do was hope it all came out the other end.
All right - it's the weekend!! Greg would start laying new tiles on the kitchen floor tomorrow and finish the job by Sunday. These were cushioned tiles, stick-on backing, non-slip for little legs. Nee and I spent most of the time in the backyard so we couldn't hear the groans and sighs (not to mention some choice language) coming from the kitchen. We all made it through and Sunday night found us standing, admiring our new kitchen floor. A job well done. Off to work Monday morning relieved that our pup had a cushioned, non-slip floor to run around on. Evening found us coming through the door and staring at two bare spots on our lovely floor -- oh, what happened to our tiles? Found them across the room, each with a little mouth-shaped bite out of them. Well, at least we found the bitten out parts - chewed a bit but fortunately, not swallowed. Okay, Nee's prancing about - has to go out NOW -- out she goes, get her supper, get us supper, time for some repair work here. Good thing we had a few tiles left. Greg gave Neea-Kha a stern talking-to, showing her the tile, saying No, No, shaking his finger at her -- yeah, that should do the trick! Next evening, came home and found the tiles torn up - same spot as the last two. Same routine - out to the backyard, in for supper, two more tiles out (only three more tiles left in the box) - another stern warning and floor was brand-new again. As we got into the car the next morning, I informed Greg of the battle plan if we came home to find torn up tiles. We were not going to take Neea-Kha out to the back yard right away, we were not going to feed her right away, we were not going to acknowledge the damage with words at all. I was going to get the tiles out and "help" him install them. After that was done -- and it should take at least 15 minutes -- we could acknowledge the puppy's needs and get our routine going. Greg looked doubtful as I outlined my plan and I wasn't sure he'd go along with it that evening. On the way home from work, I reinforced the idea and he reluctantly agreed to try out the plan. Of course, we were met with a little pup anxious to get out -- and two missing tiles. Okay, ignore that little monkey prancing around our feet, whining to get out. If we cave now, we're doomed (or at least our kitchen floor is). We took our time, Neea-Kha whining, climbing all over us, licking our faces to get our attention. We managed not to cave and finished up the job, put the tools away and then it was greeting time, outside time, supper time. She was less than impressed with us that night. Next morning, Greg -- ever the doubting Thomas -- wondered if we should stop on our way home to order another box of tiles. I was steadfast in my belief that we wouldn't have any more tile issues. We got home that evening and walked into a kitchen with every tile intact. I was delighted - Greg was pissed (he always hated it when I was right!) but we both made a huge fuss over our little girl and never did have that problem again -- at least with the tiles.