2000:  The Nutcracker
2001:  Anvils Have Limited Appeal
2002:  Full Moon Syndrome
2003:  Out with the Old
2004:  Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
2005:  Stranger in a Strange Land

My 2006 Holiday Letter

IN MY OPINION
"A Christmas Carol"

Books Read in 2006
(Updated 12/8
"Tender at the Bone")

Currently Reading: 
"The Cat Who Could Read Backwards"
"Dog is My Co-Pilot"

LIZZIE'S GIFT

19 December 2006

Well, the first number in the date above isn't even a "2" and already I'm starting to get ready for Christmas.  Woo Hoo! No tree up yet, but most of my packages are wrapped and the dishes made it out of the sink and into the dishwasher.  Today.

The day started with my taking Lizzie to be groomed.  I figured I'd have a nice pretty dog to meet everyone when they arrive and maybe they won't hate her so much for jumping on them.  It would be our gift to Lizzie for Christmas.

I was going to bring the video camera, and did, but then when I took pictures of her being led back to the grooming area, I pushed the wrong button and missed the whole thing.  Owell.  I had the "before" picture; I'd get the "after" picture when she got home.

"It will take about 4 hours," they told me at Petco and, indeed, they did call 4 hrs later to tell me that she was ready.  The girl sounded exhausted.

"Unfortunately we weren't able to clip her because she kept biting," she said.

Biting?  My sweet little Lizzie?

I went to pick her up, prepared to be dazzled by the difference between the scruffy ragamuffin I took in and the groomed dog I would get back, but when they said "we weren't able to clip her" they meant it.  She feels cleaner, but the uneven fur is still uneven.  The blobs hanging from her ears are still hanging from her ears, the goop around her eyes is still around her eyes.

Good girl, Lizzie.  You just saved us a bundle on future grooming bills!  Nice Christmas gift to us.

So no "beautiful" Lizzie for Christmas, just a clean dog whom Sheila seems not to recognize because she smells so different.

I came home to hungry puppies.  I have to make a really controversial statement that I know Ashley is going to take umbrage with, but pit bulls are born different.  They just are.  I'm sure that with proper training and a strong hand they are lovely pets, but too often you hear about wonderful family dogs that suddenly snap.  I don't know the percentage of pit bull accidents vs. other breeds, but I've been foster mother to a lot of pit bull puppies over the last two years, and there is just "fight" bred into them.

These little Christmas puppies are very sweet, but their eyes aren't even open yet and they are already fighting with each other in the crate.  I'll hear a yelp and then a growl and find two of them wrestling.  It doesn't last long, but they are only two weeks old, if that, and already there is a difference between, say, the spaniel Rainbow puppies.  The Rainbow puppies were cuddly.  These guys rush the door of the cage with the ferocity of a fighter chomping at the bit to get some action.  They attack my finger with an intensity and aren't interested at all in cuddling.  They fight it, until they fall asleep and then they are very soft and easy to cuddle.  Otherwise they are struggling to get away.

They are only 2 weeks old and their eyes aren't even open yet!

It doesn't mean I feel different about them, it doesn't mean I don't cuddle them and feed them and keep them clean.  But it does mean that I would not adopt one, even one that I bottle fed from birth.  I just wouldn't take that chance.  (sorry, Ashley!)

I don't remember the breed of the first puppies we had, but they didn't have that pit bull look.  The second batch was Demetrius and Hamlet, two of the cutest puppies we've ever had here, puppies Walt still remembers as among his favorites. 

They were pit bull mixes, but the difference between the first group and the second was the difference of night and day.  Demetrius and Hamlet were just fighters.  I'm sure they have gone on to wonderful homes and are wonderful family dogs, but when it came time for me to give them up, as much as I loved them, I wasn't tempted in the least to keep them.

I could never recommend or participate in putting any of these little guys to sleep, and I'll get up at 3 a.m. to make sure they don't go hungry through the night and that they grow big and strong.  I'll cuddle them and love them and look forward to the next batch that comes along.  I know that the SPCA is very careful with whom they choose as a good family for one of these pit puppies, but I sure think about people who don't have the benefit of SPCA screening and who take home these cute little things, not realizing that, like daschunds were bred for going down a hole to catch rodents and bloodhounds are bred for their wonderful sense of smell and ability to track, and terriers are constant motion machines, pit bulls have fighting in their blood and even the youngest puppies know it.

Featured Holidailies Entry:  In the easy silence that you make for me by Margaritas and Mad Hatters.

I'm borrowing Jim's idea and putting in here an brief intro for folks who might wander in from Holidailies. I'm a 63 year old woman in California who works as a faux theatre critic for the local paper and do transcription for a psychiatrist at home.  I bottlefeed orphan puppies for the SPCA and post a lot of video of them on line.  Walt and I have been married for 41+ years.  We have 2 unruly dogs of our own, Sheila and Lizzie, and three living adult children, Jeri, Ned and Tom, each of whom has a partner/spouse (Phil, Marta and Laurel, respectively).  I've been writing this journal daily since March of 2000 and have posted nearly 2,500 entries.  Anything else you want to know can be found in "100 Things About Me."

PHOTO OF THE DAY

I know--the change is amazing, isn't it!

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