A little problem last night

Having had an early lunch with my mother before seeing "Jersey Boys," I followed up with an early dinner. That meant around 9:30, I traipsed downstairs for a hummus roll up before pushing through with the writing until close to 11:00. Of course, Radar salivated for a bit of the sun-dried tomato tortilla that held the whole thing (hummus, onion, green and red pepper) together. Although I was careful, as always, he found an opening and went for it, pulling the edge of the as-yet-unrolled tortilla toward him and off the counter. I caught it but not before some of the vegetables fell onto the floor and he got a big tongue full of the hummus. I yelled, so he got defensive and wouldn't let me near the mess on the floor. Because he doesn't like onions or peppers, it was a fruitless ambush for him, but he didn't know that until it was too late. After a few seconds, after he calmed down, I grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out of the kitchen. He snapped and whined, catching only my wrist from his awkward angle. I closed the door all the way except for about an inch so he could see me clean it up and finish making/eating the sandwich and regret his indiscretion. He didn't bark, he didn't whine, he didn't walk away. He stood there and took it like a man. After salvaging what was left of my sandwich, I ate it in the kitchen to avoid further conflict. Then let him out and went back upstairs. He was repentant and clingy all night, cuddling into my stomach as if it were ten degrees outside.

Christmas tree disposal

I would like to take this opportunity on Radar's behalf to thank everyone in the neighborhood for dragging their Christmas trees to the curb last night. There is nothing like having a composite history of the past month of everyone's household placed at the foot of the driveway for easy evaluation. In the holiday spirit, he's left a little gift under each tree.

Second Meeting Just as Good

Ryan came by today for a couple of hours. Emma came in and right away Radar tried to sniff her in a way that she didn't like. I was hugging Ryan (the whole thing happened within seconds of Ryan putting her down) so I didn't see what Ray tried to do, but Emma gave him a definitive bark and he stopped whatever it was he was doing. Radar was all excited to have guests in the house, like always, so he ran around for a while, somewhat independently of Emma, who was running around and sniffing quite actively on her own. As Ryan and I moved to the sofa, the dogs settled on the rug where the flip chews were. Emma began chewing right away, which seemed to confuse Radar because those were his discards. Suddenly, they were interesting again. So funny.

Emma disappeared into the dining room and was silent long enough for us to figure out that the silence was probably a bad thing. We discovered her pooping under the table. Ryan was really apologetic, but that's what dogs do in strange places. No big deal. We let the dogs out into the back yard and I cleaned up the mess.

Emma loved the backyard--she pooped again as soon as she got out there. Like she had done in the house, she found and dug up all of Radar's treasures which, again, amazed him. As she dug up and re-dug his bounty, he stood behind her staring. Such chaos to his world! They chased each other around until Ryan and I got too cold to stand outside and brought them in.

Once back inside, the dogs stretched out on the floor and chewed their respective toys. I took some pictures of them (see below) and twenty minutes later, Ryan took her home. Like last week, Radar showed no jealousy of me when I cuddled Emma. If he had any altered behavior at all, it was the heightened curiosity of the stranger in our midst; however, it would be strange if he didn't feel that way.






I gave her a little of Radar's home made food. She gobbled it down but left the carrots, which Radar nudged in and finished. Overall, I was tickled by the energy in the house when she was here and am feeling better and better about the adoption.

I'm going to pick her up next Friday evening and we will try a weekend sleep over. Three in a bed might change the dynamic.

Then again...

I went to the pet store today and bought a collar, smaller harness, and leash splitter. Unless something goes really wrong, I am going to adopt her. I've decided. There is no reason not to. There is very little downside. And, once I began to think that Radar's natural state would be to have other dogs around, I began to feel much better about this all. The biggest risk is not taking one. So, I'm looking forward to seeing how the dogs do together in my house this weekend.