Yeah. New dog. I didn't want another dog. But if I didn't take her, she was almost certainly going back to the pound--and with one police report for biting and being 8-9 years old, she wasn't likely to get adopted. She's a good dog, she was just being mistreated, and I couldn't live with her being sent off to probably die. Not when she behaved perfectly for me.

She was originally my cousin's dog. When my cousins were probably 8 and 5, their mom got them puppies from the same litter. They had them for a couple of years, but then the oldest girl's dog started acting up. I don't remember exactly how; but I know that my aunt took her to her "friend's farm"--which would be the pound.

Shortly after, they got her another dog from the pound, and my cousin named her America (why? because she was nine, that's why). Her sister got a dog too, and for a few years everything was fine. Then they moved into their current townhouse, and a couple of days later the other dog got out and got killed on the road.

So a year or so later my aunt replaced the other dog; I don't remember where she got this new dog, but she got rid of him not long afterward too--because he wasn't housebroken. So again, to the "friend's farm". A year later, they came home from a trip to Texas, dragging another new dog behind them. This one, my aunt knew wasn't housebroken--she was six months old and had been a dog running around loose on a ranch. She also wasn't spayed, which I had the pleasure of informing my aunt of when the dog started bleeding all over the house.

The first year or so things were okay--the new dog was going in the house, but seemed to be getting better. Of course, the two cats were terrified of this new dog and one of them literally starved to death under my cousin's bed. I've always felt terrible about that--I didn't realize he wasn't coming out ever until it was too late. I pulled him out from under the bed and got him out of the house, but he died a week later.

Anyway, after a year or so, both dogs started going in the house all the time. So they started keeping them in crates at night, and when neither of the kids was home. And then my older cousin started high school; she started honors classes, and track, and golf, and theater. And she stopped spending any time with the dog.

Predictably, the dog's behavior got worse. She was incredibly hyper; she crapped all over the house; she started attacking the other dog. She'd never liked the kids' father, and would attack him. Then she bit a neighbor girl; then she bit a neighbor woman, although she was startled and I don't really blame her. But that woman called the cops and threw a fit, even though I've hurt myself worse shaving.

But after all this, nobody was willing to watch the poor dog when they went on vacation in March. I didn't want to; I wasn't sure how she'd do with my dog and my cats. But I agreed. And she was perfect. No messes in the house, no jumping the fence, no fighting with my dog, etc. So I offered to keep her a little longer; I felt bad for her.

About a month ago, my cousin finally came to get her dog. And two weeks ago, she called and asked if I'd keep her permanently. As soon as she was back in that small house, with urine-soaked wood flooring and a crate, and no yard, she started misbehaving again. She even bit my aunt. And this time, there was no talk of the "friend's farm", just the pound.

So now, in addition to a vile schnauzer with horrible breath, and three crazy cats, I've got a German Shepherd/husky mix. She's currently asnooze by my vacuum cleaner:

(You can also see a clump of hair on the floor next to her. She sheds like mad.)

It's not all bad. I do love her, she's really a sweet, smart dog. And I feel more secure--sometimes at night I'll sleep with my bedroom window open now. With a security stick, still, but before I had the dog I wouldn't even do that. (I'm very paranoid, because when I first moved out on my own there was a serial rapist breaking into single womens' homes .... all within a couple of miles of my house.) And she does seem to make my schnauzer a little more active. So overall, I like having her here.

I say she's another accidental pet because one of my cats and my schnauzer were acquired kind of like this. The schnauzer I was watching while my mom was out of town, and when I tried to take her back the dog didn't want to go. And the cat ... well, she was my other aunt's, and I got attached to her, and then she couldn't find a home for her, and she already had three cats and two dogs, and .... hey, that's where I am now! Dammit.