Puppies – Page 13 – JM Randolph, accidentalstepmom

I have a small bedroom. The kind of place where if I pick my shoes up off the floor, I’ve doubled my floor space.

I am also a slob.

You can see how this might be problematic. Because of the size of my room, I’ve trained myself to make my bed.

I’m disproportionately proud of this. Any time I behave like an adult, I’m mightily impressed. I was never a neat and organized person to begin with. It never seemed important to me- until suddenly, it was. Suddenly- because literally overnight (September 11, 2006- not that I’m counting) there were five kids walking along behind me, not only laying their own messes down all over the place, but also undoing any bit of good work I’d managed to accomplish. It has been a slow, painful process trying to keep from drowning in the clutter and keep track of my car keys. I feel I’ve made a lot of progress in four years.

But still, every small thing in my house unmakes my bed.

I took these pictures in about seventy seconds. I lose count of how many times I make my bed in a day. Sadly, I didn’t get the final picture, the one where the Evil Brown dog wriggled her way to the edge and fell off the bed, yanking down the rest of the duvet, in its entirety, on top of her. She made a very satisfying-sounding thump and then I lost sight of her for a while.

This is Casey.

She’s a Puggle. One of those breeds that ten years ago was a mutt, but now is a “hybrid”. Sadly, not like a car. She’s a second-generation Puggle, meaning that her parents are also Puggles, but one of their parents was a Pug and one was a Beagle. This picture was taken the day we brought her home. She’s a little overwhelmed.

Some say that the hybrid of the Puggle was created to eliminate the problems of both breeds- the hip dysplasia of the Beagle, the breathing problems of the Pug. That’s Casey. She’s the prettiest puppy I’ve ever laid eyes on, and she knows it.

It stands to reason that every so often, a Puggle comes out with all the defects of both breeds. Hence, Jack. The Fuggle. The two of them were the entire litter.

CC likens them to the movie Twins. She’s Arnold Shwarzenegger, he’s Danny Devito. In addition to Fuggle, we call him Jackster (scream/sung like the chorus of Metallica’s Master of Puppets), Jack Attack, and Spare Parts Puppy. CC says he’s lucky he doesn’t have a wheel.

New puppies have to go to the vet only slightly less than they have to poop. We take them to the vet in the Petsmart. And man, puppies are rock stars. It’s unbelievable. You walk in there with a puppy and people fall all over themselves. Two puppies? They’re ready to hand you the keys to their car, house, boat, wife, whatever, just to rub their ears and speak in ridiculous voices. Most people ask what breed they are.

Some people recognize the breed. They see Casey and say, “Oh, a Puggle! How sweet!” Then they see Jack. “What’s that one?”

I always answer, “He’s a Fuggle.”