The pup pup

End of February came, and my doctor told me I was going to have minor out patient procedure. The process was painful, but I was fortunate enough that on a pain scale from 1-10, my pain was slightly over 5, so it could have been much worse. The drawback was that I was not allowed to lift anything over 20 lbs. Which is great, except I am a full time student lugging around a million pound school bag, work at a daycare with children needing to be picked up, and live on the third floor of my apartment building in which I have to lug groceries and bags up. So not lifting anything for a week became impossible.

The hardest part of this whole thing was that I felt alone. Many people try to be tough, and I find myself trying to be as well, but there are times, when even I cannot fake myself out. While I love my life here in Columbia, with school and the friends I have made, I find myself wishing I could be done, over with school, and on with the whole thing called life. The one bedroom apartment that I live in can get very quiet and at night, stupidly creepy. I can basically sit in my bedroom and see the bathroom, the kitchen, the living room, the front door...nothing could be stirring around in here without me knowing it. But still, sometimes the dark and the quiet is just a little much, and I find myself wanting noise. Warmth or something close to hold that has a heartbeat. So, a week ago, my boyfriend and I purchased a puppy. A nine week old vibrant pure bred springer spaniel. Black and white, almost a complete saddle back, we named her Pairie Madysan (Pronounced Perry Madison). Little cute precious snuggly Pairie came with her own set of personality traits. A set of sharp teeth, a bark that will echo endlessly in these small walls, and four hefty paws that will support a one day hefty dog.

I was shocked when Pairie learned almost instantly to sit on command. To not use the bathroom in the house, and to dance a jig to signal it was time to potty outside. She had an obsession with toes and a fear of climbing steps. those little droopy eyes always peering about to catch the next big thing. The first night we had her, she curled up into her bed and slept a solid 7 hours. I was shocked. The next night she trumped herself and slept 8 almost 9. I had indeed bought the miracle dog. She was an angel.

Now a week has passed. She has grown about an inch, eaten more puppy chow then I can keep up with, and spilt more water bowls then I can keep full. But after all, its only been a week, how much trouble could she have really gotten into? Let me tell you.

Well, her first experience being kept in the bathroom during school hrs gated in by a baby gate resulted in a spilt water bowl mixed with dog pee smeared all over the bathroom floor (don’t worry, she got a bath as did the floor, thankful for Clorox!); she then felt the need to attempt to demolish the ONLY thing I had neglected to put out of her reach, despite having a plethora of toys to chew and play with, she picked the toilet cleaning brush. The next thing to fall to her little mouth was the door stop. I still can’t fathom how she got the thing off the wall. But there it lay, screw and all, glistening slobbery metal with teeth marks, the rubber tip chewed to shreds.

We went for several days without a mishap due to Pairie, she barked a lot yes, but finally got the point of playing with her own toys and entertaining herself so I could get some work done in the evenings. Her spunk spirit and cute disposition made it easy to come home to, yes there was stress from her being so rambunctious and hyper, but long walks next to the river would wear her out for hours on end. Everyone at the rive seemed to love little Pairie. Often times thought there would be confusion as to her name and gender...or even her breed. To me, when people asked what type of dog she was, it would humor me, because she is obviously a spaniel. The markings, the docked tail the crimped ears, doesnt it all point to it? Maybe its not as obvious to some people, which is fine.
Everyone wanted to pet “him” and I would respond, “Oh you can pet her.”

Which was undoubtedly followed by, “Oh its a she! What is her name?”

“Pairie.”

“Hary? What a cute name for a fluffy dog!”

“No,” I would say, “Pairie, with P, pronounced p-e-r-r-y.” I wouldn’t bother with telling them the spelling, I think it would have been to much for some of them.

She is a clumsy dog but well behaved if she has something to do. Pairie loves for her belly to be rubbed and her newest fascination is the buzzing cellphone and ice cubes. I have regarded her as a loving to play puppy, but not bad into everything. Her white crooked nose constantly twitches as sounds of cars and people mull about downstairs, but yet she has never attempted to be utterly destructive. A huge people pleaser she melts at the word no and begs for forgiveness upon being bad.

Saturday was a prime example of her mischievous side coming out apparently I hadn’t given her enough time to showcase this “cute” attribute.

We went out for a quick trip to Wal-Mart and to grab dinner. Having propped the baby gate up in the kitchen, surely, we thought, Pairie would not be able to escape and roam the house. The house was left completely un-puppy-proofed. Upon return, there sat Pairie, next to the door, excited to see us...the house...a mess. Apparently she had discovered a way to knock down the baby gate and attempted then to chew everything in site. The trash which was waiting to be taken out, now was strewn about the floor. Cascade, organic pizza packaging, napkins, empty bottles, and a bag of half eaten stale chocolate cookies. Yes, my dog helped herself to chocolate and lived. Deodorant from the bathroom had somehow made it to the living room, the bathroom towels were tossed and turned all over the floor, and the trash can, affectionately on its side. Pairie made her final grand stamp on the apartment by leaving no room untouched by peeing on a white t-shirt in the floor of my bedroom and pooping decidedly on a pair of pants. Thanks Pairie, we missed you too.

Did I fuss at the little ham basket? No, I simply laughed at her. Who could be mad at her? After all, she didn’t know she wasn’t supposed to do that. She was having a blast without us there. Oh, what I wouldn’t have given for a camera on the wall as she pranced around with her treasures and fun new toys. She is a baby after all.

Tonight, things are a bit more settled...kind-of. theres the nightly wetting of the floor the mins after I have walked her outside (she must have the world’s smallest bladder) she has found the vacuum most amusing today, the wheels especially. There is the pinecones in the basket on my coffee table, now those are really fascinating. And there was the glass of water that she knocked off the table and shattered into a million pieces about an hour ago.

But somehow thats all ok. Because right now, Pairie is snuggled up next to me, making snoring sounds, her head resting on my lap, her pudgy little belly rising and falling with her breath, her sweet tangy puppy breath.

I am one of the most happiest and luckiest girls in the world. Pairie is a handful, but there is a joy in being needed, dependent upon, loved unconditionally by something so small that makes it all so worth it. She is my silly little ham of a puppy, but she is also going to be one good life long companion.