Puppy Love

I read a really nice post from Leigh-Ann at Freckled Nest about her very pretty doggy, Nousha, a rescue dog.  I love her take on the rescue dog verses pure bred dog situation.  I am rescue dog 98% of the way.  The other 2% is reserved for responsible breeders...which are so very rare.  I worked at a vet clinic for a while, and it is amazing how many more health problems "purebred" dogs have in comparison to mixed breeds.  Because really, if you think about it, all pure bred dogs are inbred to an extent...and that leads to many problems...

At any rate, this little post is for LA. 

When I was 10, I was a cat person...all the way.  I saved up my moolah...which is not an easy thing for a 10 year old...to get a cat.  We went to our local shelter (in North Carolina at the time), but they only had one cat, very old and very grumpy.  My mom suggested that we go look at the puppies.  While we were looking at a group of puppies of the bouncy/yippie variety, we heard a loud bo-oo-oo-ow.  We looked over and there, all by itself was a little black puppy with white paws and a white chest.  At first, we didn't think that loud howling bark sound came from that puppy, but as we were looking at her she did it again.  The short conversation that followed:

"Mom, I want to hold that puppy."

"But you don't like dogs."

"I just want to hold it."

When the man took her out of the cage, she put one paw on one of my shoulders, one paw on the other shoulder, and licked my chin one time. 

"Mom, I want to get this dog."

Then, a long conversation followed, as well as an approval phone call to my father, which eventually resulted in me taking this puppy home.  I named her Dingo, as it sounded very cool to 10-year-old me.  That was 18 years ago this past September.  In all those years, she has never once made that howling bark again! 

Honestly, I don't believe in true love between two humans...I think love between humans tends to lie in your ability to deal with the other person's flaws, and their ability to deal with yours...perhaps this is a bit cynical...  But dogs are different.  If there is one dog in the world for me, Dingo is the dog.  She made me go from cat psycho to dog lover in a few short years.  (I still like cats, but a good dog will beat a cat every time in my book.)

And so here is little puppy Dingo:

She is lab mixed with blue tick hound...in the other photos you can see her white chest.  Well, under her fur, on her skin there are the blue splotches of her hound half.  She also has the lanky hound body...well, with a few extra pounds as an older lady....and her nose knows!  That nose has always gotten her in trouble...  And she hates getting wet...so I guess the lab side more dormant.  But, she is the most sweet and gentle dog ever.  She knows when I am not feeling well, and she is stuck to my side like glue!

Teenage Dingo (Ninja Turtle):

We used to do silly stuff like wrap scarves on her head and put cat-eye sunglasses on her like some kind of movie star......she is very patient...she would walk around like that forever!  Now, in her golden years, we mostly give her much deserved peace...although sometimes we put my eyeglasses on her...she looks very studious...

She can also be silly, as this middle age photo shows:

 

Now in her twilight years, she helps me garden a little, as many ladies of her age range do enjoy it so:

When she was young, she loved to dig.  It was her second favorite thing to do!  She would dig straight down in the ground till the only thing you saw was a small amount of back legs and her tail.  Her first favorite thing to do was run...we always have to tie her...she's much better about it now, but if she gets her nose to the ground and you aren't watching her with hawk eyes, she's gone!

She has been through so much of my life with me!  I have known her 10 years longer than my husband, and he knows that if it ever comes down to him or the dog, he will lose every time, no contest!  Dingo has honestly been my best friend growing up (aside from my two sisters...), through thick and thin, she's always there!  I really hope I have been as good to her as she is to me. 

I have three other dogs and a cat, I will have to give them their turn next time!

Comments

[Leigh-Ann]

Dingo is so beautiful, your relationship with her gives me lots of excitement for the years I have with my Lola :) Thanks so much for sharing pictures and more of your story! love you!

My dogs are named Lola and Tom... Tom is a Boston Terrier and Lola is a lot like Dingo... she's a rescue, black lab and greyhound cross with border collie too. She's 9 and I love her so much and we've been through so much together. (Nousha is a dog I featured on my blog in my Cute Club series, but she's not my dog).

This is Lola, http://frecklednest.typepad.com/la/2011/06/a-makeover-love-story-lola.html
and this is Tom, http://frecklednest.typepad.com/la/2011/08/my-dog-tom-and-a-fun-giveaway.html

[Cynthia Bellai]

question for you re. Simplicity 2830 pattern (tote bag) - how the heck do you do the corners on the bottom? Soooo frustrated right now! Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated!

[Amy]

I know, isn't it the worst!?! I spent forever with a seam ripper in hand because I got it wrong the first time! I hope this makes it understandable:
When you cut the main body out, you have two square shape cut-outs at the bottom of the bag. Do not sew them shut in that flat square shape! Instead, take inside corner (if you invision the square shape, you are taking the top right corner of the square on the left side, and the top right corner of the square on the left side) on either side of the bag and pull them in opposite directions. This will make the seam from the side and the seam from the bottom meet in the middle, and what were the two inside corners will be at the edges. (If you do it like this, you will have a three dimensional bag, like a box bottom.)Pin it and sew straight accross that. So instead of sewing in an upside down "L" shape, you will actually sew a straight line. I hope this makes sense...if not, let me know, and I will do a post with pictures to explain it better. (And thanks for reading my blog!)