My Dog Forces Me to Drink

Bear with me a bit.  This may seem like a bit of a stretch but you'll see the causality in a minute.

When I walk into the laundry room and I see this:

I know there that my future is already written and the words involve champers.  No, not for the obvious reasons.  I know that I will need specifically champagne.  The reason is as follows.  This bit of white fluff was once a roll of toilet paper.  A 2-ply, double length roll.  When I find it lying in shreds on the floor I know that if I walk into the downstairs bathroom there is no toilet paper and that is because somehow the cork stopper I put on the end of the roll is gone.  I know this because every time the cork stopper is gone Sashsa nicks the toilet paper off of the holder, carries it back to the laundry room and eats as much as she can.  So the above picture leads me to this:

  Now....if I see the above picture every day then I don't have to deal with the first picture.  My friend AJ of http://redomyspace.com.au/ would be absolutely horrified to see that a friend of hers would allow such an interior design gaffe to exist but then again, she has a good dog.  Lenny, a chocolate lab.  A breed FAMOUS for it's psychotic behavior and it's the good dog next to mine...but I digress.
Yes, this fix it will not win me any design awards however it works and if I may be blunt...there is no shortage of champers corks in my house.  There were a couple dead soldiers from last night so there was a selection to choose from this morning.  No, I'm not proud I'm just stating a hard truth.  I have to drink to keep my dog from eating toilet paper.  So in a way I'm protecting the environment.  Cool, I can use that.

However my soon to be labeled alcoholism does not help me deal with this site, also found this morning:

Sashsa dragged Connor's lunch bag out of her backpack, pulled the eco-friendly sandwich box, tore through the BPA free hard plastic and ate her sandwich...which Connor obviously did not eat herself yesterday during lunch.  Look a bit closer at the box, the sticker is torn because the plastic underneath of it is ripped away. 

So now I'm back to buggering the environment buy using Ziploc sandwich bags.  Should also mention that the box in question was on it's maiden run....just purchased to replace the OTHER FREAKIN BOX the damn dog ate.

I'm going back to bed now.

Rugger Died Yesterday

Sara sent me a frantic message to contact her this morning. She didn't want to tell me by email. Rugger has been sick for a long time. She and Trip did everything they could. I don't even know what they spent trying to save this poor dog but they tried. Finally the vet said enough. Rugger was put to sleep yesterday to stop her pain. She was 11 years old. I'm grateful to them for having the courage to not allow that beautiful creature to suffer.

Ted and I adopted Rugger when she was 3 months old. She had already lived in the shelter for 1 1/2 months and was so timid. The lady who introduced us said she never saw that dog go up to anyone. We laughed, just assuming that she would say anything to get the dog a home. We sat on the floor and she came right up to me and put her snout on my shoulder. That was it. She was ours. The girl at the counter was writing it all up and said that she was all black. Ted piped up, 'All Black? She's an All Black? She's a rugby player!" And Rugger came home with us.

Turns out the woman was right, Rugger hated everyone, but us. She was afraid of her own shadow. It wasn't until Teddy was born 2 years later that Rugger came around and became a great kids dog. She was the most ball obsessed animal I ever encountered. Chip came over once and threw the ball up the stairs for the entire time of a football game...over 3 hours and Rugger ran for it every time.

Sadly, we lost Rugger when we moved to Australia because of Ted's idiot company and a dishonest vet technician. But our neighbors Sara and Trip stepped up and took her in. I felt so guilty about losing Rugger, I thought I might lose my mind, but it helped knowing that she was with a great family. Sara and Trip made a beautiful life for her and I know she was a happy dog.

Rugger could be the biggest pain in the ass around but she loved us all and was desperate to please. I will miss her.

Rugger came to us because some human was irresponsible with her or her parents. Please, stop the cycle. Spay or neuter your pets. There are too many animals lying alone in shelters right now. Your dog does not NEED to have at least one litter of puppies. There are too many. Grow up, take care of your dog now.