I used to love my nice quiet mornings.  Wake up at will, make coffee, feed the cat and then check email or write on my blog.  Head out to my art studio to paint.

How would I know that getting a puppy would change my entire life?  My serene home now has a kennel by the front door, a 17-foot fence to block off the living room, a crate in the laundry room and a jillion dog toys and bones and a bed floating throughout the rest of the downstairs spaces. The doors to any other rooms are closed and there is a gate to close off the upstairs.  In the back yard is another kennel for potty training.

The guilt of leaving the dog in the crate makes me jump out of bed the minute I wake up.  Goodbye, leisurely mornings.

The cat constantly teases the dog, so the dog is always chasing the cat.  Keep in mind the cat weighs more than the dog.  This is most likely the first time I have ever regretted that our cat was declawed.

Our puppy came from “Farmland” and she, as you can see, is adorable, but buying from a store has some additional challenges.  She has Giardia which is not fun. She started getting diarrhea about day three, so we have been to the vet several times.  I don’t think I need to describe in more detail, but we did move the in-house kennel from the nice light gray wood floors to the tile by the entry.  The liquid medicine is not her favorite, so this morning, I am not sure if more went down her throat or all over the floor.  I am wondering how you could mix it with peanut butter so she likes it.  No, I think I will just let my husband have this joy (job) for the next few days.

I read that giving her rice and boiled chicken might help diarrhea, so I made up several batches.  The first two batches went well, but the third was a little more stuck together.  Well, it became a toy, and as she played with it, batting it throughout the dining room, kitchen and hall as it deteriorated in small clumps.  It only took a half-hour to sweep and vacuum it all up, while both the cat and dog chased me trying to eat it.

So my quiet and serene morning began, by running the dog outside to pee, coming in, noticing more pee on the wood floor, that she must have snuck that in earlier when my husband let her out at 5 AM; feeding the cat, chasing the ball of rice-chicken around the house, cleaning up poop in the entry, cleaning the chicken/rice more and then I finally got to make a cup of coffee.

As I am making the coffee, the dog makes a run at the 17-foot fence, knocking it over and scaring itself.  Uprighting a 17-foot fence is not the easiest thing to do, but I did and it is now held in position by two of my dining room chairs.

It’s an hour later and I finally get my first cup of coffee.

I turn seventy this week, and though I am generally high energy, I wonder if I have enough to deal with a cat and a new puppy at this age.

I have actually had a couple painting classes and done a little Urban Sketching, just no time to post.