The Place Has Gone to the Dogs

“There is no psychiatrist to be found anywhere in the world like a puppy licking your face.” (Ben Williams)

Are you a dog person? If you’ve visited me here on my blog or if you join the conversation on my Facebook author page, then you know that I definitely like dogs. And this weekend we had a houseful of the furry, four-pawed fellows. Here’s a picture of four of them. Another, a dachshund, has arthritis in his joints and can’t run with the crew, but his people take extra good care of him. One of the dogs is very LARGE. A mastiff. Another is sort of an odd mix of basset hound and Labrador. Her legs just didn’t grow to match the rest of her. Then there’s “the fetching is my life” German Shepherd. And of course, Oscar. Oscar doesn’t really like sharing his house and beds and water and treats with these other interlopers. He gives me almost as big a frown sometimes as my husband does.

My husband grew up in a family where dogs were hunting dogs. Often they were chained to a dog house until time for the hunt. Other times they were hanging around on the porch or digging holes under a bush somewhere to stay cool. My dad didn’t like to hunt, so no hunting dogs, but we didn’t have any dogs in the house either. Dogs were for the outside.

But times change. I like having Oscar hanging around in my office with me while I’m writing. I enjoy when the other dogs visit. I get attached to my children’s dogs. They’re part of the family and so how can you not invite them in? Even when they are so big they take up half the kitchen floor. In fact, when a dog is so big his chin can rest on the table while you’re eating, then that dog has to find a different room to lie in until the meal is through. But the Mastiff is a sweetheart of a dog. So is the little mixed breed pup.

Oscar puts up with them, but he does have a way of giving me this look that says, “when are they going home???” Not as soon as he’d like. This weekend, the place went to the dogs and I had a great time! Some of those grandkids were around to play with the dogs too and make the weekend even better.

Winner of Angel Sister

I promised to give away a copy of Angel Sister this week to somebody who commented on Emily’s post about her Dream Team and then I extended it through Wednesday’s post with the excerpt from Angel Sister. It was fun having some new visitors here and now one of those, Beth R. is the winner! Beth’s daughter knew Emily in school and so that’s why she gave Emily’s post a read.

Thanks to all of you who did leave a comment on either post. Your comments make One Writer’s Journal more fun.

Happy 4th of July!! Hope you have a wonderful day celebrating our country’s birthday. Here’s something I put in our church bulletin today.

You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4^th, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. (Erma Bombeck)

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