Last Friday was an eventful day. From early morning to late at night it was chock-full of emotion. As soon as I got to work, I was called into my boss’s boss’s office – for most people, this would be scary, but I wasn’t scared because I thought this was a specific meeting I’d been anticipating. I was wrong. She started out with buttering me up and then she said that she wasn’t going to be able to keep me past June 12. If you’ll remember, I was only a temp, but since February I’ve been practically promised a permanent position. Then, just a few weeks ago I was told that although there’s a hiring freeze, they would extend my temp contract until the end of the year. And now I’m gone in 2 weeks? I cried. She cried. It was a total shock. After that news, I spent the rest of the day talking with my work friends (they’re all scared they’re next, and rightly so) and generally wondering what’s going to happen.
My crappy day was about to get a lot better though. That night, Z and I drove to Sylacauga to see some puppies for sale. We went looking for a white lab, but one of the chocolates stole our hearts and we picked him instead. On the way home, we named him Sam. One of my work friends who lives in my neighborhood had offered to loan us a dog house and some toys, etc., until we got prepared. So, she came over to visit with us for a while. After she left, we walked around the block a few times with Sam to tire him out (it was pretty late) and go to bed. Well, as you can imagine, he was awfully lonely in his “pen” and cried quite a bit.
Let me explain. We are going to be using an underground fence once Sam gets a little bigger. We also put up a chain link fence in one corner of the backyard for Sam to sleep and stay safe while he’s a baby. We call it a pen, but it is actually 30’ x 30’ and nicely shaded, etc. So I know the word “pen” sounds awful, but it’s a very nice area, trust me.
Anyway, that night, we knew he would cry all night because he was accustomed to sleeping with 13 roly-poly brothers and sisters and he was obviously lonely. So, we brought him up to the porch and we slept on the chaise lounges all night. Saturday dawned cool and clear – a beautiful day. We took a walk very early waiting for Tractor Supply to open so we could get Sam a collar, leash, food dish, etc. We have a great neighborhood for walking – it’s a quiet, older neighborhood, and it’s on a lake, so it isn’t all blocks but a very lovely view. Later we went to Tractor Supply where we pushed two buggies – one for the merchandise and one for the puppy to sleep in! Sam was a big hit there! Next we went to PetSmart to find “pig ears” (yuck) but he did not like that place – I think there were too many smells. We went home for a while and called around to find a vet because he was due for his first shots. Around 11:00 we found a vet and took Sam for his first visit, where he did very well despite the large, barking dogs in the waiting area. We went home and played with our puppy and ate lunch before taking our cars to get oil changes. We decided to put Sam in his pen during these errands because he’d been napping in the floorboard of the car all morning and we wanted to let him play in the grass. But, we were also very nervous to leave him there alone – he’d never been alone before. We both drove to Wal-Mart, dropped off one car, drove back home, waited 30 minutes, drove back, dropped off the other car, drove back home, waited 30 minutes, drove back and came home with both cars. Whew – Sam seemed to handle it OK.
That evening, our jerk neighbor kids began playing basketball around 10:00 (my mother would have had a fit if I’d done that. When was the last time you listened to someone playing basketball in the dead of the night, right beside the water? That crap is loud!), so we had to bring Sam on the porch because his pen kept getting a basketball bounced against it. Z and I watched Soprano’s while Sam napped on the porch. When the neighbors finally went inside, Z put Sam to bed. A little later, Z fell asleep on the couch (what a long day) and I checked e-mail and the like, listening to the silence. About an hour later, I woke Z up so he could get in the bed and I finally collapsed on the bed, utterly exhausted. Not 5 minutes later, Sam woke up and started crying (not yet able to fully bark) and whining. Trying not to wake Z, I crept out the door to go check on my baby. I went in his pen to sit with him and soothe him. After about 45 minutes he fell asleep at my feet. I literally tip-toed out of the pen and into the house. I slept on the couch for about 2 hours until I heard Sam wake up again and begin to cry. Exhausted, I put my shoes back on and went back outside. Although it was frustrating, it was also heart breaking because I knew he was scared and lonely. I was only outside for a few minutes when Z came out too. We visited with Sam for a while and then decided to tire him out by walking around the neighborhood again. It was about 3:30 a.m.
After that, we tried the pen but Sam was just too sad, so Z slept on the couch while Sam slept on the porch. Our porch is right off of our living room, and all the windows were open, so Sam was OK with that arrangement.
That morning, I told Z he should stay home and rest while I went to church, but I left after the choir sang the anthem. I got home and we ate lunch and played with the puppy for a long time. Z cut grass which didn’t scare Sam at all. Around 6:00 that evening we took our inflatable boat out on the lake with Sam, thinking he’d have fun swimming, as labs love the water. But, as soon as we got out there I got scared wondering if swimming is completely instinctual or if there was a chance he’d sink… the lake was once a rock quarry and it’s unbelievably deep immediately off the shore, so if anybody’s sinking, there’s probably no finding them. So, like a scared mama I held him in the boat and he finally gave up and napped while Z and I paddled around.
After our boat trip, we went on a walk, eventually visiting my friend’s house to let her see how much Sam had grown in 2 days. We finally got home around 8:30 and fed Sam his dinner. (Each time we put him in the pen, we make sure to stay with him, talking, playing, whatever so that he doesn’t associate the pen with sadness or loneliness. We also feed him there so he’ll have something to look forward to when we walk towards the pen.) He was very sleepy, so he settled down immediately and we went inside so we could eat dinner too. We ate around 9:30 and I’ll be damned if at 10:00 those basketball jerks came outside again, slamming the ball into our privacy fence, yelling cuss words and waking up my baby. Sam started his psycho barking (yes, he learned how to bark rather quickly) and digging at the fence line trying to get at the ball. We were completely exhausted, frazzled and livid. I had to go to work the next day – I couldn’t stay up all night with a baby puppy! Furious with those neighbors, we brought Sam up to the porch again and he immediately fell asleep. It was around 11:00, way past my pre-puppy bedtime, and we just wanted to sleep, so Z volunteered to sleep on the couch again rather than risk moving Sam and waking him up. All three of us slept like logs.
Monday morning I got up at 5:00 for work, and went outside where Z was sitting with Sam. We played for a while, and then they went on a walk while I showered and got ready. Thankfully Z had Monday off work except for one mid-morning meeting, so he had almost all day to spend with Sam. When I left for work though, I started crying. My heart was breaking for this little puppy. What had we done? Why did we get a puppy to disrupt our lives when everything was so peaceful? How was I going to make it through the day sleep-deprived and guilty? Would Sam be OK while Z was gone for a few hours?
Z called me at work when he got back home. He said that Sam had been so upset while he was gone that he threw up his breakfast. However, that must have been the breaking point for him because after that, he acted so much calmer. He began entertaining himself with toys in the pen instead of frantically digging under the gate. He took a nap on some ice that Z poured on the porch, he played in the yard with Z. (Sam is also getting much better about not staying right under our feet. He ventures out into the yard without us. In short, my little baby is growing up!)
When I got home from work, I couldn’t believe my eyes. He was in the middle of his pen happily chewing a toy, not barking or crying. Amazing! After a quick trip to Wal-Mart to get him a new toy (now that we know what he likes) we played with him all evening, even letting him swim in the lake a little. After we ate dinner, we went on a very long walk where we visited with a nice neighbor. When we got back we fed Sam his dinner and sat with him for a while. When we went inside around 8:30 he didn’t make one peep.
Z had to leave on business that night, so I was on my own with the puppy. I got out the laptop so I could listen out for Sam and still look for jobs. Even when those mofos started playing ball again (Seriously? What are they, allergic to the sun?), Sam handled it with ease. He certainly woke up, but he just watched them without having an anxiety attack. Around 10:00 the sprinklers came on, and as these are pretty loud and make scary noises, I wasn’t surprised that Sam started crying a little. So, when the sprinklers in the backyard went off and I could walk outside, I went to go visit with him before I went to bed. I just sat with him in his pen, pointing out his water which he sometimes forgets to drink, playing fetch with him (he’s still learning the concept) and petting him. OK, I admit that I also sang lullabies to him, but he liked it! After about 30 minutes I went inside, and he – ready? – slept/stayed quiet until 6:00 this morning!
This morning I did everything to get ready for work except put on work clothes and then I went outside to play with Sam. I was so proud of him! We walked around the neighborhood a little until we saw a very large dog with no leash at which point I picked Sam up and went back home. He had breakfast and then I went inside to change. While I finished getting ready for work he did go psycho for about 10 minutes, but then he must have remembered his manners because by the time I left, he was completely fine! I’m such a proud mama!
