A Puppy Named Ruby

 After Fatty died, a huge hole was left in my heart. A hole that Bentley too felt every day till he died. It may seem unfair to say that William and Harry didn't fill it, but as much as I tried, there was something missing. They even looked at me as to say "Where is the third wheel?" like they knew someone was missing in the party. Maybe it was the years of hearing Fatty purr against my skin, sitting on me, demanding attention. Perhaps it was the last few months of helping him live. Whatever it was, I missed him greatly and four years went by like four weeks. I knew, in a strange way, he wanted me to have a dog. A demanding, gnawing, energetic, little clingy dog. No doubt he would have loathed such a dog, but I felt compelled to look for a dog. Granted, I am not a "dog person", quite the opposite. I revere my independence and the one that having a detached cat has. Dogs require time, patience and slobber. Yet there I found myself looking for a dog the day after Fatty died. Bentley looked at me and pleaded for me to wait the day I fell in love with a little curly puppy. I cried, I felt awful putting her down and realizing it wasn't time. 

That was two years ago and perhaps it still wasn't time, there is never a good time to start anything big, yet nothing changes if nothing changes. And there was a change that had to be made in the flux of my life. I drove down the country hills in southern Maryland and had Fatty's cage in the back, a little red leash I got for Bentley and a huge amount of self doubt and might I add disgust in thinking of collecting warm puppy poop on a daily basis. I walked into the facility and there were four little scrawny undernourished puppies, they were pouncing on each other, rolling and trotting around. 

The size of a kitten...I halfway expected her to meow.

I knew before I went which one was mine. I even went as far as making her a little crown. 

A few hours later, I found myself somewhat perplexed and driving through cornfields with a puppy smaller than a cat in the cage Fatty used for many years. I had no clue what I was doing but somehow it felt right. 

In Fatty's carrier that he traveled to Italy in 13 years ago.

Two months later, and I found my missing piece. William and Harry even make more sense having the new addition. The first few days were challenging to say the least, she only pooped 10-12 times per day. Then, I realized, I was a favorite chew toy. My ankles, arms, fingers and sweaters have all been fair game for my little shark. Within a few hours, the puppy seemed to nap and grow, then nap and grow. I didn't know what to name her and I felt it was an incredible responsibility to give her a name she would grow into and be proud to bear. It took days to name her and every name chosen was wrong. We even tried a few names out for a few hours to see how it felt. One night, four nights after getting her, I was petting her and asked her what her name was, she looked at me and I knew: Ruby. Red Ruby, "Blessed are those who find wisdom and gain understanding, she is more precious than rubies." I'd love to have wisdom and understanding one day, but in the meantime that I'm confused and not wise, I will enjoy the next best thing, raising Ruby. (As she snores in her crate)

Each day has been a whirlwind of seeing Ruby change and grow and learn and grow. The first few weeks she would wake up from naps longer than she was an hour before.

Little jacket a few weeks ago

Little jacket is now a scarf.

 I signed her up for training classes and loved seeing how her biggest reward to a new challenge is my response, rather than a tasty treat. She loves it when I go wild when she learns something new like "down" which took forever for her to learn the word but the day she understood that the word equalled the meaning, I went wild with delight. 

I could write for hours on Ruby, so maybe I'll blog a little more while she's a puppy to capture these special moments.

In closing, these are currently her favorite likes as well as dislikes.

Likes:

Music: Ruby loves music and noise really affects her mood. I've been trying different music on her to see what she likes best. So far she loves baby Mozart, Patsy Cline's "Sweet Dreams of You" (probably sounds like a dog happy howling), and Strawberry Wine.

Food: Grass, grass and more grass. If you need your lawn mowed, let me know, I'll send Ruby.

Rain: she loves water and blowing bubbles under puddles.

Babies: Ruby gets wiggly and happy looking at anyone smaller than her.

Toy: Her blue ball is currently her favorite, followed closely by an empty milk gallon container.

Snack: diced turkey and apples. 

Outing: she loves going to visit our neighborhood horses as well as a local farm.

Dislikes:

Music: She highly dislikes 80's rock, Italian game shows, and George Strait. 

Food: Not a fan of broccoli. She'll spit it out immediately and look offended.

Shadows: Shadows scare her. Pooping will come to a stop if she sees her shadow at night.

Construction men: she's not a fan. She loves cops, the mailman, even the garbage man, but any repair man? No thank you!

Least favorite toy: a kong. Hey, I tried everything to keep my arm from getting chewed on.

Outing: She wasn't a fan of the airport. I took her on several field trips and the escalator and luggage bin were scary stuff. To top things off I had the audacity to go in Starbucks and get a coffee and she got nothing. She lost her blessed mind barking after that.