Night 5: It was just the turtle

Ok, the loud bang in the previous post was just the turtle knocking over his tank cover. If I have not stated this before, let it be known that my parents are much too old to have a puppy. A lesson learned. I just started bawling and made my dad promise that he would not lie to me. I made him promise that if absolutely came down to it, that we would re-home Charger rather than telling me she ran away or got hit by a car. I probably would sue the pants off someone if I found out they lied to me. My dad said he would "never do anything like that." But the influence of an angry old Chinese woman, may override it all. I suppose police dogs are working dogs that come home at night, so maybe it will go the same way. I can only hope that Charger grows up quick and my dad stay strong. Once the pack leader goes down, we're all screwed.

Day 5: Creative solutions

I'm running out of creative solutions to help my family. Mom and puppy do not get along at all. My mom is old and set in her ways. I refuse to let myself believe this was a bad idea. I'm fairly certain though that my grades are going to tank from here til the end of the semester. I'm exhausted and have such a short amount of patience that it's effecting my work as well. But anything worth having, is worth fighting for.

I've thought of everything including bringing her to work and just leaving her at the Universal kennels.  Tomorrow, Johnny is going to be an awesome boyfriend and watching her for a bit while I'm at school. My dad takes her to work sometimes.

There are moments, where I just want to scream back at mom and tell her to "get over it." Her situation sucks, but pessimism an the pity party is over. Oh no, something just went bang pretty hard. I'll be back later.

"They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious" - Muse - Uprising

Beef by the handful!

I can cross "throwing objects at a high velocity at other humans" off my bucket list. I lived a life long dream by riding a Mardi Gras float and throwing beads at a throng of people. I mean thousands of people. I trained humans to jump for plastic beads.

It was a lot of fun just throwing things at people. I just took my pent up aggression and threw beads to all the people in the far back. It was amazing and a great work out. I feel like, if everyday was a parade, people would be happier. Angry people could be put on a float and throw things at other humans.

In addition, I can technically cross off "Parade performer" from my bucket list. Although, I was not a pie, I was a parrot.

Day 4: Exhaustion

Dear loyal readers,

I am running out of energy. I'm still superwoman, just with a touch of exhaustion. I find myself sleeping everywhere I can. I sleep on the roof during my lunch, I sleep in the car if I'm early to class/work, I sleep at Johnny's house (which is my happy place) the sad part is that it's never enough. I do not know how my dad is doing it as he sleeps on the couch/floor with Charger then works all day.

Yesterday, mom had her first of 100000000 breakdowns and locked herself in the bedroom crying until I got home (luckily only 20 minutes later). She never was the supermom that you see today taking kids to soccer, while working on 20 different projects. So basically, I've stepped up as an adult and cater to her when I can. Unfortunately, I still work (and my dad does too) and I go to school - so she needs to make some concessions or get over it. My dad will take Charger to work with him in the afternoon so my mom can watch Judge Judy. If you're wondering; no, I have no idea how my brother and I survived childhood.

I've begun looking at puppy daycare places, but she needs to be a bit older before we can send her places.

My dad is superdad. He sleeps with Charger on the floor then when we wake up he sleeps a bit more. Then he goes to work, comes back home in the afternoon and picks her up to bring her home. Then watches her until I come home or vice versa. He also totally killed a giant roach for me at 12:45 AM. Super dad. 

Some more unexpected things: Charger hates walking. I'm going to try a new technique tomorrow. I'm pretty sure dogs are supposed to like walking rather than tearing up the house. It took her two hours to poop today, after my mom screamed at me at 6:50AM to take her out. She also freaked out on my neighbors dog, just barking and carrying on. I have no idea how to handle her when she does that. I'm reading a lot on the internet so we shall see what's going on. Bob may come over and help me train her, he did wonders with Chase.

Each day is a new opportunity - to find somewhere to sleep, to maybe study for my midterm, to learn a new skill at work.

The good thing and bad thing about puppyhood - is that it ends. Hopefully, sooner rather than later. I do want to thank my friends who have been so supportive. Telling me that I look exhausted, so I know it's not in my head and also providing valuable tips for helping me survive mentally and physically. I do not know what I would do without all of you.

Day 2: Ankle Biting

It seems all the sleeping Charger did yesterday energized her quite a bit into a normal puppy. She is definitely in the teething, mouthing phase. I almost had to go to work with her attached to my ankle. Luckily, I learned some tips from a friend to teach her the difference between play time and owie times. She bites pretty hard, I have some gnarly battle scars.

Today I also cleaned up my first pile of monster turd. I was told that it was going to be big, but was grossly under prepared. My years of Animal Care did nothing to prepare me for her pile. The smell made me gag twice. YUCK! I hear that it only gets worse too.

We took Charger to the Verizon store to be socialized. Day two in the car was less traumatic, but she learned she can bark and get attention from mom and dad instantaneously. She's very good with people and at this point is not fearful of noises and cars. Above is Charger and I on a bench. I was trying to see what she'd look like when her ears perk up.

Tomorrow will be the first day that my mom will be home alone with her all day. My mom is more like the NO person. My dad is the fun pack leader, while I'm her sister. Crazy Uncle Johnny is the fun one. That being said, my mom just follows her around and poorly corrects her behavior. Charger is still not fond of being locked up. My parents won't let me train her though. She wimpers and everyone starts running.

Things Charger has Trained my Parents to do:

1. Circle around sniffing = Go outside (My mom thinks every time she circles, she is going to pee. This has caused my mom to come in and out every 10 minutes.)
2. Crying, whimpering, carrying on = lots of petting and attention
3. Crate crying = Dad sleeping on the couch all night.

We definitely got to get on the right page with her. My poor ankles can't take much more.

p.s. In a funny twist, I bought my first pair of sneakers since 2004, so I can walk her easily. I wore heels for 30 minutes today to do something and epic fail. I now have three fancy blisters.

Charger origin

A lot of people have asked me where I got the name Charger from and here is the reason. On the left is Charger the original dog. I rediscovered him as we were cleaning out our garage in 2004. On that same day I had gotten accepted into Marymount Manhattan College. I wanted to call him Lucky, but my mom said that German Shepherds charge and so we named him Charger.

Fast forward seven years, and here Charger is now taking a nap with his counter part: Charger Lilypad Allen Marie (on right).  Charger is obviously named after Charger. Lilypad is for the irony factor when she gets trained as a guard dog. Allen is my dad's human best friend in real life. And Marie because it's a good last name.

Chargers already know their name. And really like to dance.  If you haven't seen the youtube video yet, definitely check her out:

Puppy: Day 1

Beyond all believable bounds my puppy Charger hates walking, refuses to enter her crate, loves to sleep, will only pee/poop outside, and is an ankle biter. I prepared for a lot of things and all of it was nothing I anticipated. The best thing about Charger is that she is potty trained. I thought yesterday may be a fluke, but it turns out that she will only pee and poop on grass. In addition, she hates concrete, so she'll only poop in our front yard. Amazing!

The bad thing was that she doesn't sleep in her crate. My dad slept on the couch all night with his hand on her. My dad said, "this is what I use to do with you and your brother when you were babies." My parents are taking a liking to Charger. My mom is surprisingly is doing well with her and actually was the one who figured out where she likes to poo the best.

Charger, the ankle biter, also had her first car ride today. We took her to the bank and to Petsmart. Charger did not like riding in the car, and tried to hide under the seat even though I had her on my lap. I also learned that she likes ice cubes. I don't think she's ever had anything like ice before. The bank people gave her some biscuits and petted her. Petsmart people were great too. I hope this counts as socialization. 

Charger has only freaked out when she sees a small white dog. Big white dogs are ok, but small white ones are incredibly scary. I don't blame her, they tend to bark...a lot. Cody (a dog friend) is suppose to visit today. Cody is a small white dog. We will see how it goes.