No, I am not turning into Nicole

Look how big Allie has gotten already

Yes, that's right I have a good reason for posting pictures of my dog. This is a story of my very first day as a dog-owner. As you know, animals (besides parakeets, fish, the occassional shrimpie cube, and immediate family members) are not at all allowed at my house. But, with this new dog situation it's like everything I've learned in the past 23 years about my family have just been thrown right out the window. I'm talkin' construction projects, painting the house, buying toys, parents speaking to the neighbors, my dad baby talking to the doggy... it's weird. Anyway, last night was Allie's first night at our house (trapped in our tiny little backyard all night) which actually went pretty uneventfully (except for the fact that she snores louder than my mom). But this morning I woke up to her high-pitched crying (dog crying is really weird, it sounds like a squeaky gate combined with one of those old bicycle squeeze horns). My brother-in-law had put a choke chain on her (against the vet's recommendations) for training, but somehow she got the chain caught on her lower jaw and it was gouging out her gums. Look how painful this looks! Ouch!


How evil does this look?

Anyway, poor thing, she was all whimpering and shivering even, and no one was home except me and my sister (the two people in the house who did NOT think that getting a dog was a very smart decision) so I went out to try and get it off (in my pajamas too!). Except that it was really wedged into her gums and there was absolutely no slack so I couldn't pull it tighter to release the links. Plus, it poured that morning so she was all wet and muddy and trying to climb all over me to get the thing off. We even had to call my brother-in-law and father to see if they knew how we could get it off. Finally I was able to slide the prongs to one side and slide the collar off, then she was so happy that she jumped all over me and got me completely muddy and wet. Sigh, and it's only day one of dog-having.


Allie says "thanks" and decides to eat my hat