My inhaler is apparently working. I had to use it several times in the first few days. However, I haven't used it since Saturday, and I seem to be doing fine. :) So, that is great news. I think I'm going to cancel the follow-up doctor's appointment that I had scheduled for January 2. I'm not interested in going to see the NP who doesn't read when I'm feeling better. She doesn't know what's wrong anyway. I have 2 refills for the inhaler and the inhaler will last me 100 times. At this rate, the inhaler will last 6 months! :)
Joe and I tried to get all of the dogs together to do a Christmas picture to send out with our Christmas cards. I set the timer on my camera and we posed in front of the Christmas tree. It never failed that at least one of the dogs would lay down or look somewhere other than the camera at the last second. So, that didn't work out. Finally our patience wore thin and we gave up on that. We may try again, but our days are numbered before the Christmas cards have to be sent out.
I've been making cookies and fudge and other delicious but bad for you treats. I'm stuffing tins full of goodies to give to people. It's a very slow process. :( And, I keep eating what I've made and then I have to make more. haha... that's not so bad, though. :)
Cody attacked Jippy on Monday. I was a mess. First of all, Cody has never attacked any of the dogs. He is as sweet as can be. Jippy irritates the other dogs, and it's likely that he started the fight (he bites the other dogs and jumps on them when they don't want to play -- he's not vicious... just annoying). Daly has attacked him before, but I thought we had it under control. The dogs know that they aren't allowed to fight (unless they're playing -- It's easy to tell the difference). Cody is especially not allowed to be aggressive because he's so big. He could easily hurt any dog he decided to turn against. It's never been a problem before.
I was walking down the stairs getting ready for work when I heard them fighting outside. I assumed that it was Jippy and Daly. It hasn't happened for a while, but they're the only ones we had ever had a problem with. I ran down the stairs and out the door. Well, as I got to the door, I realized that Cody was on top of Jippy biting him. I started screaming at Cody and I shoved him off as I got out the door. Cody stopped as soon as he heard me, but I still wanted them separated. Jippy was shaking. I haven't really spanked Cody since he was a puppy. There hasn't really been a need. I occasionally slap him on his butt when he's doing something he knows he shouldn't be, but never hard. It's just a little tap. It's just the fact that I have slapped him that upsets him and he knows that he has to stop. It breaks my heart to do that because he gives me the sad puppy look.
Well, this time, I was so upset that I really spanked him. Hard. I don't know if it hurt him or not, but I know I hit him hard. Several times. He gave me the sad puppy face and that just made me cry (I was on the verge before because I was so upset, but that sent me over). Joe took Cody and put him in a crate in the garage while I comforted Jippy. He shook all over. So did I. When I calmed Jippy and Daly down (she got upset over all of the commotion), I went into the garage and talked to Cody. I know, some people think I'm crazy for talking to my dogs, but I swear that they understand most of the time. Cody was upset. He doesn't have a crate. Only Jippy, Daly, and Jack have crates. So, he wasn't used to having to be in a crate. I yelled at him and cried and he was sad. I calmed down and told him that he wasn't allowed to attack his brothers. Then Joe and I went to work. I was crying for part of the ride into work. Cody stayed in the crate all day while we were at work.
It's really upsetting to me. For so many reasons. The dogs are not allowed to attack each other, for one. And then, it was Cody. Cody is the one I least expect it from. I've not had any problems out of him. He's not an aggressive dog. He occasionally growls at strange dogs, but he's never attacked any of them (without provocation -- there was a greyhound who attacked Jack and so Cody bit that dog, but I don't count that... that's in his job description). He's always incredibly patient with the other dogs, even when they are incredibly annoying. I expect better of Cody. I love all of the dogs equally, but I love them all for different reasons. Jack is sweet and cute. Jippy is dumb but adorable. Daly is my eager little girl. Cody is my amazingly loyal and smart and just plain good dog. It's not that I love Cody more, it's just that there is no argument that he is the best dog we have. I don't know if that makes sense. He does what he is told. He always behaves himself. We never have any problems out of him. He's the one you can really trust to not let you down. So, I was in shock and so disappointed that he would do such a thing. And on top of it all, Cody is incredibly strong and so much bigger than the other dogs. He weighs about 80 pounds. He has huge teeth. He could seriously hurt or kill one of the other dogs very easily. I hadn't ever thought twice about it before because it's never been an issue. Now it's in the back of my mind eating away at me. If I think that Cody can't be trusted with the other dogs, other arrangements will have to be made. Arrangements that won't make any of us very happy.
Cody is the only un-neutered dog we have. If this happens again, Cody will be getting neutered, no matter what Joe wants or doesn't want. And I don't want to think about what will have to happen if that didn't help.
I'm sure Cody doing that is just like how my mom felt when I skipped school in high school. She was so disappointed in me. She wouldn't speak to me for weeks. I had always been the good daughter. I never did anything wrong and I got straight As. I'm sure she was shocked. It makes me laugh to think of it that way.
I want to go back to how I don't actually love Cody more than the other dogs, because I'm not sure that it made sense... I mean, why wouldn't I love the "good" dog more than the other dogs? I want to try to explain how it's possible. I love Cody for all the reasons that he is a good dog. He protects me when Joe is not home. He is loyal. He knows lots of tricks. He's eager to please. He's just a good dog.
Jack isn't always perfect. He doesn't always listen (even though he is also a very good dog). However, he's got a different personality. He comes across as human a lot of times. He's stubborn, but sweet as can be. And, he always wants to be with me. So, even though some people wouldn't think of him as as good of a dog as Cody, I love Jack just the same for all of his cute imperfections and all of his human characteristics.
Jippy is the least trained dog we have. He is not smart. He doesn't understand what you're trying to get him to do a lot of the time and when he gets confused, he rolls over on his back and pees on himself (it's called submissive wetting). It irritates Joe. While most people wouldn't see how I could love Jippy as much as Cody or Jack, I do. He needs me to understand him. He tries so very hard to please me. It's easy to see that he doesn't want to upset me. He loves me very much and anyone can see that. It's hard for him to understand, but he still tries. And I love him so very much for it. He has to try much harder than the other dogs. And that means a lot.
Daly was the hardest for me to get attached to. But now, I love her all the same as the other dogs. She is lazy. She is not as smart as Cody or Jack, but she is still smarter than Jippy. As she's becoming an adult (she turned 1 on Friday), she's getting even better. She tries to please. And she's very affectionate. She loves to give kisses. And she's learning lots of new tricks. She loves to be near me. It's easy to see how much she loves me. She's very loyal. She wants to be near me when the other dogs are playing (even though she wants to play as well). She fights it. She runs back and forth between playing and coming back to love on me. It's cute. I know that she loves me as she loves her brothers. And she brings out goodness in her brothers. She can get them to play so easily (when she's not being lazy). She has a lot of goodness in her and anyone can see it.
So, it might not make sense to everyone, but I do love all of my boys dearly and equally. I do not have favorites, although it may seem like it sometimes. I just have different expectations for all of the dogs. But I love them all the same for different reasons. :)
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