OMG! I forgot the dog!

While I rambled on last night about a little bit of who I am, I forgot to mention we have the most fierce little dog, Madeline. Named after Madeline Albright.

I was tricked into this relationship by Jill. I didn't realize it, but she made the mistake of stopping by the local pet store to buy aquarium/fish supplies. You know the story from there. She saw the cute puppies, one 'fetched' her heart. Now all she had to do was sell me on the idea.

The following weekend we were at a baby shower, guys in the basement, women upstairs. Since Jill didn't know anyone but the expecting, she was a little bored. I was getting along in the basement playing video games and shooting pool. So she came downstairs and asked if I minded if we left. While driving home she said she wanted to stop at the fish store to show me something. I had no idea.

Yes, she is cute. But do we need a dog? YES! The salesgirl was very good at her job. She could tell the TWO LIES that you must be able to tell when you sell dogs. "No, barely sheds hair at all." AND, "Nope, this breed doesn't bark much. Quiet dogs." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

We fell for it and, $400 later, became caretakers of a cute Shiba Inu.

Maddie is very territorial and resents the intrusion of ANYTHING on her property. She is also very jealous and doesn't like anyone around her caretakers. She has been wonderful to us giving us years of happiness and something to talk about when the conversation runs dry.

To give you an idea of how fierce she is, let me tell you about Maddie and the Bull. This did her ego no good, socially speaking.

While helping my Mother In Law (MIL) clear downed trees from the creekbed on her farm, Maddie ran around and investigated everything. Since we were in the cattle pasture, eventually the herd of cows came to investigate the sound of tractor (food). Well Maddie couldn't tolerate strange animals around so she ran back and forth between the herd and us in the creekbed. After 10-15 minutes, the cows got fed up and left. All but the herd Bull. Bull came forward to see what we were doing and what was this little noisemaker was about. 1,800 pound Bull. 22 pound Maddie. Have you heard the one about the size of the fight in the dog? Maddie put herself squarely in front of Bull, barking and snapping at his nose. Nose to nose. Bull tossed his head, nose chain swinging around, and stamped his feet. Maddie would run a very tight circle, giving about an inch before standing right in front of Bull, snapping and snarling. One of the other workers said out loud, "that is the bravest stupid dog I ever seen" MIL said to me, "don't worry Kevin, I will tell Jill there was nothing you could do to keep her from getting trampled."

But Maddie didn't intend to lose this battle of the wills. She kept her place, moving only when Bull tossed his head, but moving right back in front of Bulls nose to keep him from coming close. This went on for five minutes, seemed longer. Then to our astonishment, Bull spun around and trotted away. We were all shocked! And Maddie came trotting over to us and I swear her little chest was puffed with pride, as if saying "nothing to it, cuz I AM the toughest dog around!"