Quest For A Poop-less Pup

My five year old has been on a mission to attain a dog for our house for some time now.  Things have really exacerbated this past year, you know, now that she's, and I quote, "not a baby anymore."  Each week of this summer has been fraught with plans of trying to sneak over to my neighbor's house and spend time with Shadow and Panzer, two well behaved, large dogs.  When she's not trying to sneak over there to see them, she is trying to sneak them into our house for a little sleep over, as I caught her in her room making a pallet on the floor for Shadow to come over and sleep for a night.

My husband and I discussed doing a "having a dog test run" with one of the neighbors dogs for a few days while my daughter was at the house without her brother to see if she could actually take care of one without assistance from anyone else.  And that's when I got the call from my father in law's girlfriend.  She has an older Chesapeake that needed a place to stay while she was on vacation for 4 days, so I agreed to take her in to satisfy my daughter's craving for a dog.

I told my daughter that this would be a trial run and if she did well taking care of the dog that my husband and I would discuss options for getting one once her brothers' pet allergies calmed down. She happily agreed and hugged around my legs, professing her undying love for me and telling me I was "the best mom in the world".  We discussed at length the list of chores she had to complete with having a dog and she agreed saying she would do everything and that she promised I would not have to do a thing.

Choxie the Chesapeake arrived on a Friday and although she knew us and my daughter well, she had not been apart from my father in laws girlfriend for a lengthy period of time, so it took her a few hours to adjust to her new surroundings at my house and to my daughter's excited and overly affectionate hugging episodes because she was so happy to have a dog for the next 4 days.
That day my daughter brushed her, walked her, read her stories, hugged her...a lot... and fed her. Then... the most glorious moment arrived for me.  It was the moment that I had been waiting for and knew it would be the deal breaker or maker for my daughter's dog having career...Choxie pooped...

Normally, when dogs poop, it is  no big deal to a five year old, but when they find out that they have to clean up that pile of hot, steaming poop,with merely a thin plastic bag of a barrier between their bare hands and that hot squishy mess, things...change...drastically!

I am in the kitchen cooking up a batch of Shoogie lip balm when my daughter bursts through the door and proudly exclaims that Choxie has finally pooped.

"Oh good", I say relieved, "I have the bags right there, put the poop bag in the outside trash when you are done so it doesn't stink up the house."

"Wait, WHAT," she says with a scrunched up face, "I have to clean it up?"

"Yesssss...remember, it is your dog and your responsibility for the next four days."

"Buutttt Mom, it is disgusting," she whines!

At this point, I am secretly overjoyed!  My plan of discerning if she is ready for a pet or not is coming to fruition...She has wanted, begged, pleaded, manipulated everyone (including grandparents) into thinking she was ready for a pet...and now...well...

"I'm not doing it," she exclaims and storms off into her room with Choxie, slamming the door behind her for effect, "that is sooo gross, mom," she yells behind her closed door.

I calmly continue stirring my next batch of Shoogie for an order and giggle over the stove as I dial my husband.  He doesn't pick up the phone, so I hang up and wait to call him back for a while to share the newest development with him, when I suddenly hear her crack her door open and peek her head out.

"Okay... um, mom, I have a deal," she tries to bargain with me, "If you will clean it up I will do everything else."

"No deal,"  I say, "but I will go outside with you while you clean it up."

"Let me think about it," she says and slams the door to talk it over with Choxie while she scolds her for pooping in our front yard instead of the woods.

About 30 minutes later I hear her escape from her room out the front door with Choxie in tow.
I continue fulfilling the rest of my Shoogie Etsy order and then I hear her gain entrance through the utility room door and hear a ruckus in the laundry room.  It sounds like she is taking the room apart.

When I go in to see what is happening, I see Choxie with her head half cocked looking at my daughter with wagging tail...there stands a determined 38 inches of my flesh and blood armed with plastic grocery bags on each hand, complete with large clothespin fastened tightly pinching her nose closed from the promise of offending dog poop odors.  "I'm ready," she proudly exclaims!

I immediately burst into laughter and let her out of the garage into the yard to complete her mission.

She actually does it! I watch through the window as she squeamishly picks up the squishy dog poop and puts them into the bag of the trash can...then I run back to my position at the stove as if I haven't been watching her.

"How did it go?" I casually ask as if I had no idea what was going on.

"Well...I did it, but... you were right mom...I am not ready yet for the responsibility of a dog.  I think I'll get one when I am a teenager or something," she announces seriously.

I am dying inside to burst out laughing, but not breaking face I say, "Okay...good thing we found out now instead of when you had a real dog...but you still have to clean up after Choxie for the next three days."

"Whaaaat?  No, please mom, It is so gross. Can you do it?"

"No, baby...but the good news is it is only probably three more times."

"Okay..." she says with a serious face, "Mom, do you think next time we can get a dog that doesn't poop."

I don't have the heart to tell her that her stuffed animal dogs are the only ones that will ever fit the bill, so I assure her..."Sure honey, when we find one that doesn't poop we will adopt him."

And I go back to making my other batch of Shoogie with a smile on my face.  In my book, today was a parenting win.  I taught my daughter about responsibility, I dodged the bullet on getting a dog for my child that I would end up taking care of, and I was able to fulfill my Etsy order all the while teaching my daughter important life lessons.

Now... if I could only invent a Shoogie cure for that wet dog smell...I would be in business forever! But, in the meantime check out the natural products, like the lip balm, in my store that will make you feel good and help keep you fresh all day... shoogieco.etsy.com  or Click on the Etsy link below to go to my site.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hurricane Irma

Help Prevent Sunburn By Doing This...

Nine Lives & Onions