My Crew

As promised...welcome to "Why The Hell I Have Five Dogs," by Ann! When I first tell people I have five dogs, they immediately look shocked, and sometimes shout, "Why?!?" As soon as I start telling the story, their eyes glaze over as they begin to contemplate how dirty my house must be and start inspecting my clothing for dog hair. This post is for all of you that don't want to admit you did those things, but actually did.

Two Christmases ago, I thought it would be "nice" to buy a Bearded Collie puppy for Belle. I found a "wonderful" kennel in the Atlanta area. Since the kennel was actually in dog books and has won the most awards for bearded collies EVER, I assumed it would be somewhat acceptable. Georgia is a horrible dog, by the way, but through no fault of the kennel. She's just BAD. Anyone who has met her can attest to her severely sub-par behavior. She is no show dog.



Six months after "Santa brought Georgia," the kennel called and asked if we wanted Georgia's grandma, McKinsey. She had just weened her last litter and they were looking for a good home. We drove to East Tennessee and picked her up. She was not ver well taken care of and she had been de-barked :( I was totally traumatized. This prompted me to get involved in bearded collie rescue.

A shelter in Missouri, M'Shoogy's Famous Animal Rescue, called me about a wonderful beardie mix named Thomas. A volunteer asked if I could foster him. There were so many dogs at M'Shoogy's so Thomas kept getting passed over because his long hair was matted. A volunteer brought him to me to "foster." Whoops...that was a year and a half ago. Oops. :) Kurt can't help but love Thomas. He's a wonderful dog that has manners and knows lots of cute tricks. http://www.mshoogys.com/

Then, last summer, my aunt called about a beagle from the shelter. She had been brought back by the owners who lied and said she wasn't potty trained, so they were going to put her down. I said hell no to that, and welcome Dog #4, Lola. She's so cute and sweet. Yea, Kurt was slightly annoyed but Lola is hard not to love. Lola seems happy now, as she's gained 25 lbs. Not cool. However, she's on a strict diet. So far it's been 4 months and she's gained 0.5 lbs. I think it's better than gaining 1.5, don't you? So see, it's working!

I will save the poodle stories for a different day, KATE. Awww beanties. Suffice it to say I rescued a poodle and ended up finding her a home. Yay for fostering!

We were down to four dogs when I was driving down the highway and a super cute black lab was trotting up the highway. Of course I'm not going to leave a dog stranded when I could easily "foster it." Loving the lab, DAFFODIL. Belle and I love Daffodil! So loyal, etc, so I ended up keeping her. Welcome Dog #5. Yea, Kurt is not impressed!!! Whoops!

I forgot to mention Kurt is clean obsessed. He cleans the floor 95 times per day. I totally appreciate it. :) He's the best husband in the world. :) So yes, it's a challenge for him to keep up with five hounds. The many, many, many, many floor cleaning utensils we have seem to help with the task. This includes, but not limited to, every make and model of Swiffer brand products (Original, Wet Jet, Max, etc), "The Shark" steam mop, random brooms and dustpans, random cordless vacuums. Recently I heard him mention it's payback for his family having a hog operation when he was younger. As a vegetarian, I agree and I'm going to stick with this explanation when I bring home Dog #6. Just kidding, honey!!! :)