Dog Tales, IV

Kasey on the day she arrived at Casa Cutler.

“It's just the most amazing thing to love a

dog, isn't it? It makes our relationships with

people seem as boring as a bowl of oatmeal.”

― John Grogan

Within a three- or four-month period prior to Kasey's arrival, we experienced a number of difficult things. My godmother, Aunt Margie, and Mike's mother were both on life support for different reasons, and they passed within a few weeks of each other.  By the time Corky passed, we were ready for something to take our collective minds off of all the crap.  Kasey fit the bill.

Energetic, sociable, and mischievous, Kasey took up a good amount of our time once she arrived.  Like most puppies, she loved to get into things, and we'd find her rooting through the laundry or the magazine rack to find something to chew up.  She was a voracious eater, and the only big negatives we experienced with her were her growling and snapping when anyone got close to her food and coprophagia (eating feces).

Let me step out of this story again to comment on the food problems.  A good number of experts believe that puppy mill puppies experience food aggression because of their first weeks of life.  Often, the puppies do not receive adequate food and water.  The puppy mill breeders often use lower quality food and water.  Many times, dominant dogs guard the food dish and prevent submissive dogs from eating. The submissive puppies learn to become food agressive.  Coprophagia, another food-related problem, is disgusting to humans.  Both habits are hard to break.

Kasey Girl

So, back to Kasey:  We had to deal with the food-related problems and were pretty successful with the coprophagia within a few weeks.  In addition, we were able to housebreak her pretty quickly which, according to articles I've since read, can also be difficult in puppy mill puppies. 




Four things stand out in my mind from Kasey's first few months with us:

The house we were living in at the time was a two-story house, and we had to carry Kasey up and down the stairs for a few weeks as her little legs were not long enough for her to make them on her own. In addition, she had a bit of a fear of any height.  We had a door that led to the backyard, and the height of the stoop between the door and the patio was about one inch. Kasey was afraid to step off of the stoop onto the patio, and for weeks she would stop, look down, and refuse to take the step.

Like many homeowners in Las Vegas, we had a pool in the back.  A few days after Kasey arrived, Mike was doing some yard work while the little munchkin and I walked around the backyard.  Mike picked up a shovelful of rocks and threw them into an empty wheelbarrow.  KABOOM.  Kasey and I both jumped at the loud bang, but instead of coming down from her jump on the pool deck, she tumbled into the shallow end. SPLASH. I ran over, plucked her out of the cold water, and tried not to laugh too much.  She never did like water after that.

Kasey and the cow-ee

A day or so after that incident, Mike and I sat outside and watched Kasey run around in the little grass we had.  Suddenly, a little bird flew out of a bush and onto the deck railing.  Kasey stopped and stared.  The bird flew from the railing to the roof. Kasey's eyes followed him.  I will forever remember the look of wonderment on her face as she watched the bird.  From that day on, she always watched birds with a bit of wonder in her eyes.

Finally, I gave her a little stuffed cow as her first toy. She loved that thing and would carry it around the house.  She would pick the little thing up and walk from the living room to the family room to the kitchen to the dining room to the living room to the family room to the.... You get the picture. 

She may not have liked water, but Kasey liked snow.

Kasey had been with us about three months when we moved from Las Vegas to Nashville.  Mike and Jason went to Nashville while I finished up selling and packing the house.  Since my mom had never had the opportunity to see much of the country, I invited her to drive with Kasey and me as we crossed through Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and Kentucky on our way to Tennessee. I'm  not sure what Mom enjoyed more, seeing the sites or playing with Kasey while I kept my eyes on the road.

Our move to Nashville brought changes to our lives—a new job for Mike, a new school for Jason, and a new house for me to get in order.  Little did Kasey know she was in for a big change, too.