Smarty Pants...

This is Teagan. Teagan is a pest. Teagan is also to smart for her own good. Teagan's name is Irish and means "beautiful". We made a mistake. We should have named her Miss Smarty Pants.

Before we took Teagan into our home she was hanging out on the rural road where we live with a black dog. I guess they were pals because you always saw them together. One day, coming home from the grocery store, I found them in our driveway. I stopped and put out some dog food for them. Teagan was thrilled to make friends with me and I had no trouble putting her in the truck (where she promptly hopped onto the dashboard to ride up to the house).

Unfortunately, Teagan's friend was not so sure I was a nice person and wouldn't let me get her. A week later she was hit and killed. That made Don and I very sad, but there was little we could have done since there was no way to catch her.

Teagan, being the smart little dog she is, quickly settled in with the other dogs. We feed her, pet her, play with her just like any of the other dogs, but Teagan continues to be extremely needy. It's like she just can't get enough, which makes her a huge pest, especially since she is very persistent and will climb all over you to be petted. Oh, did I mention Teagan is extremely strong for her size?

At night Teagan sleeps in the fenced in front yard with Angus and Caoilainn. She likes being outside at night and does much better there than in the house. If she spends the night in the house Teagan will walk all over us while we try to sleep. Like I said, she's a pest!

Now to the truly smarty-pants aspect of Teagan. She recently learned how to open the front door! We have a door knob that has a push down latch and Teagan has figured out how to push it down with her paw and waltz right in...and she NEVER shuts the door behind her!

After a few mornings of finding outside dogs jumping on the bed (and the front door wide open) we've decided that the only way to fix the problem is to lock our door at night. Living out where we do with all the dogs, locking up has never been an issue. Now we're having to lock the dogs out!

To top it off, Teagan is teaching my little Beagle, Tadhg, how to open the door. He's done it twice. The door is now locked during the day as well!

If you're wondering what breed of dog Teagan is, the vet declared her to be a "genuine Mississippi Mutt" which is just a fancy way of saying she's a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Welcome home Aislinn...

Tuesday night Don and I were headed home when we spied a small black animal running up the road in front of us. I thought it was a cat. When the little critter got to our driveway it dashed off the road. Don turned in and I got out to check on the animal. What I found wasn't a cat, but a very small puppy huddled against our garbage can and shaking like a leaf.

Her name is Aislinn (ash-lynn) which is an Irish name that means "beautiful lady in peril"...exactly what she was out on that deserted dark country road all by herself! Aislinn gave us lots of kisses on the way up the drive to the house and continues to do so.

Don took her to the vet Wednesday morning. To his surprise the vet announced that Aislinn was a pedigree! Don asked what breed and Dr. Slocum replied, "Full blooded mutt!" adding that she has a lot of terrier in her. He said Aislinn is about 10 weeks old. She only weighed 8.3 pounds (poor little thing's tummy was growling when we found her).

Don said she literally screamed when the vet gave her a shot (immunization, one of three puppy shots)...not a whimper, growl or yelp...a human sounding scream! Then she gave Dr. Slocum a bunch of kisses to show she wouldn't hold a grudge and he gave her a bunch of treats.

Aislinn has been a perfect angel. She hasn't had an accident in her crate and always does her business when we take her outside. She loves running and bouncing around the yard with the other dogs, but they haven't quite figured out what she is...puppy? cat? crazy bouncing toy? As usual, our dog Brenna has appointed herself Aislinn's surrogate mommy and won't let the other dogs get to close.

I've been wanting a new kitty and earlier Tuesday night I tried to sweet talk a feral cat in the Wal Mart parking lot to no avail. I think Fate sent Aislinn to me for a reason. She's not a cat, but she's going to be small and I'm going to make sure she's a Mama's girl!