Celebrity happens in the oddest places

Hubby warned me that our little bean killer would be nuts when I got home today. He didn't have the time to take Kirby to the dog park today...so she was saving all that pent up puppy energy just for me. :-) I got home and, sure enough, I couldn't even look through my mail. First she brought me the giant tennis ball, then she brought me the pink tug 'o war rings, then she brought me the floppy cow. The message was clear: I require entertainment. NOW!!! LOL

Kirby hasn't quite yet mastered the game of fetch. She's got the part down where she chases the ball, but she thinks it's much more fun to run right up to you like she's bringing it back and then VROOM! Drive by! She runs right by you with the ball in her mouth. So, try as I did, I could not play a productive game of fetch with this girl...because she was too excited to drop it. It was still light outside, so I took her to the dog park.

She romped and played with the few dogs who were there and had a great workout, as always. She met many humans who were so happy to meet her they didn't care that they'd just been drooled on. When we left a half hour later, we were both hungry...so I thought...Sonic?

Kirby's first exposure to Sonic was the night she graduated from puppy school at Petsmart. As a reward for her graduation, Kevin and I took her to Sonic and got her a hamburger (without all the dressing and goo, of course). She LOVED it. Since then, it's something we do for her occasionally as a "good girl treat".

We hadn't been for a while, so I took her...and she was so amped up from the dog park that she would park at each of the little car hop girls as they went by. It was as if she was saying "Burger! NOW!!!" LOL They would all smile and wave at her and I would smile apologetically. Finally, it was our turn and we got our burgers. The little 90 pound high school girl who was our car hop looked absolutely blown away at this extremely large cow in my back seat. (The back seat of my COMPACT car, no less.)

The girl smiled and told me what a cute dog I have and I thanked her...and explained that she's still a PUPPY. LOL. That's when all the questions started. At this point, Kirby could smell the burgers in the bag I'd just been handed...and drool was pouring out of her mouth and onto my shoulder. It's a...well, it's an unpleasant experience but sometimes it's worth going through to see the shock on people's faces.

I asked her for a child sized cup of water and she went in to get it. When she came back out, she was leading a parade of Sonic employees...all with astonished smiles on their faces as they waved at Kirby through the windshield. Kirby looked like she was going to start eating my seats.

I gave her some water, half of which ended up on me, and took the burger out of the bag. She was 110% focused on that burger in my hand. I held it up so the Sonic employees could see it and then I held it juuuuust back enough so that Kirby understood it was ok to grab it.

FLOOF! Gone. She opened her mouth to take it and the entire burger disappeared in her mouth. She laid down on the back seat and started chewing happily. The astonished group of Sonic employees actually burst into applause. LOL

A few more questions to answer and I was on my way. I hadn't even pulled out of the parking lot yet and Kirby was already done with her burger. A very loud, very wet, rolling belch emanated from the back seat. That's Kirby talk for "That was GOOOOOOD!"

So Kirby has yet another fan club. Her extended family at Petsmart, all her pals at the dog park, people on the dang HIGHWAY...and now...the employees at our local Sonic. And Miss Kirby loves them right back. Especially their plain and dry Sonic burgers.

And so it begins...

Once upon a time, there was a peaceful household in the fair land of Texas.

Was being the operative word. :-)

Last summer, my husband Kevin and I had to have our dog Kokopelli put to sleep after it became clear that she was losing her battle with cancer. It was a sad time for us, but we were comforted with the knowledge that we made the right decision for her.

Our three cats helped us to move on eventually. In the Stauber family, there are always lots of furry bellies to rub...thankfully none of them belong to me or Kevin. :-)

One autumn weekend, Kevin and I were out running errands and we decided to pay a visit to the little "mom 'n pop" place where we used to buy the special diet food that Koko had to have. Kev likes to look at the fish and I follow behind and listen to him explain what an amazing fish the Oscar is. It's a standard pet store ritual for us. I knew Kevin was starting to get the itch for another dog, but I was holding him off. We needed new floors, new paint, and a million other things before we needed to welcome another mouth to feed.

Then...I saw her. Oh, dear Lord, help me...I saw her.

She was laying with her back to me and when I walked by, she turn her head and looked over her shoulder at me...upside down. It was as if she said "Are you my momma?" Big, sad, brown eyes. Long black eyelashes. Chubby little belly. Big giant toes. And Kev saw me looking. Damn it!

And that's how it started...6 months ago. I walked out of that store holding our newly adopted, 20 pound Saint Bernard puppy on my hip like a 5 year old. She was 9 weeks old. As I walked to the truck, I felt a vague sense of dread as I remembered the pet store lady telling us that the puppy's daddy weighed 175 pounds. I put her in the truck and got in beside her and thought to myself, "Uh oh..." But it was too late. She put her little head on my shoulder and let out the sweetest little sigh. And I was done. That was it. She was mine. Even more, I was hers. And there wasn't a doggy mommy in the world who was prouder than I was at that moment.

And so began...my life with a Saint.



** Please note: I do NOT recommend buying a dog from any pet store. This is the first time we've ever done it and we feel terrible that it's where we got her. But the simple fact is that we DID get her at a small pet store...and it's simply because I could not imagine my life without her as soon as she looked at me. I could not bear the idea of leaving her in that pet store.

Really, I recommend rescue dogs first...there are so many wonderful dogs in shelters that need good, loving homes. For us, though, we knew we wanted a puppy...because a puppy (especially a gentle one like Kirby) is easier for our cats to get used to. Not threatening in size, obviously a baby. And I was right...the introduction went smoothly and the cats love her. Even Sarah, who is afraid of dogs, is not threatened by Kirby and is able to co-exist peacefully.

We also had talked about getting an extra large breed dog...and we'd recently checked the DFW area shelters for big, BIG dogs but didn't find any. That's still no excuse for buying from a pet store (adoptions at Petsmart & Petco are different...those are rescued doggies...give them good homes!)

In the end, I feel like we gave her the best home...because I honestly want to smack the person who sent a Saint Bernard to Texas. It's HOT here in the summer. What if she'd gone to a family that didn't know how to take care of her? What if she'd gone to a family that just left her out in the yard all day?

Our animals are all part of our family. And while I'm not proud of our decision to buy her from a pet store, I'm not sorry I did it...because she is a wonderful, big hearted sweetheart of a dog...and I can't imagine my life without her.

I hope y'all understand.