Daisy's Story

As I type now, Daisy is walking on my desk top investigating the new layout. I know she is looking for the helicopter I use to torture her. Why do I allow her on my desk...can't say. It certainly isn't convenient. I think it goes back to one of my sister's cats we had when I was in my last 3 months of college. She would sit on my desk during the late hours and watch me write (no computer over 15 years ago) and type. She was a Siamese mix so I don't want to say we connected because Siamese cats need NO human. But it made my nights easier. As with Tori then, Daisy just wants to be where stuff is happening!

Right now she is standing in front of the keyboard so I really can't see what I am typing. She is smelling the chocolate on my fingers which skews my typing. And looking DOWN at Bo who cannot be on Momma's desk. She is Daisy and this is just what Daisy does.

We went to dinner tonight and struck up a conversation with the young fireman and his girlfriend sitting next to us. They could see Daisy's picture on the front and stated "You have a Jack Russel?". My immediate response was then as it is most times "Do you want her?". That always elicits a laugh. Why do I want to offer up my youngest to strangers??? She is a JRT (Jack Russel Terrier for those NOT in the doggie know). She is smart, she is active, but she really has to be the center of IT.

Here is Daisy's story. 3 Christmases ago Mike was at his zenith of puppy mode (almost as bad as baby mode). "You got to pick out your two dogs, I want a dog". True, the boys were then as they as now...mine. They operate in a pod. They lay down when we do....they chew their own chewies...and they don't argue to be put to bed...my perfect boys. So, Mike went through the breeds he wanted....West Highland Terrier, an Irish Wolfhound, and a JRT. I put the deal on the table before he left work....Dallas Cowboy tickets or a Jack. His call. He left slammed with the giddiness and responsibility of a choice....a tough choice.

He had rules in choosing the new puppy. I wanted my Daisy Duke...so it had to be a girl, she had to be white (my boys are black) and there was a budget. I was still at work when I got the call and email. He had found her. 90 miles north....could we go tonight??? His excitement was infectuous. I got the cash from the ATM and we left. I felt as close as I ever have been to making a drug deal. I had a wad of 20's and in the dark of night I was going to a singlewide trailer (no lie) to get something.

I called my mother in law on the way & told her we were expecting....she said "I hope to God you are getting another dog and are not pregnant". Aren't mothers in law grand??? My sister was going to our house after she was done with work to see the new addition & help with the introductions to the boys.

There was some concern in my head when I saw the mom jump. I mean straight up nearly 4 feet. In my head I quickly reviewed the back yard...oh what had we done. She was tiny, white with a perfect little brown ear, and she went to Mike immediately. It truly was his dog from then on. The woman asked us questions about where the newly crowned Daisy would be living. I patted my belly and said "No one in the Davidson home starves". She watched Mike hold the then princess, and got a bit weepy. We left with Mike promising to send pictures. We started the 90 minute drive home.

I still have the first picture I took in the car of Mike holding the barely 2 pound Daisy. Black outlines each eye so they looked huge on her little face. I call her my Goth dog as her "lips" are outlined in black as well. All you could see was eyes and the brown ear but Mike was happy.

Now as I look at the troublesome little shit now, I understand how she got that way remembering the house she came in to. Mike didn't want to put her down into the maelstrom of black. I have a picture of me cradling her letting the boys smell her and her them. I can imagine in her little head a red WTF warning flashed and triggered the FIGHT mechanism....forgetting the flight, just the fight! She never turned back.

There are videos of her trying to come down the stairs and being PISSED I wouldn't help her. I am sure it just exacerbated her frustrations to have me laughing at her. She would run after the boys as they chased balls always too small, bitching as loud as she could at me when they wouldn't allow her to play.

At this point the boys were in the guest room all day. As I did with Bo, I kept Daisy in my bathroom. I figure any mess she would make on the tile floor would be easily cleaned. She HATED not being with the boys. I could hear in her head "I AM NOT THE BABY!". That first winter we would lose track of her. Any one who has trained a puppy knows that an unseen puppy is a pooping and peeing puppy. What we learned about Jacks is that they are colder than most dogs. She could easily be located laying as pathetically as the Matchstick Girl on a heat vent.

As she grew, her fiestiness continued. She would NOT be bossed by the boys. Bo was here first but SHE was here now. Regardless of these just being dogs, there is a pack hierarchy needed to be established. When it was just the boys, it seemed to be a non issue....with Daisy it was on the agenda...DAILY.

Now at 3 she is what she is...an opinionated, nervous, and attention seeking pushy broad....OH MY...who's dog is she???? Let me tell you. Mike leaves for work at 5. He gets up and lets the dogs out. When they come in, Bo goes under the blankets for warmth....Luke lays on Mike's pillow....Daisy lollygags as Mike showers waiting to follow him as he dresses. She waits in the kitchen as he gets ready to leave then stands at the front window and watches him leave. THEN she comes to bed. Mike has his dog.

Strange little habit Mike's dog has. When we fight, yah like you don't, Daisy reprimands Mike when he yells. All 12 pounds of her gets right up in it and barks "Leave my Momma alone!". I will say that at times it truly has stopped the fight as we are both laughing at her insistence. Mike is perplexed. But I reiterate that I am the alpha dog...I am the feeder, the caregiver and the enforcer...so she protects me. She is his dog but reports to me in the pack. I LOVE THIS. Mike still says he is the alpha dog....YES YOU ARE HONEY...ask Daisy!

Be great to you!
H