Einstein - Post bath

Einstein covered himself in mud outside. Now clean, and soaking wet, he is rubbing his body over every surface in the house.

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Sophia's story

Three years ago I took home a seven-pound, ball of fur and energy.

It was two days before I started by first job, which meant I had fulfilled my parents' requirements for me to get a dog: That I get a job that wouldn't require me to live at home.

My father, who had never owned a boy dog and thought they'd mark everything in the room, talked me out of adopting a 70-pound plott hound named Max that I walked every week at the Quad-City Animal Welfare Center. Max was later adopted, and with all the tiny places I've lived since graduating from college, it really is a good thing I didn't get such a large dog.

So I bought Sophia from a responsible breeder. She was the last one left from her litter and they called her Stormy, because to call her a handful was an understatement.


The first night I had her, I put her in a newborn baby sweater when we went outside to go to the bathroom because I didn't have a dog coat yet. I had to roll the sleeves up because they were too long.

The first time I left her alone for an hour, I came home to find her sitting in her crate covered in poop. When I showered to get ready for work the next day, I got out 15 minutes later to find the same scene. She was so used to being around other dogs and people all the time that whenever she was left alone she'd freak out, poop and throw herself around the crate until she exhausted herself.


So after reading several articles online and a making frantic call to my mother, I started vigorously playing with her before I had to leave until she fell asleep. Then I carefully placed her in her crate so I wouldn't wake her and put a Kong filled with peanut butter to distract her when she woke up and I was gone. It worked.


Sophia demanded to be the center of attention. When my husband and I started dating a few months after I got her, she jumped in between us during our first kiss. She peed on the bed multiple times to show she was ticked that she had to share. But she loves Adam and it was when I said just that when Sophia happily greeted him after he had gotten back from a trip that he told me he loved me for the first time.

Now that we've adopted Einstein and Lady, both older than her, there is no question that she is the alpha dog in the house. Whenever we pet another dog, Sophia comes running, to make sure she doesn't miss out on the love. And whenever she gets to sleep in the bed, she always sleeps on top of me, as if to say, "She was mine first."

But I couldn't imagine not having the little terror that forced me to be a cleaner person, lest she eat the shoes I left on the floor, the dog that knows all her commands, but chooses not to listen to them when I want her to come in from outside, and who usually beats dogs three times her size in a foot race at the dog park.

And if it weren't for Sophia, I wouldn't have gotten Lady so Sophia could have a friend, which then led me to become passionate about rescue dogs, adopt Einstein and foster Smokey and Molly. So really, the seven-pound ball of fur and energy started it all.

The kids strike again

The kids next door have escalated their habit of throwing trash over the fence to kicking out entire boards.

The hole was large enough for the dogs to get through, so I replaced the broken one and called my landlord. Maybe a call from him to their landlord might carry more weight since their mother only seemed annoyed with me when I brought over a handful of crap the kids tossed over a couple days ago.

I hate to be the pesky neighbor, but this is getting a little ridiculous.

Adventures with an expensive tummyache and a pet skunk

Sophia refused her fourth meal in as many days last night.

Normally she gobbles her food down as fast as possible and then tries to steal Einstein and Lady's food, so I knew something was wrong. She also reeked of fish food even though we don't have fish.

Since we've had an ongoing problem with the kids next door throwing trash and potentially hazardous objects over the fence, I couldn't be certain that she hadn't eaten anything that either could have gotten stuck on its way out or was toxic to her.

Previous experience has taught me that when a dog does eat something it's not supposed to, time is of the essence when it comes to getting it out, so I took her to the Animal Emergency Center of the Quad-Cities in Bettendorf.

While we were there, several other owners brought in animals you'd expect to see at an emergency veterinary clinic. There was a Doberman with a severed artery and a nine-year-old black Lab that also had stopped eating and had to be carried in by its owner.

Then there was a pet skunk. I wasn't sure I had heard correctly as the receptionist got off the phone with the owners when they called before bringing the skunk in. But sure enough, a few minutes later a young couple arrived holding a skunk like it was a baby.

The skunk was completely content to lie there, swaddled in its owners' arms. I think I've officially seen everything now.

Meanwhile, X-rays and blood work revealed that Sophia's intestines were inflamed and that her pancreatic levels were elevated, which means she either has a very expensive tummyache or she has pancreatitis. The latter diagnosis is unlikely because she doesn't have access to wild animal feces. Also, she's still young and of a good body weight, so she's not really a candidate to get that disease.

We were sent home with special food that I had to give her a little bit of every couple of hours, some anti-nausea pills and instructions to go to our regular vet for a pancreatitis test if Sophia wasn't back to normal by today.

This morning, she ate normally, which included an attempt to steal Einstein's food, and has kept it down so far. So, hopefully she just had one expensive tummyache because pancreatitis is not only serious, but it sounds like we'd be kissing our down-payment fund goodbye if she has it. I'll keep you all posted on how she's doing.

Sadie has a home, new name

My grandparents came out to visit and Sadie greeted them by crawling right up into my grandpa's lap and laying her head on his stomach.

That was about all it took for them to fall in love with her, fill out an adoption application and pick out a new name for her, Molly.

That was two weeks ago. She still needed to be spayed and updated on shots and my grandparents needed to get some doggie essentials since they haven't had one in two decades. But now she's completely vetted and officially crate trained, so I'll be bring her to them when I head home to the Chicago suburbs for a cousin's bridal shower tomorrow.

I've been keeping them posted on her trips to the vet and daily activities, and they seem more excited every time I talk to them. They're both retired so they'll be able to be home with her all day, which Molly will love. They've gotten her plenty of toys and a harness for walking.

I think Sophia will be happy that she can still play with Molly when we visit my grandparents, since the two of them have such a good time running around the yard and wrestling together.

More trouble with the kids next door

We've been having an ongoing issue with the kids next door. They hop the six-foot fence, they poke around in our mail box, they throw ice at the dogs and there's always a steady stream of trash coming into our yard from theirs.

I've talked with the kids and their mother on several occasions, but it never does any good. I just keep picking up the trash and crossing my fingers that they won't throw over anything that the dogs will eat and get sick from (which has happened in the past).

But last night as I chased Sophia around the yard to retrieve a can of Hawaiian Punch, I came across a large wooden chair leg with a screw sticking out of it. That was it. I'd had enough. I put all the trash in a bag and marched over to the neighbor's house. They were home but didn't answer so I called the police.

There is an officer assigned to our neighborhood and he called me back first thing this morning. I told him I really didn't know what else I could do and was wondering if there could be anything done on his end.

Turns out another police officer is my neighbor's landlord, and judging by the sympathetic tone the officer had as he said I shouldn't have to put up with the nuisance, I think my neighbor is going to be getting a call from her landlord. Hopefully a call from a cop who doubles as a landlord will be enough to get her kids to quit throwing dangerous objects into our yard.