Our Canine Petty Tyrant

Scout, our Yorkshire Terrier/Shih Tzu daughter, was adopted last May when she was approximately ten weeks old. Scout was adorable and tiny—a lot like Joey’s girlfriend in Season Five of Friends—which was exactly what we were looking for in a puppy. (No. I did not KNOW that Joey’s tiny girlfriend was from Season Five. I looked it up. I was a fan, but with a lowercase f.)

Evidence of Scout’s adorable sass:

Eleven weeks old!

A few months after we brought Scout into our house, it occurred to me that the girls were going to return to school soon, and how on earth would I get freelance work done with a cute sassy dog pulling on my shoes? (And my HEART! Because wook at the widdle pahpee!!!)

Anyway. In August, we fell in love with another puppy named Scout, and to avoid confusion we renamed him Henry and paid the fee that enabled us to call him our son/brother.

Henry sleeps.

Henry is a Shih Tzu/Beagle/Brussels Griffon mix. It was estimated that he would top out at twenty pounds, and that was on the edge of Too Big, as we live in a teeny tiny house. (I sometimes have to walk outside just to change my mind! HA HA HA! I’m mostly kidding!) BUT, who could say no to that sweet little face? Not me!!!

Although the first few weeks were spent biting and growling and figuring out who was going to be the boss, it didn’t take long for Scout to realize that she loves her brother.

Scout's so happy to have a brother!

AND, here we are. Five months later. Scout is now weighing in at a whopping eighteen pounds, and Henry (who I assume is still growing?) weighs 38 pounds! 38 pounds! (Our chat style with Henry has gone from “Who’s a sweet little boy?” to “Henry! Who’s a big boy?! YOU are a BIG BOY!!!”)

Henry has been sleeping in the same crate since the day we got him. It’s entirely too small. Sure, he can duck down and go inside and (barely, just barely) turn around, but I’ve noticed that the nights are growing shorter because he gets uncomfortable all folded up. Also, he spends a LOT of time stretching out when he exits the crate in the morning.

This is becoming a long story, which really wasn’t my intention. Yesterday I was all, “Let me bring you down by singing a song about cancer.” Today? My dogs! Let me tell you about my dogs and what size they are! Oh! It gets better! My kids are participating in the American Heart Association’s Jump Rope For Heart Program. If you want to donate to their personal page, you can go here! They will love you for it! (They tend to not get excited about fundraisers. This one is different. They love this one.)

Back to my story, and let’s pick up the pace! Last week I found a big dog crate online! Free shipping! Thirty dollars off the manufacturer’s suggested retail price! I ordered it for Henry, and it arrived today!

As you can see, Henry was VERY excited about the new crate!

New Digs!

He went in. He came out. He went in again. He came out again. Scout sensed Henry’s excitement and decided to get in on it.

Not your house.

Henry politely asked Scout to cease and desist.

So she killed him.

Defending the House

Seriously. Look at her face!

Shock and Awe

Jeff’s boss once referred to a particular work situation as a goat rodeo.
I want to have “Goat Rodeo” stenciled on our family room wall. ‘ ‘ ‘text/javascript’>

17 thoughts on “Our Canine Petty Tyrant”

  1. We went through the too small crate thing with Hooper. Eventually, he didn’t really need the crate. But I do get a little sad and guilty feeling whenever I think about the time he spent in the to-small-crate.

  2. I’m still weeping from the cuteness of the puppy pictures. Scout’s even cute when she snarls.

  3. Goat rodeo? Seriously?? I am so using that. And I have three boys, two dogs, two cats, a fish and a husband. All under one roof!

    Maybe you could be the Best Little Goat Rodeo in the Midwest and I can have the Best Little Goat Rodeo in the East? You know? Like the witches.

  4. LOVE this post!! I’m usually a lurker, but wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed. Your pups are adorable. We have a Yorkie-Bishon mix named Guinness, and he looks just like Scout when he bares his teeth (so fierce, right?). Love your blog; please keep writing.

  5. I am a lurker although I think you are friends with one of my real life friends…. anyway, have you heard “The Goat Rodeo Sessions”? Love reading your posts!

  6. There must be something wrong with me because I read “so she killed him,” and then I looked at that picture and laughed out loud. And then my 110 pound dog looked at me as if I had lost my mind, but he doesn’t have any room to talk because he licks the couch on a regular basis. Who’s crazy now, giant dog?!?

    In picture #3, Scout looks like an anime character and Henry looks like a rug. I love it when dogs lay like that. Who’s a furry puppy pelt! You are! (well, not YOU. Ok this comment is weird enough.)

  7. I have a 30 lb 10 month old. Son. Human son. (Our other son was 32 lbs at his THREE YEAR WELL CHILD CHECKUP.) Our baby boy feels the pain of the too-small crate every morning at 3 am when he stands in his crib, wails, and shakes the bars. I am thinking of getting him a metal cup to run back and forth over the bars, just so I can feel the full effect of his angst. Also, he’s 33 inches tall, so how much longer will he fit in the crib? Do they make extra long cribs? Doublewide cribs?

    Also, every morning when I drop them off at days care, I am thankful to have survived the goat rodeo of our morning. And then I go to work, which is like a break. Because that baby? Can’t. Walk. Needs to be carried to the car. And into daycare. I have a popeye arm.

  8. I retold this story as I showed my guys the pictures. We all got a great laugh from the last pic of Scout killing Henry. Those are some seriously cute pooches!

  9. Ha! I recently went through the getting a bigger house for Coco. And for the first few nights she pooped in it. OKAY THEN! Maybe TOO BIG! But now she is happy in there with room to stand up and turn around (and get down and boogie!) so all is well.

    And, holy F, 38 pounds?! Coco just hit 14 and I think she seems HUGE! Of course she was not even 5lbs when I got her so it is all relative.

  10. Aw! Bitey-face…. I think all dogs love a good game of bitey-face. My dog often loses to his German Shepherd friends because he has looser face skin so he yells uncle when they have a good hold of it.

  11. I love them!!!

    Sometimes I feel inadequate but now I really do. How do you manage with two dogs? Forget the kids–the DOGS! Do you have secret live in help like Pioneer Woman?

  12. So cute! I, too, have a very big dog in a very small house. We had 2 but one had to go to Kevin ( per my 4 year old Kevin is in the sky). It is crowded! My house, I mean. How is your ankle? That is great that the girls are participating in a charity fund-raiser, we just had a heart walk here.

Comments are closed.