My Other Pandemic Project

The words immediately following that title were supposed to be about one of two endeavors:

Either I was going to add crown molding (or moulding, for you Grey Poupon people) to my hallway and foyer… OR get to work on my Dining Room Makeover…for which I actually have a real live, in-my-head plan with nearly all of the choices made.

And then I discovered I had an unhappy child.

I didn’t formally know until a few years ago, when a lovely elderly woman imparted this wisdom to me; but apparently:

“You’re only as happy as your least happy child.”

What? It wasn’t enough that I survived bullies and broken hearts, now I get to absorb their ADULT unhappiness? Where in the manual was THAT chapter?

Doeschie, our eldest, excitedly left the nest in June because she is co-director of a summer camp. With NY state still leading the COVID count at the time, she and her closest friends all kept verrrry tight bubbles and greatly restricted their activity… and then her best friend went AWOL. Sadly, she was soon shocked to discover it can be isolating to live on your own during a pandemic.

(No, her real name is not “Doesh.” Her given name is Margaret, but usually Maggie, then shortened to Mags, then elongated to Magadocious, then Docious, so most often Doesch, or Doeschie. Sorry, they don’t issue parenting licenses with the manual.)

There are certain solutions to certain problems, and SOMETIMES a four-legged solution is a good one when you have a void to fill and the desire to put in the work.

We began searching for puppies that would be available around the time her camp ended in August. We started by applying to area dog rescues and found that there was such high demand for dogs that none were available. Even most breeders said they had wait lists through 2021. Then, inexplicably, an affordable Lab breeder who doesn’t do wait lists popped up on Facebook. Mags slapped down her deposit and she and a friend went to pick out her puppy.

We all thought she’d likely have plenty of time on her hands because we believed that when Fall rolled around there was NO. WAY. that in-person school would resume in New York State.

BAHAHAHAHA….I crack me up.

Resume it did, right on time, five days a week.

Meet “Roland,” my new pandemic project:

Okay, he’s not entirely MY pandemic project. But generally, he’s my five-days-a-week, 7am – 4:15pm pandemic project.

Three dogs in one house? Kelly and Jack are NOT amused.

You know who is VERY amused? Yep, my formerly least happy child.

I don’t know if I’ll permanently serve as full-time doggie daycare, but while he is a young puppy I’m happy to help…plus he has brought lots of joy to everyone in the house and has certainly delivered plenty of Oxytocin with those puppy kisses. Also, I now need my rugs cleaned,

I mean, LOOK at this face!!!

Okay that’s a little misleading….because there is also this face:

…specifically those little razors at the bottom of his mouth.

One of the best things about Roland is that he is a VERRRY good…

when he’s sleeping…

or when he’s eating…

I should tell you that when Kelly was little, I was WOEFULLY unprepared for life with a labrador. There was a stage where she would tackle and tug (and by tug I mean rip) the clothes off of our boys, and I worried that we would be one of those families that has to rehome their pet.

It wasn’t Kelly’s fault. I had no idea what I was doing. I was SO out of my league.

Even with Jack, he’s little and so are his problems. But I wouldn’t call him well behaved.

We have higher hopes for Roland. Doesch picked him up when he was eight-weeks-old and a little over three months later we SEEM to have rounded the corner where things are manageable again. Perfect? No. Manageable? Hmmmyeah.

Frankly, we would NOT be at this point had it not been for McCann Dogs YouTube Channel.

Kayl McCann, Ken Steepe and company have posted an entire catalog of free and helpful videos to YouTube. I know we have a LOOOOONG way to go, but of all the MANY videos I’ve sampled on line, theirs were the most helpful and had the greatest impact.

Their content is SPOT on (Spot…haha, see what I did there?)

Jack is very interested in whatever I’m working on with Rolly. I’m pretty sure it has to do with the motivational treats. In fact, he and Kelly became SO interested in the treats that I had to move our “classes” to the back hall bathroom.

I taught him how to pick up his toys!

Now, If I can just teach him to vacuum!

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