
One week ago I brought home a new family member. Her name is Stella and she’s pictured here. She’s part beagle, part some other hound and 100 percent star.
This is the story of how Stella has woven her way into my family fabric.
I have two cats, Tucker and Skittles. At 15, Skittles, is the old lady and she doesn’t take any lip. She rules the roost with a silken paw. Tucker is rambunctious, vocal and affectionate. His favorite position is to sit on your chest, neatly in an attempt to strangle and paralyze you with his 18 pounds of love while drooling on your shoulder. So when I decided I wanted a dog for the first time in close to 25 years, I knew I had to plan carefully.
With my landlord’s approval, I fenced in a reasonable section of my backyard, bought a spiffy doghouse with yellow siding and green roof and purchased bedding and entertainment fitting for a beloved animal. I wasn’t thinking our addition would spend all her time outside, but I wanted a safe haven from interlopers and also to give her and my cats time to get adjusted to one another.
Stella, who showed her acting ability at the pound by shivering uncontrollably when I started to pass her cage (it was well over 70 degrees that day!), had other plans. She inspected the fence and house, declaring them to be certainly the finest she’d seen. But there was one little problem, she doesn’t consider herself a D-O-G and thus doesn’t have any desire to rusticate in a D-O-G-H-O-U-S-E.
First she dug her way out from under the fence. My fault for thinking she wouldn’t find out that low spot in the ground on the blind side of the house. Problem fixed with a little more fencing.
Second, she dug her way out from under the gate. This came yesterday in the middle of a drenching downpour that started while I was running errands. When I returned, she was covered from the tip of her nose to the end of her tail in red clay mixed with Tennessee mud.
Stella was unconcerned and marched right into the tub to wait for her servant (that would be me) to draw her bath. She even hastened to show me a spot I missed in the rinse cycle by raising her left leg and paw to expose the soapy underside.
Today she has only left the house for her constitutionals. I believe she and the cats have a meeting scheduled for later to discuss food choices and sleeping arrangements. I fear my castle may face a union uprising soon.
But never fear, I will retake control of my household. But if you don’t hear from me in 72 house, please feel free to send in a rescue team!
Trixie
http://www.trixiestilletto.com
Coming in November: Five Alarm Love




