Dumb dog.

We have a regular old menagerie at the raisingmommy household. Aside from the resident fish, cats, and dog, we have an additional visitor: my brothers cuddly canine, Teddy.

My parents were taking care of Teddy while Mike was away, but then they too left on vacation; so we acquired dog-sitting responsibilities. Dad dropped Teddy, leash, bed, and food, off- and departed with a warning "He needs a lot of attention!"

Teddy and Lucy were already friends, but this much together time has resulted in some initial anarchy; Teddy didn't want to realize his proper place in the hierarchy. First, he didn't want to listen to me; but since he is a small dog, I forced him belly up and had a little conversation about that. Then he started growling at the girls; so after a little yelling and another belly up conversation, he seemed to understand. Then he decided to pull rank on Lucy, but Lucy didn't think that was a good idea either, and pretty effectively put Teddy in his place. Now Teddy spends his days harassing the cats; and so far, they run from him. I suspect that eventually they'll turn and fight, and Teddy will learn- as we humans have- that the cats have their own hierarchy; Them, and Everyone Else.

All of this was a bit hard to take, and Teddy didn't take it well. He showed me- by pooping in my kitchen. And in Cosette's room. And Greg's office. He also has a frustrating and disgusting habit of taking the cat poop out of the litter box and dragging it around the house. This morning, when I was dressed and ready to go to work, I walked downstairs and was met with a horrible stench. Someone had pooped somewhere… and I had a pretty good idea who. I followed my nose to a mysterious pile smack in the middle of my gorgeous living room oriental rug. The smell was overwhelmingly poop… but the appearance was of throwup. I shouted in disgust and tried not to throw up myself, and went for cleaning supplies.

Two minutes later I heard an equally disgusted shout from upstairs, from Greg. And then he shouted all the way from the third floor: "you know why that throw up smells like poop? Because Teddy must have eaten the cat poop and then thrown it up again!"

Cute dog. Can't wait for him to leave.