MAJOR PAINS

Let me tell you a story about a man and his need for a dog...

For those of you that know me I am not a animal lover to say the least; however a few years ago I gave in and decided to get our kids a puppy for Christmas. This didn't turn out so well and the cute, expensive puppy was gone six weeks later.

During the last month Dan decided it was time for a new family dog, after much begging and pleading I gave in again on a trial basis only. You see we were up in Park City shopping at the outlet stores, when I asked my kids if they wanted to go the the pet store (this is something we always let them do during our shopping excursions as they love to go in and see the animals and it keeps them happy during our shopping trip). Dan for some reason thought this meant let's get a dog, it was your idea to go to the pet store. While in the pet store we found a boxer named Major. Dan of course fell in love and wanted to adopt him on the spot. During the remainder of our shopping trip he kept repeating let's go back into the pet store and adopt major. (He was almost like a little kid, because I kept telling him no and that I wasn't ready for a dog and he kept asking)

We left Park City without the dog; however as the week went on, Dan continued to ask about the dog, he even called the pet store to find out more about him. Every time we had a moment, he would bring up the dog. He told me how Major was abused and was such a mellow dog and that he was house trained and this would be the perfect dog for our family. He even went on to tell me how the pet store would allow you to take the dog home and foster him to see if he would be a good fit for our family and if we did foster him he came with everything, including food and a kennel. Finally a gave in and said we could foster him. So over Easter weekend he went up to Park City to get the dog and brought Major home to surprise the kids. Of course he didn't come with a kennel, so off to the pet store we went to get supplies for the "foster dog." After which the kids took him out on walks around the neighborhood and were so excited about their new dog!

This is where the "Major Pains" began... After having the dog for about 5 hours, Dan and I left for the Hale Theater while the kids were at home and Lexi Pike came over to babysit. Jaxson was outside with the dog, who was tied up, when the dog got out of his collar and dashed off. Lexi went chasing him down the street, all the way to the model and couldn't catch him. She came back to the house and called her parents, called my parents who were out for the evening so ended up speaking with my brother who was in town for the weekend. All of them went out in different cars looking for the dog. My brother called me just as we were walking into the theater to give us the news of the dog being lost. We then called Lexi, who started crying along with Madi and we decided to come home to look for the dog. By this time it was raining and starting to get dark. (Although I am not a dog person, I did feel bad for the dog being lost and not knowing where to go). Dan continued to look for the dog for hours, even in the dark with a flashlight.

The following morning Dan went out again looking for the dog and posting lost dog flyer's all around the community. He called the pet store to inform them the dog was lost, and they were not pleased. The manager of the store even stated she would be coming down that afternoon to help look for the dog. While in church Dan received a phone call from the pet store stating the Riverton Animal Shelter had the dog and that he was picked up last night. Because is was Easter, they were closed and we could pick him up tomorrow. They were able to figure out who he belong to because of his micro-chip.

After paying a fee to get the dog out of the shelter, Dan brought Major home again that evening. We decided to keep him a couple extra days because we really didn't get the chance to get to know the dog over the weekend because he was in the shelter. Dan worked late both Monday and Tuesday evening so I tried to befriend the dog by sitting next ot him and petting him. When Dan would get home he would take the dog for a walk and I would be in bed by the time he came home.

Major didn't bark or climb, but I was never really comfortable him Major in the house. After a few days Dan could tell I wasn't adjusting very well to the change and said he would take the dog back because he would rather have a happy wife then a happy dog. I hadn't made a final decision on the dog (although in my heart I had) when Major decided to bolt again.

Thursday morning when kids were leaving for school Major pushed his way out of the house through the front door and started running. I was late getting off to work because of a bad morning and happened to be leaving at the same time as the kids, when Dan ran out the door chasing the dog. Before I could get in the car, Dan was yelling at me to give him the keys. He asked me which way he went and he drove off in a panic after the dog. Madi was crying because she thought it was her fault and I told her it was OK and that Daddy would find the dog, not to worry and to go to school. After several minutes, Dan came back with no dog. He knew I needed to leave for work, so he came back for Reagan and his car. Needless to say tensions were high and I started yelling at him, to just get rid of the stupid dog and that I was done!

Dan called me on my way to work to tell me that Reagan was so worried about me and just kept saying in the car over and over "Mommy sad, mommy crying," apparently I really upset her because my emotions were definitely on the surface when I left.

Dan continued to look for the dog for hours when he saw him on Redwood Road. He followed him with his hazards lights on and he created a line of traffic behind him. Every time he would get out of the car and call for Major he would run off again. So he called the South Jordan Animal Control to assist him in catching the dog. By the time they arrived with two vehicles a South Jordan police officer decided to help as well and they eventually caught the dog by cornering him with all the vehicles.

Later that day Major almost ran out the door again when our nanny was leaving for the day. Needless to say the dog went back to the pet store the following morning.

I'm still not a dog person and I don't think Dan can talk me into it ever again. What a crazy, wild and time consuming project Major was over the past week.