Oscar the Grouch meets Mr. Roger's Neighborhood

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

I gotta say, most of the time things are pretty sweet around here. By sweet I don't mean like, "Dude,sweet!" but puppies and rainbows kind of sweet.  Wait, on second thought... with two teenage boys, sometimes it is more of the "Dude, sweet!" But, what I mean is, life with 3 kids and 2 dogs is 90% joy, 10% something less than joy.  Those are pretty good stats, I'd say.

Since Rooney came into our lives he has certainly only increased the joy.  Even with all of the trials of puppyhood, I feel as though we are riding out these days with patience and humor. How could moments like these not exponentially increase your happiness quota?

Please note: The Santa jammies and pink bicycle helmet are not necessarily relevant to this discussion, they merely increase the cuteness of this post.  I apologize for the indiscriminate and unabashed use of adorable children and puppies to manipulate the viewing audience.

And normally, even when the adorable scamp manages to slip out the backdoor with his blankie- that is supposed to remain in his crate- my reaction is to grab the camera rather than scold. (I am also even willing to overlook the fact that life with two dogs has left us with a backyard that will never be photographed for Home & Garden unless it is as a cautionary tale). 

But there are days... and here is where the discussion part comes in, because I'm hoping I'm not the only one...

Yes, there are days.. and yesterday was one of those days when this adorable pup, whom I love beyond all reason...

...had all of the behavior, mannerisms and personality of something more like this...

And I, someone who works very hard to maintain a sense of humor in the face of chaos.  Someone who fancies herself a bit of a modern day Mary Poppins, singing included, found herself spitting out words like, "What is wrong with you today!" and unintelligible sounds like, "Aaargh! Grrr! AAACK!" and nary a word about a Spoonful of Sugar or how Supercalafragilistic everything is.

In fact, rather than looking like a put together, slightly uptight, lovely Julie Andrews... I looked more like this:

Please... I know this site is full of true blue Doodle lovers...true blue dog lovers.... The level of dedication, time and affection I see poured out on this site is truly inspiring to me.  And on most days, I am right there with you.  Today, I am right there with you.  But, yesterday...I admit, I was a little grouchy with these furry members of my household.

Please tell me you have those days too. Or, could you at least fib a little and say you do?

P.S. If you could indulge me in one more photo... Reagan is getting really jealous about all the press Rooney receives.  I'm tired of hearing all the "chopped liver" comments and how he's "been around for 8 years and nobody ever wrote a blog about me..."  So, I give you the Old Man himself, our Reagan.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Well, 1st let me say "I love the Old Man Reagan", he is so sweet!  2nd, your photos are adorable, but last, I kept waiting for examples of what caused this terrible day!  Right now I think the jury is still out on if the doggies were being bad or if Momma was just having a bad day, or who knows, maybe it was those teenagers!  These doggies look awfully sweet to me to be responsible for anything that even remotely turned Momma into the Taz!  I think we need some examples!

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

Lucy and Sophie's Mom- Okay, okay.. you are probably right.  But, let's be clear, Rooney was the Tazmanian Devil- I was just Oscar the Grouch.  I don't have enough energy or the right equilibrium to spin around in circles.

I think I am a bit spoiled by a puppy who falls on the more mellow side of the spectrum.  Most days he pretty much lies around all morning just getting up to change spots, or he might chew on a toy for a bit.  I usually take him with me when I drive my daughter to school (or we walk if the weather is nice) and that is enough of an outing for him in the early morning. He usually doesn't need a ton of activity until the early afternoon.  So, I'm guilty of being rather attached to that pattern which is why...yesterday, when he was super high energy in the morning (wouldn't settle down, under foot, tormenting Reagan by nipping at his ears, whining when I was trying to get my daughter ready, barking every time there was the sound of a doorbell on TV etc...) it was making me a little crazy.  However, I tried to roll with it and took him for a morning walk which I don't usually need to do since he's generally pretty lazy in the mornings.  Even after that, the high energy, restless behavior continued. Finally I took him for a LONG, very brisk walk in the afternoon and he rested a bit after that.  But as soon as the kids came home, he was back to TAZ behavior.  Counter surfing, oven mitts in the yard...more tormenting of Reagan...over-exuberant play with my daughter...and then the final straw of the day came when my daughter discovered he had shredded a drawing she had made.. She was in tears and I seriously considered joining her.

Today, we seem to be back to normal.  He's snoozing peacefully and has only barked once at a doorbell on TV (hopefully someday he will learn we really don't get that many daytime visitors...)

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

Oh, and I forgot the REAL final straw... At 8:30pm last night I hear my daughter call up the stairs, "Ummm.. Mom? Rooney just knocked over the water bowl..."  My husband had just re-filled it.  Grrrrr....

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Wonder if there was a full moon yesterday ... it was a particularly bad barking day here as well.  We have been working on barking a lot lately and they have been doing really well.  However, yesterday, not so much.  It is funny how they can't shred something that doesn't really matter.  So sorry for your daughter's picture. 

[Michelle Motorola]

yesterday was also a pretty wicked day in my house hold. I thought it was just because of the weather, "thunder storms" over here, but obviously that wasnt the case if i wasnt the only one!

in fact Chloe and i basically have the same morning schedule as Lori with the lazy mornings and yesterday was nuts!! i dont even think she napped at all yesterday. Man o man shes back to the schedule today thank goodness

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

Same here, Michelle. In fact, Rooney seems extra sleepy today so maybe he wore himself out with all of his shenanigans yesterday. Maybe there was something in the moon, or tides, or air, or something yesterday!

[Sally]

the post just made me smile. i would read a book if you authored it.

Both the "old man" and the pup are adorable.

I think we tend to forget the 10% devil in our doods because, well, they do bring us that 90% joy. Duncan is 3 1/2 and no longer putting me through the ringer with his puppy antics, but i tend to find myself frustrated when he pulls on the leash. Especially when it's to chase a squirrel because i KNOW i've got no chance in hell to get him to stop. Yesterday as we were walking at the park (he was off leash) Duncan was such an angel. Staying right at my side and often looking up at me for affirmation that he was doing superbly. But then, a cute little bunny appeared....Let's just say "stay" and "leave it" meant a whole lotta nothing! Thank god Duncan is "dainty" and doesn't like puddles or mud. So he stopped when he couldn't get past. 

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

Thank you, Sally!  This is what I needed to hear! An admission from a true blue Doodle lover that there are moments of frustrations- and perhaps even grouchiness- every once in awhile. 

And let me say also say that I'm super impressed to hear how well Duncan does off leash.  We are not anywhere near attempting any off leash jaunts with Rooney yet and sometimes I wonder if we will ever get there.  I hope so!

[Sally]

oh and if it makes your daughter feel any better about her drawing becoming confetti, when duncan was less than a year old i came home to similar confetti. He had knocked down all the birthday cards i had displayed on the table and went to town with them. I think i have a photo of it on my page...

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

Here is the funny, ironic, part of that story... I tried to convince my daughter that Rooney must have been jealous because her drawing had been of a bunch of Doodle puppies that she had fallen in love with on a breeder's website.  :-) The breeder had assigned each of the pups names from My Little Pony and my daughter just loves them.  She had made this picture with each puppy in its own frame with the name of each one.  It was really cute...

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

Cooper chewed up my birthday cards before I had even opened them one year (the landlord had slid them under our door rather than leaving them in the communal laundry room as asked). One of then had a bill in it we had to stick back together and take to the bank... there was still a corner missing but they gave us a new one! One card had a paint footprint in it from my then baby niece - needless to say that got stuck back together

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Awwww!  Cute blog.  Reagan and our Gordie could form a non-doodle club.  Gordie also is eight and the doods are only four.  He definitely grumbles chopped liver comments under his breath.