Suddenly *Not So* Single Journey

He’s a growing boy…

Author: thenicknick

This is what a five month old puppy-cow looks like.  Yes, Bishop has grown in the past few months.  The kids have had an opportunity to spend more time with him of late since being in The Bubble hasn’t been the gut-wrenching, tension laden experience it used to be.  Seems we have come to an understanding.  And part of that understanding is that Bishop needs his mommy and his kids as much as his mommy and his kids need him.

So this is how Rachel spent part of her New Year’s Eve, hanging out with Bishop.  Yes, he really does take up half the couch.  And yes, Rachel really was pleased to have him lounging all over her.  She was less pleased when it prompted a must-have-Benadryl allergic reaction later.  That’s when I was more pleased.  Benadryl causes drowsiness.  On the downside, Rachel even talks in her sleep.

To put it in better perspective for you…that’s Snickers.  (Yes, that Snickers, who took out my knee and nearly blew me up on more than one occasion.  Looks deceptively innocent, doesn’t he?)  Well, he’s a black lab.  And you can see that even though he’s full grown, Bishop, who is nowhere near full grown, is already the big dog on the block.

Bishop is so big in fact, that he can get into mischief the ordinary dog couldn’t.  For example, the other night, Sam called and asked if I’d be willing to spend some time with Bishop since he was still working and the poor puppy-cow had been locked in a kennel all day.  You can imagine my response.

me: Heck, yeah!

So Keenan and I went over.  And we brought some of the food for the New Year’s Eve bash.  I think you may have read that I had been baking cookies.  Yeah, another four dozen cookies from two different varieties, both of which require refrigeration of the dough prior to baking.  So…labor intensive.  And I’m not the biggest fan of cookie baking.  The only reason I do it at all is because I am a big fan of cookie eating…and there’s my constant bid for Mother of the Year.  (Good news!  New year, new opportunity!)

Well, Rachel was at a friend’s house…and it was the first time she would try out the new key after the lock change…and the key didn’t work…and it was cold and rainy…so I came home with Keenan to let her in.  Yup, we left the puppy-cow unattended.  Sam assured me he had always been good when left out, never really made a mess or was destructive.  I left the kids at home, returned to what I am now going to refer to as ‘the scene of the crime.’

Bishop was sitting by the door, eagerly awaiting my return.  We played.  We snuggled.  Sam returned and I made ready to leave.  He went in the kitchen to get a water.   Only then did I notice the aluminum foil on the ground.  And only then did I notice that the cookies were no longer on top of the microwave a good four and a half feet off the ground.  Nope.  There wasn’t so much as a crumb left.  Four dozen cookies.  Gone in what was probably a matter of minutes.

It’s a good thing I love that puppy-cow.  It’s a good thing I didn’t have my heart set on eating cookies.  Some might argue he was saving me from myself.

So, if we chalk everything up to a learning experience…what knowledge was gained from this?  Well, don’t leave food anywhere but inside a shut cupboard or inside a fridge with a baby Dane on the prowl.  Don’t leave the baby Dane unattended even for a moment.  And you probably should not leave me in charge of him at all.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 2nd, 2010 at 7:34 am and is filed under Bishop tales. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.