Marley & Me

I am living out my very own Marley & Me story.

Meet Hershey:

Hershey was a stray dog that showed up at our neighbor's house 1 year ago.  After no luck at finding her owner, we decided to adopt her.  Okay, I decided to adopt her.  Allen absolutely did not want a dog.  Ever.  But I spent my entire childhood rolling in the dirt with my dog.  {who looked a lot like Hershey, mind you} I was a huge dog lover my entire life.  Until I became a Mother.  Then dogs became, well...dogs to me. 

So when my neighbor called and said do you want this dog, my initial reaction was no!  However, when I saw Hershey walking down the street, I melted into a mushy version of my 12 year old self and completely caved in.  She was the cutest, sweetest little dog!  She's very smart, only barks if there's a reason, easy to train, loving, etc.  So what's the problem you ask?

Well, apparently, my family is not made up of dog lovers.  Allen: absolutely not.  Sydney: sorta, but seems to be nervous around dogs.  Garrett: too busy digging in the dirt and does not want a helper.  Me: not interested in playing with a dog since I sit and play Barbies, monster trucks, etc.  I like to feel like a grown up at some point in the day. 

And lets face it, a dog is like having another child.  And Allen had a vasectomy for a reason.  Two kids was enough!  I have enough mouths to feed, toes to wash, bottoms to wipe, poop issues to deal with, messes to clean, toys to fix, games to play...

So after a year of listening to my family gripe about Hershey a whole lot.  A year of tripping and falling in the holes she digs.  A year of her chewing up anything that gets left out.  {She once chewed up, swallowed & digested an entire plastic frisbee}  She has decided to kick it up a notch and has began digging out of the yard.  At first, she just ran to our neighbor's house, so at least we weren't worried about something bad happening.  But in the last week she has started running away.  I spent one afternoon calling the pound, the vet and driving around with the windows down calling her name, while Garrett echoed me in the back seat.  This circus that is our family plus a dog has just moved to the next level.  She even digs out when we are outside with her!  Talk about a slap in the face. 

So I just keep holding on to the dream, that my family and Hershey will suddenly just all get along.  But I'm starting to give up on the dream.  I don't want to be a quitter.  But I'm running out of patience and hope.