9 Years Old Today

Katya-Sitting Pretty
Originally uploaded by redamy.

Some people buy cars, lots of clothes, fancy jewelry, or furniture when they graduate from college. Me, I bought a dog. She was only $25 and that should have been a big clue.

We went to a rescue shelter. There were probably 2 dozen dogs of all different breeds at that shelter. There was one beagle mix standing on top of his dog house. Mark wanted that dog. I wanted the tiny little ball of black fuzz who was meekly curled up at my feet. She was a cocker spaniel/beagle mix according to the shelter owner. She was also only 8 weeks old. I wonder, now, what she had to be rescued from at such a young age. Perhaps she was the offspring of dogs already in the shelter. If that is the case, the owner has some explaining to do.

My Aunt Dianne, who often seems to be running her own rescue shelter, took one look at Katya and declared that she was going to be a lot bigger than 20-30lbs. Nonsense, I said, she's a cocker/beagle mix. There's no way she'll "grow into" those huge paws. My Aunt Dianne is a wise woman. She kept her peace but I know she's been silently laughing at me ever since.

Katya (the name is a common diminutive in German and Russian and I just picked it out of the air) grew into her paws. She weighs between 50-60 lbs depending on her diet and the time of year. She stands as tall as my parent's Australian shepherd. She bays at fire trucks, points naturally (though having been raised in a city she tends to point at motorcycles and squirrels more than birds), and has a long feathered tail. She is, truly, a mut- if mut is short for "mutant freak".

Katya is a difficult creature to live with. She can be cuddly, but she's usually too rambunctious to really cuddle up with. She's never so much as growled at Ethan, even when he pulls on her tail, but she's been known to knock him down while they play. She loves to chase balls but refuses to bring them back. She digs- constantly. We've tried every manner of training to prevent the digging but nothing has worked. And- this is hard to admit on a public site- she humps pillows. She's a spayed FEMALE dog and she humps pillows with gusto. It's disgusting and disturbing and will scar you for life should you ever witness it.

But for all that, I cannot imagine life without her. Even now when she's waking me up at 4am because she's thirsty or chewing up the one pair of pantyhose I could actually fit into, I still love her. Just don't tell her that, it will go to her head.

Happy 9th Birthday, Katya!