With My Dogs By My Side: Thanksgiving 2011

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I have so much to be thankful for that I could never list it all here. But, naturally, I'll try.

I'm thankful for Eric. (Who, by the way, is blogging now.) I'll keep it short, but that man is my best friend. And I'm marrying him. He gets me, I get him, he makes me laugh so much, he takes care of me better than anyone ever could. He is such a pain in my ass, and I would trade it for absolutely nothing in the world.

I'm thankful for Violet. I don't know how I was ever without a Collie, and my world would be a less bright and vibrant place without her in it.

I'm thankful for Piper. Like Violet, I can't imagine how we were ever without her stoic, silly, serious self. Our co-pilot, Violet's best friend.

I'm thankful for Dewey. He's the token mutt that we never knew we needed until he came along and just fit in like he'd always been there. He's the easiest puppy I've ever raised, thank God.

I'm thankful for my parents and stepmother.

I'm thankful for my grandparents.

I'm thankful for my brothers and sister and brother in law.

I'm thankful for my sweet nephews.

I'm thankful for my upcoming-in-laws.

I'm thankful for the opportunity to start school in January.

I'm thankful for the time to pursue my hobbies - scrapbooking, photography, cooking, baking, reading, Sims, dog training...

I'm thankful for volunteer opportunities.

I'm thankful that we have a car that works.

I'm thankful for my friends.

I'm thankful for my health, and the health of my loved ones.

And since this is a dog-centered blog - holy meatballs I'm thankful for how the dogs behaved yesterday. It was their first big gathering, and Piper's just getting over her reactivity turbulence and Violet's just coming out of her intense, knock-you-over teenage exuberance, and the house was crammed full of people and food and a very energetic child...and we decided to go ahead and leave all 5 dogs roaming freely and hope for the best. (Well, semi-freely - Piper started out on a leash and Gentle Leader hooked to Eric's belt loop, but was quickly released for good behavior.) And it went perfectly. Violet didn't bark once (okay, once - but it was literally one bark), was impervious to any chaos, settled down with a bone. Slept through most of dinner. Let the 8 year old smoosh her against the back of the couch, lay on her, hug her around the neck, put a tiara on her head, anything. I've never been prouder. Piper was equally flawless. She sat calmly by Eric's side through dinner, was reserved but calm with Cassie (8 year old), sat like an angel for pictures in front of the tree. (These weirdos put up their Christmas stuff on Thanksgiving, after dinner.) She didn't have a single flicker of a second of issues with the behavioral problems we've been working through. Dewey, who tends to be just slightly skittish around children, was perfect with Cassie, settled into his open crate to nap during dinner, didn't have a single accident, chewing incident, nothing - he's 16 weeks old. It went off without one single hitch.

This morning we took Piper to Petsmart at 7am for Black Friday. We got there at about 6:55, 5 minutes before opening, and spent a little time in an extremely civilized, friendly line of about 15 people outside. It was very chill in the store, we got a couple dog beds, new collars for all, sweaters for Dewey, a bunch of toys, a Collie Christmas tree ornament, a velvet Christmas collar for Violet, for super super cheap. It was fun and stress-free, and the dogs' Christmas shopping is so done.