A Pampered Pooch?

Last night Jeff sent me an article to read. The article is about a marriage in jeopardy due to the amount of love and attention a wife gives to her dog, while neglecting her husband. Can you believe it? This woman does everything for her dog, devoting all of her free time to pampering her pooch. Read about it by clicking here.

Jeff tried to tell me that I cater to Shea in a similar this lady does. I find that claim preposterous! Sure, I love the big guy, and I may spoil him slightly, but I have my limitations. I do not set out gourmet meals for my dog, I don't make a bed for him, and I don't dress him up. I simply try to make his life a pleasant one. The only way I feel to know that I have succeeded in doing that is by the smile he so often wears on his beautiful puppy face.

This pampering issue came back to haunt me when I got home from work today. Shea was curled up in the corner of his crate. I didn't think anything of it until I let him out and he ran to the door and curled up again. Then, out of nowhere a loud beep echoed through the house followed by a woman's voice screaming, "low battery!" It scared the bejesus out of me. I can imagine that is why Shea was so flustered. When I called him over to me, he sat directly on my feet and I could feel that his body was shaking with fear. This is where I wonder if Jeff is write about comparing me to the woman in the article. I climbed up and tried to disassemble the smoke detector. Since the battery was low, according to the Goddess of smoke detectors, I figured if I took the battery out, the thing would shut off.

It didn't. Her ear piercing voice rang through the house again, just as I had finished telling Shea that the awfulness was over. She made a liar of me and a wuss of my dog. He went off to sulk in a pile of patheticness again.

I felt so awful. Nobody should have to see their dog this scared. So, to lift his spirits, I took him out for a long romp at the park. Was this being an extreme pet owner? Was I over coddling him? I don't think so, I just wanted to get him out of the environment that was painful for him.

I started to question myself again at 7:00. I had planned to go to the mall at 5:00 to pick up some things I need. I hadn't left because I wanted to wait until my uncle got home to stay home with Shea. I didn't want to leave him with the smoke detector scaring him. I searched high and low for a new 9-volt battery to no avail. At 7:00 I decided I had no choice but to leave my best big guy alone with the awful noises.

My feelings of guilt only heightened when I spoke to my mother and she got very upset. She wished I had called her earlier so she could have come stayed with Shea. What a dog lover she is! Ha! Anyways, by the time I got home, my uncle was home and had the smoke detector fixed. Shea was back to his normal, smiling self.

Do you think I may have a Shea-pampering problem? It's not like I would sacrifice time with Jeff to overly accommodate Shea. Right now, Shea's all I got!