Tuesday, May 29, 2012

"Door Art"

"Art" comes in diverse shapes and forms. Paintings. Sculptures. Poetry. Depending on people's personal perspectives, what makes something qualify as being "art" is a lengthier article than Santa Claus' "Naughty and Nice" list!! This I know. It all depends on perspective. Well, Rose created a bit of her own "art" the other evening.... And it was shockingly unexpected!! We had been invited to some dear friends' house for dinner. Rose stayed home. We had not seen these friends in several months. This family resides a nice drive away from us. Not quite in the country, but they do possess some land. We had already enjoyed our homemade pizza dinner, and were dispersed around their home, when it began pouring down rain. Literally. Pouring. Which is nothing out of the ordinary around here!! It rains a lot in our environment!! Then, a colossal KA-BOOM resounded. Thunder!! And it was so close to us!! I heard the thunder, its loud rumbling sound, then stood up from our friend's dining room table. I stared out their window, a combination of both thrill and worry washing over me. I love thunderstorms!! The louder they are, the better!! I love witnessing bolts of lightning stretch across ebony skies like veins within a human being's arm!! But, as I stared out our friend's window, awaiting brilliant flashes, my thoughts were unsettled. I worried. Is she alright? Rose hates storms!! Oh, I hope she's okay!! Should we go home to her? Then I prayed. Please Lord be with Rose. Give her peace. Keep this thunder away from home. Keep her out of trouble. Keep accidents at bay. Please Lord.... My thoughts spiraled out of control. I fret about Rose more than I prayed. After a short while, however, the storm passed, as they always do, and I was allowed to forget my worries. She's fine. She's fine. A little while later, we drove home. My fretting instantaneously returned. I hope she's alright.... I should have known that something was amiss the very second we pulled into our driveway. I should have known.... Our Chevy minivan's engine still running, I stepped out its sliding doors. Rose was already baying!! As though she had been crying and carrying on for a seemingly vast span of time!! Rose never starts until I slam shut our minivan's door. Or turn my key. I unlocked our magnetic white front door. I turned its knob to step inside.... Or tried, at least!! The red throw rug which lies neatly in front of our door was flopped over. This would work as a fine barrier against any masterminded criminal!! Or me!! Oh, well. Rose sometimes decides to lie on that, instead of her comically-sized dog pillow. I just smiled at our flopped over throw rug. I was completely oblivious to the concept that a nearby thunderstorm passed through here. At first. But, soon, reality sunk in. I checked our great room carpet for any accidents. Nothing!! Then, my nostrils lead me to this tell-tale odor: Dog pooh. When you own a Beagle cross, I have learned, your "hound" nose gets some training!! And smells never lie. Sure enough, located in an unusual area, was pooh. Lots of poop. It was at least two different bowel movements!! My heart sank, emotions running deep. Hot guilt brewed within me like some coffee recipe at a cafe. Oh, I felt so horrible!! Why wasn't I there for her? She was all alone!! I would have been by her side the entire time!! Oh, poor baby!! She was all alone!! I reached into my left jeans pocket for an empty plastic bag. I picked Rose's pooh up. I disposed of it outside. No need to firmly, yet patiently scold Rose. For this was no accident!! She could not help it.... I was stepping back inside, when Rose bayed at me through our clear sliding glass door like some screaming, fit-pitching toddler. She wants my attention. I figured. "Just a minute, Babe, I gotta clean up your accident!!" I told her. Attention will have to wait. Sorry!! Before I could even think about disinfecting the accident's location, somebody said: "Your dog really, really needs you. She tried to get through your door...." What? I thought, images of "Marley & Me" resurfacing within my head. I was horrified. She chewed through the door like Marley chewed through basement walls.... Mentally, I cringed at this thought. I walked through our house and comforted a baying, obviously still frantic Rose. I will disinfect the accident's location later. It could wait. Rose needed me. She depended completely on my love right then, like some fussy babe. As I stroked Rose's velvet-soft fur, trying to calm her, making verbal "shhhhing" sounds, my eyes saw the hollow wooden bedroom door. Oh my gosh.... There were scratches on the bottom that looked somewhat like they had been produced from a wild bear cub!! Plus claw marks nearly halfway up our door!! "Oh my gosh!!" was all I could say. It is beautiful, with a twist of heartbreaking. "Door art". And I am nostalgic, knowing all too well that Rose will not live forever. I never want to replace that door!! Never. Immediately, I "played veterinarian". As poor Rose was baying on the top of her lungs, I gently pried open my little girl's mouth. I checked for fractured teeth. I inspected her gums. I checked Rose's claws for any signs of bleeding. I inspected her paw pads, expecting to find slivers. But Rose was still healthy, despite the door's damage!! Huge sigh of relief!! I later noticed that the "boy's bathroom" door, which leads to Rose's "safe haven" during loud noises also had some scratches. Dogs are very observant creatures, far smarter than even experts believe. There were claw marks, scratches clear up the hollow wooden "boy's bathroom" door. To its knob!! As if, in a panic, Rose thought: Mama turns that thing. How hard can it be? I've watched her turn that knob thousands of times!! But I can't open it!! I want in there!! There was also this visible trail of dried saliva on our laminate flooring. In the living room. Down our long hallway. In the kitchen. Down our short hallway, which leads to my bedroom. As resulted, her front legs were drenched in drool. Now, whenever I leave Rose behind, the "boy's bathroom" door stays open. And I fret. Because I cannot control our weather, especially during Spring. But Rose is not Marley. Thank God Rose is not Marley....     

28 comments:

Sketching with Dogs said...

Poor Rose, hope she is okay. It is awful for them when the weather is like that. Bridget is scared of storms too.
Lynne x

Bella Roxy & Macdui said...

Poor Rose...she must have been so frightened. Our door art tends to be nose art on the glass door.

Good idea to keep the doors open so Rose can find a safe place.

XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy

Finn said...

OH! There is a thunder shirt which keeps dog calm in storms, people on blogger swear by it! Finn was never scared of thunder, I don't know why. I hope everyone is better today!

Mary Lou said...

Lynne....
Thank-you for the comment!!
Rose recovered very quickly once I returned home!! She stepped off of my bed and curled up on her comically-sized dog pillow!! My resilient girl.... ;op

Mary Lou said...

Daisy, Bella & Roxy....
Thank-you for the comment!! And welcome back!! ;)
"Nose art on the glass door"? Yeah, we have some of that too!! Plus paw prints from both Rose and our cat!! ;op

Mary Lou said...

Finn....
Thank-you for the comment!!
I have heard of the thundershirt. Where? Hmmm.... Everywhere, it seems in the Blogging world!! But up until now I completely forgot about it!! Thank-you for reminding me about such a neat invention!! ;)
Rose recovered very quickly once I returned home!! She stepped off of "our" bed and curled up on her comically-sized dog pillow!! My resilient girl.... ;op

Remington said...

Poor Rose....my kitty brother Coleridge gets really scared too....

Mary Lou said...

Remington....
Thank-you for the comment!!
Yeah.... Our cat too gets really scared. She hides underneath things, like beds and couches!! ^..^

The Ladies of Beaglebratz Manor said...

Oh I'm glad to know that I am not the only dog-mom that worries (I even cancelled a trip to the grocery store) Shasta becomes a velcro dog when it starts storming around us - that day it wasn't yet but it was just predicted and I saw the radar with storms moving our way (Never did get much at all) - Shiloh sleeps right through it but Shasta - she'll bark at the loud clap of thunder from her hiding spot behind my legs. I didn't realize it but I believe like you do - their lives are short compared to ours so anything I can do to relieve some of that fear - I'm gonna do and to h@!! with what the trainers say. Shasta is my dog and I will do for her as I see fit. (Uh oh - I'm on a rant now - good thing I have to get bak to work - NOT REALLY!)
Kim

Mary Lou said...

Kim....
Thanks for commenting!!
Oh, Kim.... You are definitely not the only "dog-mom" that worries!! And neither am I!! Worrying comes with loving these beautiful four-legged creatures as much as we do!! That is not a negative thing!! ;op

Lauren @ Life With Desmond said...

Wow, this story sounds SOOOOO familiar! We had basically the exact same incident, only ours were due to separation anxiety. We have had to replace two doors, thanks to them being fully destroyed by Desmond. We can't seem to fix the door frames, though, without calling in a contractor, so it looks like those will be our reminders for quite some time. :-)

Mary Lou said...

Lauren....
Thank-you for the comment!!
Have you posted this story on your Blog? Complete with pictures of Desmomd's destruction....er...."art"? I would love to see and read it!! ;-}
And, there is nothing wrong with a lasting reminder!! ;op

Suka said...

So sorry for Rose! Glad she did not hurt herself and glad the house damage was not too severe.

A few years ago a stray showed up and we kept him. Silvius is the name we gave him and every once in a while he pops up on Suka's blog. Anyway, Silvius is terrified of any loud noise, not just storms. He has torn off five window screens, torn up the back sliding door screen, tore off two phone wires off the house, and many other things. He has really caused a lot of damage, and it seems to get worse with age. I am looking into crating him when I am gone because obviously leaving him outside is just destroying my house.

Belly rubs and hugs to Rose that she is feeling safe and secure again!

K and Suka

Mary Lou said...

K and Suka....
Thank-you for the comment!!
Wow.... Five window screens? Really? Five? The back sliding door screen? Two phone wires? Off the house? Oh my gosh.... That reminds me of a part from "Marley & Me": "We could have bought a small yacht with what we spent on our dog and all the things he destroyed. Then again, how many yachts wait by the door all day for your return?". Well said, John Grogan!! ;)
Rose recovered very quickly once I returned home!! She stepped off of "our" bed and curled up on her comically-sized dog pillow!! My resilient girl.... ;op

Lorenza said...

Sure she was stressed a lot!
Glad she was ok when you came back!
Take care
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza

Mary Lou said...

Lorenza....
Thank-you for the comment!!
Yeah.... She was "stressed a lot", my poor girl!! :-(
But, Rose recovered very quickly once I returned home!! She stepped off of "our" bed and curled up on her comically-sized dog pillow!! My resilient girl.... ;op

Unknown said...

Poor Rose, Eva is scared and stressed when it's raining heaving with thunders too. She never likes lightning as well as she knows once there is a lightning, thunder sure comes after it.

Mary Lou said...

Pricilla....
Thank-you for the comment!!
Rose freaks out during rainstorms, during which I do not comfort her!! Why? Because it is just rain!! We get a lot of that around here!! She can let me know if there is any thunder and lightning.... ;op

KSO said...

Oh no thank goodness she is alright, what a traumatic story!! You can't control the weather that's for sure so I can only hope Rose gets better about storms. Have a fun weekend!

Mary Lou said...

KSO....
Thank-you for the comment!!
I hope that Rose gets better about storms, too!! Unfortunately, however, from my experience and research, it will only progressively become worse as she ages.... :-(
Have a fun weekend, yourself!! ;op

Ruby said...

Oh, poor thing! We were out of town and missed all of the "excitement". I am glad she is okay, but so sorry she was so scared!!! Glad you took time just to take care of and love her!

Mary Lou said...

Ruby....
Thank-you for the comment!!
Yeah, Rose recovered very quickly once I returned home!! She stepped off of "our" bed and curled up on her comically-sized dog pillow!! My resilient girl.... ;op

Alison said...

Aww, poor Rose. My neighbors Golden Retriever, Sunny is the same way with storms and also sometimes leaves her "art" in the back bedroom.

We had a bad storm on Thursday and when it started to hail, I went next door while my neighbor was at work to check on Sunny. We have keys to each other's apartments, so I decided to just keep Sunny here with me and Zoe until the storm died down.

Mary Lou said...

Alison....
Thank-you for the comment!!
Yeah.... Hailstorms freak Rose out, too!! :-(
It was nice of you to care for Sunny during that bad storm!! I imagine Sunny enjoyed Zoe's companionship!! ;op

Bella Roxy & Macdui said...

Raelyn,

To turn off the word verifications.

Sign in (as usual) click the button that shows your comments, stats...etc (button between orange new post button and view blog button)

Click on Settings (list on left), then Post and comments.

In the middle of screen you will find Show word verification box. Click No. Then Save settings up in right hand corner.

Hope this helps.

XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & roxy

Mary Lou said...

Daisy, Bella & Roxy....
Thank-you for the comment!!
And I appreciate this!! I am such an idiot when electronics are concerned!! I will fix it promptly. ;op

Lauren @ Life With Desmond said...

Raelyn, I have blogged about Desmond's destruction in our house more times than I can count. :-)

Here's a link you may appreciate: http://www.lifewithdesmond.com/2011/07/tire-him-out-tuesdays-aka-my-dog-is.html

Mary Lou said...

Lauren....
Thank-you for the comment!!
I am actually in the process of pursuing the "Thundershirt". Seriously. So I read one of your older Blog posts just this morning!! How funny is that? However, I did not catch this one.... ;-}
Thank-you for sharing the link!! ;op