Our dog got a haircut today

Disclaimer: This, alas, is not our dog, nor our lovely friend. Boo-hoo. They're both cute though!

Yep, I know. "Dog gets a haircut" doesn't sound like a great lead in to a poly topic, does it? Wait for it...

You see, our smallest dog, Donna, is a half lab, half Scottie mix. Over the past 8 months, she's grown out about 4 inches of wavy fur, which, with her long body and stumpy little legs, has been leaving her looking like a sea otter with a bad hair day. So, I took her in and got her clipped, bathed, and had her nails trimmed.

When I brought her home, our other pup, Bella, who had been moping around the house missing her "sister", was freaked out. She didn't even recognize Donna, her constant companion since infancy! This stranger was sleek, smelled different, and Bella was absolutely convinced that I'd brought home a new dog that needed to be shown who the boss was! She spent the next hour or so knocking Donna down and standing over her, or with her nose buried by Donna's tail, as it slowly began to dawn on her that this was, in fact, the same dog she knows and mostly loves.

In the same way, it can be pretty off-putting when our partner(s) go through major changes, changes that can lead us to believe that maybe this isn't the same person we've known all this time, that they don't know what the rules are, and will need to be shown the ropes. When it finally becomes apparent that, although some things look different, they still smell the same underneath it all, changes are easier to relax into.

In addition, being able to see our partner(s) in a different light can be transformational within existing relationships. When you break free from patterns and assumptions, it clears the way for additional growth to happen, and to appreciate different facets that might have been previously hidden.

We all need a new look on occasion, don't you think?

Puppy Ambush

POLYGESTALT REPORTING:

And now we enter the minds of our puppies...

Bella: "I say we make our move to take out the bald one."

Donna: "Yeah, he's always scolding us when we go potty on the carpet. What's that about anyway? Doesn't he understand it's cold and wet outside this time of year?"

Bella: "Agreed. So, here's the plan. We act like we're playing hard, minding our own business--"

Donna: "Ooh! I love tooth-wrestling! Just don't pull too hard on my ear again, that freakin' hurt."

Bella: "Yeah, yeah, no worries. Remember, that part is just the distraction. While he's sitting on the floor next to the couch, I'll jump up and start licking his head--"

Donna: "Ooh! Good idea! He doesn't seem to mind that, it'll lull him into a false sense of security!"

Bella: "Exactly! Then you jump into his lap, like you're still tracking me to get in another good bite. While he's paying attention to you, I'll whip around the right side of his head and try to bite off his nose. He'll be so shocked that you can then leap up and bite off his upper lip!"

Donna: "Mmmmm... *slurp* I can almost taste success!"

Bella: "Get your muzzle out of your butt and let's get this op under way."

==================

Needless to say, they executed their plan almost flawlessly! Only their relative lack of experience allowed me to get away with more of my nose and upper lip intact than they intended.

Since I couldn't banish or punish them too severely due to their tender age, the only recourse I had available to me Saturday night was to seek the comfort of an elixer to sooth my nerves --
"the hair of the dogs that bit me!" You see, just the prior day, I found a drink recipe for a drink called the "Bella Donna." So, I whipped up a batch for s1m0n, polyfulcrum and myself.

Here's the recipe:

2 tsp Sugar

2 oz Fresh Lemon Juice

Fill mixing glass with ice

2.5 oz Dark Rum

2.5 oz Amaretto

Shake. Strain into a chilled glass.

PUPPY POWER!

POLYGESTALT BARKS:

Tonight, we added two new additions to the family. Both of them are five-to-six week old puppies from different parents and neither are pure-bred.

BELLA (the light-colored one) is from a litter of puppies whose mom died one month after birthing them; her mom was abandoned at a nearby dog park. We suspect that she has some lab, german shepard and maybe some pit bull mixed into her.

DONNA (the black one) is from a litter of puppies where the father is a 100 pound lab and the mother is a small terrier. She's also the runt of the litter. So... who knows how big she'll get eventually.

And yeah, we like word play. :)

Main Entry: bel·la·don·na
Pronunciation: \ˌbe-lə-ˈdä-nə\
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian, literally, beautiful lady
Date: 1597

1 : an Old World poisonous plant (Atropa belladonna) of the nightshade family having purple or green bell-shaped flowers, glossy black berries, and root and leaves that yield atropine —called also deadly nightshade

2 : a medicinal extract (as atropine) from the belladonna plant