D is for Dog, Of Which I Have Two

For a long time I had wanted a good-sized, strong and playful dog. Especially one that could play tug-of-war.

Now I own two very big Saint Bernard/ Australian Shepherd dogs. Even though they're not yet one year old, they're too big to be called puppies. One is a female and her name is Mello, and the other is a male named Yello. You guessed it, we named them after the soda: Mello Yello.

When we bought our dogs, they were little fluff balls and I thought they were cute..........I was deceived! Now our dogs are bigger than I am if they stand on their hind legs. They knock down fences, eat palm trees, grass, and water bottles ( the plastic ), and produce the grossest slobber/slime. On top of all of that, they go through a huge dog food bag in about two weeks!

In the morning we water our grass in the back yard. As soon as we turn on the water, Mello and Yello leap into the air, land right next to a sprinkler, and give themselves a shower. That's not so bad you might say and I would agree. It's what they do afterwards that I can't stand. They go and play in the dirt as a special gift to the unlucky kid who must turn off the water. (We tried putting up a chicken wire fence around our small used-to-be garden, but they just step over it. Mind you it's not a little fence! Now it's just dirt.....and their supply of ammo).  As soon as one of us opens the door they run over to us, wipe their faces on our pants, and give us a mud bath.

Don't get the wrong impression though, I love having two big dogs. I just don't like cleaning them (We really end up cleaning ourselves!), feeding them, or waking up to their whimpering and barking at 5:00 in the morning. But hey, who am I to complain? At least they play tug-of-war!