What have I done?

Yesterday I went to my vet's office to adopt a dog.  I had met her last week, and she was sweet and friendly.  Adorable.  Quiet.  Wanted tummy rubs.

The sweetness lasted until we got half way home in the car.  Then amazing, scary noises started coming out of her.  Not dog noises.  Crazy noises.  Halfway between snarling, screaming, and an asthma attack.  When I got her into the house, she continued shrieking.  And demanding.  As soon as she found out about our sofas, she determined that she wanted to be on them.  And she wanted US to be on them.  Petting her.  Or she'd yell at us.

"What have I gotten myself into?" I thought.  For one thing, she just had abdominal surgery, so she needs to be kept calm and quiet.  She is neither calm nor quiet.  She is a little whirlwind of demands and needs.

For another, I have destroyed any semblance of serenity in our household.  If you don't count Nazca, we were all pretty well adjusted and used to our routine.  Now, routine?  No.  We have a tiny boss insisting we do things on her schedule.  OR ELSE.

By the way, if she is barking at you in that "I need to go outside" kind of way?  There is no "wait ten minutes".   Although she apparently made it through the night in her crate without making a mess, which amazed me.  Her bladder must be the size of a walnut.  How can she hold it that long?

If you ever saw the movie Gremlins, do you remember what happened when the Mogwai got to eat after midnight?  That's kind of what we have going on here.

You better pet me RIGHT NOW

To be fair, today is better than yesterday.  We're figuring each other out.  She seems to have no obedience training whatsoever, but she's housebroken (... pretty much) and she does respond to being called.  And she's stopped freaking out (.. as much) if we're not in the same room with her.

The plan is to have her sleep in a crate until a week or so after her surgery, when we're pretty sure she won't rip out any stitches trying to get in or out of bed.  Last night sleeping in the crate meant that she would shriek for about fifteen minutes any time she heard a noise.  It was a restful night.

Make fun of my hairdo one more time, bitz.

For such a little thing, she can make surprisingly loud noises.  And a wide variety of them, too.  Right now she is laying next to me on the floor, whining and groaning.  In addition to shrieking, she has this weird gargly talking thing she does.

Oh, and I forgot the best part.  She seems to be having some kind of allergy attack.  I don't know if it's the vernal apocalypse we're having outside, or if she's allergic to cats.  Either way, it sounds like she's drowning in mucous.  I gave her half a benadryl earlier, hoping that A) it would settle down the drainage, and B) it would make her sleepy.  So far only A has occurred.

And of course, she has started following JD around.  She is glued to him whenever he's available.  Why do all animals love JD?