Velcro Dogs

Is your dog nosy?  I mean, do they have a need to know exactly what you are doing at all times?  No!? You must not have keeshonden then.  They have got to be the most inquisitive breed there is.  If something is going on, they want to know about it.

My mother passed away in May.  Since then, we have had to go through the house, sort everything for the estate sale, have an estate sale, clear out the house, and do some renovation and updating so we will hopefully be able to sell the house.  During most of this, the dogs have had to stay confined either to a particular area in the house, or outside.  At the time of the estate sale, we put their crates outside under the tree and they stayed there a lot of the time.  We had things for sale in literally every room of the house and kept the front door open most of the time.  We were right to be worried about them.  Someone walked off with their food bowls!  Who does that sort of thing?  First of all, who steals from an estate sale anyway?  Second, does anyone really need used dog food bowls?  They were covered with dog slobber.  I just hope that whoever took them at least washed them before using.

After the sale, and after we pretty much emptied the house of the contents, we went to work on the house itself.  We hired a contractor and his crew to help.  There was wallpaper on top of wallpaper all dating back to the 60's.  There was paneling that needed to come down.  We ripped up all the carpet and updated the master bath.  (no more green counter!)  We removed a wall in the garage that covered the garage door and made it into a garage again.  Because of the debris on the floors (nails, screws, splinters from the paneling) and the dust from sanding the sheetrock, not to mention the wall texture and the paint, we couldn't let them loose in the house.  

They loved the back yard there.  It is all grass with a very large apple tree for shade.  It did get a bit warm at times, but there is no air conditioning in the house, so they were probably cooler outside.  The workers would all talk to them through the windows and play with them on breaks.  Of course, they had to know what was going on inside.  If we went into another room, they would follow and peek in to see what we were doing.  

After we finished with the garage, we pretty much lived in there.  We slept on an air mattress that we moved room to room depending on what was going on in each room at the time.  The dogs loved being in the garage with us while we were resting after a long day of work.  But, from there, they couldn't see into any of the other rooms.  So, they would want out so they could run around and look into the windows.  

I think they are happy to be home.  I know I am.  Basically we were away from home for about 5 months.  I don't know how those people that have vacation homes do it.  When we were there, I always had home in the back of my mind, wondering if the yard was doing okay, etc.  When we would come home (usually on weekends) to get mail, etc. I thought about that house.  

I am glad to say that we are finished.  Except for the carpet installation, but that is a story for another day.  It has a new master bath, all new paint and new carpet.  It is in a very nice neighborhood with a dog friendly yard.  I hope somebody loves it as much as we did while growing up.