She's done it again. I always considered Joey to be an exceptional dog for many reasons--remarkable good looks, beautiful lines, her alertness and intelligence, and most importantly, her athletic ability.
Building to 20 mile training runs never phased her. One of her nicknames is "Tigger," as she can spring up off the floor and touch my nose with her nose. (I'm 5-10, so it's as impressive as it is funny.) She made quick cuts with speed as she tore through the dog park, if she had thumbs and could dribble, she would put an Allen Iverson crossover to shame.
And speaking of Iverson, in the spirit of decent people who sometimes get caught up in trouble, Joey was asked not to come back to day care.
I know, you're instantly wondering what the little bitch did to get the boot. Usually this would involve a dog unable to get along with other dogs, a dog lacking in socialization, or maybe having some sort of dominance issues.
Not Joey. She had to be original.
The charge?
She was too athletic.
Miss Tigger figured out which gates and fences she could clear and apparently that height is over five feet now. She figured out how to escape from the kennel when she stayed over night and instead of letting all the dogs out, like a cool dog would, she tore around the place and got into some kibble that was being collected for the Pacific Pug Rescue.
She stole from underprivileged pugs.
And since she figured out what obstacles she could clear, she was starting to turn it into a game and do whatever she wanted.
A little tear of pride for my strong, independent girl...
But then the reminder that she's a dog and needs to follow the rules at day care because there are lots of dogs there of all sizes and the people at the day care were worried she was going to land wrong and hurt herself or land on a smaller dog and hurt one of them.
I didn't bother to voice my opinion that Joey is part cat and would always land on her feet.
But, I respected the folks there and their dedication to the safety of all the dogs in their care.
I think I now understand the shame of having your kid get kicked out of something. It's a little embarrassing for a moment and I needed the validation that my kid wasn't rotten to the core. "Is she good otherwise?" I asked as "THE CHAT" was wrapping up.
Thankfully, there was plenty of confirmation that she got along well with other dogs there. The humans said she was very sweet and they'd miss having her, they just worried about her safety. They even said they would provide a reference for her if needed at a new day care--with the recommendation that she be in a fully enclosed space. And they liked me. I made them cookies one time and wrote a thank you note after how helpful they were when Alli wasn't doing well and passed away.
We'll miss them, too. But the nice thing is that there are good people all over and many of them are attached to the dog world.
A few years ago, this news would have really upset me. I would have thrown myself into a puddle of negative thinking and fixated on what I'd done wrong to have a dog that got kicked out of day care.
We threw Run-D.M.C.'s "Raising Hell" on and found another day care. Cuz that's what bitches do.
I'd always seen my being asked to leave somewhere or something (yes, it's happened a few times) as a badge of honor, so there was a little part of me that was proud of her for proving she's my fur kid.
Only 20% asshole.