Presenting Palin Mae Sassafras of Calhoun County

(Or Miss Sassy if you nasty)

Yes, this means we got a dog... a puppy no less. She was alleged to be part boxer-part American bulldog (thus, a bullboxer) but I suspect she is mostly American bulldog. She looks, acts, and lounges around like an American bulldog... and just so there is no concern or confusion whatsoever, that's not even close to the same thing as a pit bull, which is in fact a terrier. She is definitely a bulldog but it's reasonable to assume she is still part boxer because the late great Junie Mae was in fact part pekingese but he was a deadringer for a fullbred poodle. Which reminds me, yes the Mae is after Junie Mae. And yes, the Palin part is exactly what you think as well (so what's the difference between Palin the dog and Palin the politician? You don't get fired if you call the dog a bitch. Get it? Female dog? Palin supposedly had her brother-in-law fired? I think that's funny... Plumberboy and my dad think it's vulgar. Anyway, I digress...) The Sassafras has no real meaning except that everyone knows I always wanted a girl dog named Sassy and Sassafras just sounds so distinguished. Lastly, she is in fact from Calhoun County. So there you go. I'm not sure exactly how old she is but the folks at the shelter think she was born in May. She is still fairly skinny so I fear suspect her growth may really take off now that she can get good, steady nutrition plus plenty of lovin'. And yes, she has clothes but she's not keen on wearing them. We'll work on that. But for now I'd just be thrilled if she'd learn that carpet and grass are not interchangeable so pee accordingly. She uses the doggie door and seems to honestly understand that she's not supposed to take a leak on the carpet but she just can't help herself. I think she doesn't want to leave us long enough to go outside as she has some separation anxiety for sure (and apparently a little gas... stinky, which incidentally is what Plumberboy wanted to name her!) but we did make some small strides yesterday. Otherwise, so far so good. She loves the kids and she sits at my feet all day long, which is exactly what I wanted, minus the gas/pee/poop.


Now a new puppy doesn't exactly lend itself to an abundance of free time. Neither does Ricky Bobby's new soccer season. Or football season. Or the fact that our house would score below an 80 on a health department inspection. So in the words of Mark Bullock, it's time to clean up! (No one outside of the gump will get that reference. My apologies. But if you can actually find a video of Mark Bullock on the internet, you'll be glad you watched.)