My Other Man
This morning I received an email about a wonderful hero dog who helped fight the war in Iraq and helped save lives. When he returned to the US he was given a medal of
honor for his service in the military.
Anyway, it just kept saying stuff about treating your pets with love and care. So, with that I'm going to tell my story, the truth about me one last time. I am in love with another fella. His name (after over a week of debates) would be Harrison "Harry" el Presidente Redmond III. I named him Harrison and Keegan said his name should be Harry for short. I said well Harrison was also a president's name so I added el presidente. When Jim got home that night I told him his full name and he added Redmond III. I hate to admit it but we do use his full name quit often to invoke laughter from everyone in the room. So anyway we got Harrison in July from a lady in Blountstown who was giving away free puppies. I thought this was just as considerate as adopting as I was not buying one from a breeder. Jim and I had talked a little about getting one that day and he wasn't sold on the idea. Then he fell asleep and it was my time to act so I raced to Blountstown I was the first one there so I got the pick of the litter. I chose Harrison because of the cream patches above his eyes. To me it meant he was wearing a ton of eye shadow, just like I do! He was so cute with big clumsy paws. I didn't realize how truly big that meant he was going to be until later. They told me his father was a Lab and his mother was half Husky and half Wolf. I thought, Labs aren't THAT big are they??He is presently 8 months old and 75 pounds! When I got home everyone was very excited, even Jim. So that's how it went for about 4
months, and then he turned 6 months old. He started acting crazy, nipping at everyone, stealing food off the kids plate, chewing up shoes, chewing up the floor in my bathroom and living room and chewing up every single roll of toilet paper he could get his eyes on and find. I'm just guessing it was around 50 rolls of toilet paper and paper towels. We literally had to hide the toilet paper. It was mass chaos in my house. It would have been along the lines of having a kindergarten class with 100 students on their first day of school everyday at my house. I was going crazy! Everyday there was toilet paper everywhere. The kids we crying and telling me to get rid of him. Finally one Friday night I'd had ENOUGH! I put his leash on him and with my girls headed to my car. We drove around Bristol until I found a neighborhood to drop him off in, a neighborhood across the railroad tracks as they say. Note: Bristol has no dog shelter or animal rescue and I felt I had no other option. So I stopped down a road and opened the door and he jumped out. As we drove away I was sobbing and Keegan started crying and said " I don't know why I'm crying, I hate that dog." I went to my mother's house and she assured me I had done the right thing as I was crying my eyes out. The next day I went back to look for him, to no avail. Sunday I went and looked for him again to no avail. Then I went to the Dollar General store and picked up a few things. I somehow left my detergent inside so the cashier came out to bring it to me. She then says " Kimberly do you have a dog?" I was SHOCKED and just said no. She said "well someone dropped a dog off in my neighborhood the other night and my uncle got the tag number to the car. "I was like it wasn't me, as I was scared to death. She then said, well it was someone who has a car like you. Note: I do admit,I drive the only Silver Nissan Armada in Bristol. I tried my best to end the conversation as soon as possible as not to incriminate myself anymore. I went straight home (and cried more) and got rid of everything dog related in my house. I wasn't going to go to jail for abandoning my dog without a fight. The next day Monday, I told Jim to go look for Harrison. I just kept praying the whole time since this incident that we'd get him back. He didn't find him. I cried more. The next day,Tuesday, I woke Jim up and told him to go look for our dog. I then called the girl from the Dollar General and told her I'd lied to her about not having a dog and told her I'd pay her to help me get him back. She told me she hadn't seen him since that 1st night but she'd be on the look out. I then called our local newspaper and put an ad in the paper about a lost dog. I hoped and prayed this also wouldn't incriminate me any further. Within the hour Jim called me at work and told me he had him. He was turing down a road in that neighborhood when a car was pulling out and he saw Harrison riding in the back seat of the car. Well he really didn't see Harrison he saw his butt. He has very distinct markings as he is mostly chocolate color with a white butt. Jim also told me the lady Harrison was riding with had no teeth. I was like" that's why you only saw his butt, he had his head down in the seat and didn't want anyone to see him riding with a toothless lady." Well anyway, he brought him home and he was so meek and mellow. He was kind to everyone, not biting. I couldn't believe what a few days away from home could do for a dog. He has truly changed and is the family dog I always wanted for us to have. I also have repented for this sin and promise to never do this again as it made me feel so bad while he was away. But now when the kids are bad I do threaten them by saying "remember what I did to Harrison, you better straighten up right now."