Life with Dogs

A website I follow, "Life with Dogs," sent out an all-call for freelance writers today and I threw my hat in the ring (along with 15,000 others, no doubt).  Here's what I sent. 

Grayson comforts Roxy.

Roxy is a 65-pound Labrador mix my son and I acquired three years ago as a foster dog. We accepted her sight unseen from a family who lost their home and had had a difficult time finding a foster placement for her. Very soon after taking her in, we came to know why.

If left outside, Roxy flings herself against the door, howling piteously and continuously until she is let in. She can eat six tennis balls in a day, after which she regurgitates the pieces onto the carpet. She compulsively chews holes in blankets, clothing, upholstery…anything made of fabric…and passes them through her digestive system to deposit in colorful piles in the yard. When anxious, which is most of the time, Roxy emits a persistent whine that is almost, but not quite, outside the range of human hearing. Roxy has an allergy which causes her hair to fall out and her skin to turn scrofulous. Roxy claws holes in window screens and devours whole dinners off the table in the blink of an eye.

Roxy is a handful.

Friends ask us: why do we keep her? Why not return her, or drop her off at the pound and be done?

But it is not that simple. The good dogs are easy to foster, easy to find homes for, easy to love. Roxy is maddening, but dogs like Roxy need someone to see past the neuroses to the good dog inside. She needs us. And we’re here. Holey blankets and all.   


Read how we got Roxy here.
Read some of our early frustrations with Roxy here.
Read more about Roxy's neuroses here.
And more here.
And a really sad bit here
Then you can laugh at how annoying she is here.