#j280

Hooch and I have some saddening news:

I am going to visit my family in Chicago and will not be able to update you on Hooch news. Hooch is staying home, in Pittsburgh, with his dad and I think they’ll both be okay. Although, I’m not sure what they're going to eat, hmm. 

I appreciate you taking your time to read about our lives and hope to write to you soon!

Love,

This terribly cuddly family of 3. 

I decided to watch a dog movie and tell you guys all about it. It’s called the Year of the Dog (2007) and according to IMDb  “a secretary’s life changes in unexpected ways after her dog dies.” Rated 6.1/10 stars and directed by Mike White, I have a feeling this might be pretty good.

Stay tuned!

**Contains many spoilers!**

7:06 p.m.

We open up on a lovely day at the dog park with an uptight dog mom and her adorable beagle affectionately named “Pencil”. She’s a secretary... I wonder if that’s why she named her dog “Pencil”? 

7:07 p.m.

There’s a lot of sea foam green around the office she works at. Are we stuck in the ‘60s?

7:09 p.m. 

Peggy. The lead girl is Peggy. Played by Molly Shannon. She doesn’t seem to happy with her life at this point.

7:10 p.m. 

Peggy is totally that dependable friend we all go to about our problems. That now knows what a flirt her co-worker’s boyfriend is.

7:13 p.m.

We get to see all the “crazy” people she deals with in her life, while Peggy, as a single woman goes home to a quiet house and her just super, super adorable dog.

Peggy and Pencil. - Image from: IMDb

7:15 p.m.

Peggy lets her dog out at night and because he’s taking forever, she leaves him outside. OMG. Poor dog. I am so worried.

7:17 p.m. 

THEY FIND HIM. POOR BABY. Whimpering. I am feeling the feels right now. She totally didn’t mean to be mean to Pencil. At least she’s rushing him to the vet. 

7:19 p.m.

Hysterical crying and just an overall super upset Peggy. It doesn’t matter if it’s a just a movie, I get upset too. Dogs are just the cutest creatures ever. 

7:20 p.m.

Nothing can help the loss of an animal, but her friend is sure trying. I personally feel like she’s barking up the wrong tree. (or avenues to make her friend feel better)

7:22 p.m.

WOW. OVERBEARING PARENTS. Your kid is totally old enough to understand the death of a dog. Stop protecting them from everything. Weirdo couple. 

Bret and Pier (aka, overbearing couple and family to Peggy) - Image from: IMDb

7:23 p.m. 

The neighbor, Al, played by John C. Reilly seems like the only normal person besides Peggy. 

7:24 p.m. 

Awe. They’re going on a date :D

Al and Peggy - Image from: IMDb

7:25 p.m.

Update: his name is “Pencil” because when she got him he was a skinny little thing.

7:26 p.m.

Wow. Al accidentally shot and killed his previous dog during a hunting accident! But, besides that, he seems like a good guy? 

He does have a lot of knives though, no guns, supposedly. 

7:29 p.m.

She asks to see his garage? Omg she’s blaming him for Pencil’s death. She’s very interrogational. Okay, girl. Even if Pencil did eat something in his garage that caused his death, it’s not Al’s fault. I mean, she is the one that didn’t bring Pencil inside..... Which is something I would never do. Who leaves their totally indoor dog outside? I don’t trust that. Hooch would create such mischief. 

7:32 p.m.

This rescue calls to place a dog with behavioral issues in Peggy’s home? Oh! It’s a beautiful German Shepard named Valentine. This is going to be hard work for her. He’s like 3 times the size of Pencil. Definitely a change for her. But that’s the beauty of taking in shelter dogs.

7:34 p.m.

Oh good, her co-worker friend is finally engaged to overly flirtatious and possibly cheating boyfriend.

7:36 p.m.

This shelter guy has got some deep issues and I’m actually going to say he’s a little too passionate about dogs. But he’s helping train Valentine, and that’s cute.

7:40 p.m.

She’s totally crushing on the shelter guy. I think he’s too into his dogs to crush back on her. Omg, she’s a vegan now just because he is? 

7:41 p.m.

And, they kiss. Kind of awkward and painful to watch. Poor girl, she was just rejected basically. 

7:42 p.m.

Apparently her co-workers don’t like vegan things?

7:43 p.m.

She’s trying to get her boss to adopt a dog? He’s upset. Poor girl. OMG. She’s trying to place all these dogs in her co-worker’s homes.... that can get annoying. 

7:45 p.m.

Omg. those parents. They’re so worried about trivial crap. It’s super annoying. I’m glad Peggy finds them annoying. 

Go Peggy. Rock that vegan in their faces.

7:47 p.m. 

Al meets shelter guy. Kind of. I still feel like she should date hunting neighbor versus shelter guy.

7:48 p.m.

Shelter guy is celibate... well. there’s goes that. Poor Peggy.

7:52 p.m.

So... Peggy’s become an animal rights activist and her boss shuts down everything. 

7:53 p.m.

So get to get back at him Peggy angrily forges his name on a PETA petition form. Go her.

7:55 p.m.

GO PEGGY even more. She just let the cheating fiancé know that she knows 

7:56 p.m.

Oh my goodness! She’s forging checks in her boss’s (or company’s?) name to go to charity. That’s.... that’s not good. and Valentine just bit her cause he has food aggression. She really doesn’t know how how to deal with large dogs with behavioral problems. 

7:57 p.m.

Neighbor guy is complaining about barking Valentine. Peggy’s just not having a great time right now /:

8:00 p.m.

Her family is not liking the idea of sponsoring animals in their names for christmas gifts. The overbearing parents thinks it’s just the funniest thing. Probably because they are so materialist.

8:02 p.m.

People who get upset because a new puppy accidentally pees on you shouldn’t have a dog. 

8:03 p.m.

Peggy is babysitting the overbearing parent’s kids. I have a feeling this isn’t going to end very well. They’re going on a trip to see the animals they sponsored. So... like a trip to a farm? 

8:04 p.m. 

SO CUTE. Animals are so adorable. Very educational, too. 

8:06 p.m.

Peggy is just so overwhelmed with the animals. 

8:07 p.m.

Oh no. No. Just no. She’s going to take the children to see a slaughterhouse after seeing the animals. I think they’re a little too young for that one. OMG. So much crying. Oh good, they’re not going in the “processing plant”

8:09 p.m.

Wow. Such terrible family. That couple put everyone else’s christmas cards up except Peggy’s. Also, there is A LOT of fur coats in that girl’s closet. And I doubt that they’re “faux” this time. 

8:11 p.m.

We realize drunk Peggy possibly ruins all the fur coats by drowning them in the bath.... which isn’t the worst thing. You can recover from that, right?

8:12 p.m.

And shelter boy is crying? Oh. Oh no. Valentine killed one of his disabled dogs, Buttons. I mean... shelter boy is a trainer.... still, so sad. Too much doggie death.

8:14 p.m.

Rescue mission time?! Shelter boy called the city to have Valentine taken away and put down and Peggy is not having any of it. 

8:15 p.m.

I guess... no rescue mission... Valentine was euthanized already. She was too late... ):

8:16 p.m. 

Sporadically adopts like a billion dogs from that place she went to rescue Valentine from... Omg. she’s totally lying. She’s adopting 15 dogs, which I’m pretty sure is illegal. 

Peggy and the dogs - Image from: IMDb

8:18 p.m.

She’s having a pretty rough time. There’s a lot of poop, destructiveness and barking.

8:20 p.m.

Overbearing parents called: their kid won’t eat meat and they discovered the furs missing. 

8:21 p.m.

Boss finds out about the “donating to charity” and she gets fired. ): Everything looks downhill again for Peggy. 

8:24 p.m.

Peggy looks like a super crazy dog lady...

8:25 p.m.

Shelter boy finally comes by and see’s all the dogs... and, well... seizes them all. Peggy is flipping. I feel bad for her. I bet when she finds out it was shelter boy and not her neighbor she’ll feel super betrayed. But, she did just find out that it was something in her neighbor’s garage that killed Pencil. That is so sad. So so sad. Pencil seemed great. 

8:28 p.m.

She’s gone a little bonkers. Waiting in her neighbor’s house with that bag of stuff that Pencil accidentally ate... This isn’t going to turn out well. He brought a girl home. This is going to be super embarrassing. 

OMG. SHE POPS OUT OF THE CLOSET WITH ONE OF HIS KNIFES. 

And yes, the cops are called. 

8:32 p.m.

BUT THERE IS HOPE. Peggy gets her job back! (she pays back her boss) and seems to be getting help for her animal love issues. AND HER BOSS has a dog now that he sneaks in the office. It’s kind of cute. He seems happier, too! Dogs can do that, make ya happy. 

8:37 p.m.

In the end, I think Peggy finally dings her place in life. As an animal love and animal rights activist. It goes to show you how large of an impact the loss of one animal in your life can have on you.

I’m not sure what I would do if I lost Hooch, and I am very glad to have him in my life!

Another preview about that upcoming story and some relevant facts to These are their Stories: Cat Edition! Here are some statistics about pet ownership and how people obtain and sadly give away their animals.

Pet Ownership | Create infographics

Within the month a little project I’ve been working on about the stories of rescues will be completed! This is a little preview of what the content is going to look like. These interviews are intended to show how rewarding it is to have a pet cat and how there are different ways of bringing one into your life than purchasing one at a pet store.

Hooch was a darling and helped me and his dad dye some easter eggs this year. Hooch if very fond of the Hello Kitty theme, I believe. 

Although he may not seem to excited here, he was jumping around and whining in the kitchen during the egg coloring process. Hooch always needs to be in the center of fun, because he is the center of attention, always. 

Hooch and I are spending our Easter enjoying a day off. Being so far away from family is difficult, but at least we have our little family here.

This weekend has been lovely outside. Hooch cannot get enough of the sun. 

Hooch begs and whines to go outside and is always leaping across the stairs to get outside faster. (which is funny because he is scared of going up stairs) 

When he gets outside he just lays in the grass sunbathing, it’s the cutest thing to see. The only thing is, I don’t want to leave him outside, not in my front yard where he could run off. I miss having a backyard in Chicago for this reason.

We can’t wait to take a trip to the dog park in order to let him get some actual freedom to run around and sunbathe. 

Hooch is such an adorable pup that he steals the hearts of all, even turning cat owners into dog lovers. 

I talked to Ken (Hooch’s dad) and Julian today about their opinions on cats and dogs. As they are both cat owners and have also experienced taking care of dogs they give some valid comparisons of the two.

The other day we ran out of dog food and I had to send Hooch’s dad to the store and pick some up. And by the time I came home later, Hooch also had a new expensive chew toy.

While at the store shopping for a new dinner choice, Hooch decided to grab an antler chew toy from the shelf and take a big bite out of it. Obviously his dad got this toy for him, he really had no choice at this point. 

Even though Hooch has such exquisite taste, he loves to new toy and it was worth it.