From the outside, it might appear that the two of us live a life of ease and luxury. Sure, it's true that we have special food for our dinner (but, then again, when we say the food is "special", we mean that it's - perhaps - not typical for dogs) and we sleep on a gigantic bed and no one makes us walk around the neighborhood on those - ugh - strings that we see some other doggies have wrapped around them (although, some times our Mama decides that we should get "fresh air" and puts us in our jackets and whatever, and that's confusing because we have fresh air all the time in our house, especially when someone opens up a window).
But, the fact is, that our lives are not as glamorous as they appear to be. Each of us has (minor) mental health issues that we have to cope with. And, while outwardly you would probably never know what it is that we go through every day, we can tell you that it's not something that we're proud of and it's not something that we'd wish on our worst enemy (a.k.a. every doggie that walks in front of our house).
For Rozi, her problems have been well-documented. The girl has some real body image problems, and struggles every day with that problem. See, the thing is that Rozi loves her food. She loves when it's time for dinner; she loves when it's time for breakfast; she loves when it's time for her sister's dinner and her sister is a little slow or indifferent in getting to her plate, and so Rozi "helps out"; she loves when anyone in the house is eating or is within a few feet of food, since she knows that with her cute face and the way she rocks her head when she stares, she'll be eating some of it (if not all of it) soon. And, of course, this means that she has to watch her weight, since someone who enjoys food so much could end up looking more like a marshmallow (...we had to pause for a second while Rozi ran around the room, looking to see if there was - in fact - a marshmallow anywhere near by...sadly, no) than a puppy.
So, this is a struggle for her, and she copes with it every day by eating her worries away.
For Izzi, the problems are all about anxiety. Not too long ago, our mama went away for a long time and we thought she'd never come back. Rozi was able to choke down four meals a day (her two and Izzi's two) while that was going on, but Izzi was a nervous wreck. Then, our mama came home!
Then, our mama went away for a really really long time and - again - Izzi worried while Rozi ate all of her own food, then Izzi's food, then anything else that she could find (including some bugs, which she said tasted like chicken). Finally, after about a thousand years, our mama came home!
Then, we had visitors, including Miriam, and Izzi was in a tizzy (pardon the rhyme this time).
Once all of that was finally behind all of us, Izzi was very anxious, not knowing if our mama would leave us again for a thousand decades, or if more people would be coming to our home, or - generally - what the what was going on!
And, so, she's been very nervous for the last few weeks, and she can usually cope by coming over to someone and rubbing a leg with her paw until the annoyance factor is so high, she gets picked up and held.
Or, she goes to one of her many secrete places in the house to just chill. It's like a zen thing for her, and she has found many places that meet her needs: Miriam's closet; the laundry room; the bench in mama's room; the closet in mama's room. All of these help here cope with this fast-changing world, filled with other dogs and knocks on the door, and people that aren't our mama coming and going.
This whole xi gets worse when the rain comes and its gloomy (or, in other words, the whole month of April). And, this morning was one of those days, a day when every anxiety came together and the most comfortable place for her was in our mama's closet. Which was, as usual, very pleasant. But, it was breakfast time and she would have missed her breakfast (which would have made Rozi very happy, by the way).
So.....
Our mama brought Izzi breakfast in "bed" (well, closet). And, boy was it good! She said something like "high maintenance", but we don't know what that means.
Anyway, that's what our lives, our struggles, our challenges have been recently, and we promise you that we're working on them!
Arf, Yip, Yip, Yip,
Izzi & Rozi
But, the fact is, that our lives are not as glamorous as they appear to be. Each of us has (minor) mental health issues that we have to cope with. And, while outwardly you would probably never know what it is that we go through every day, we can tell you that it's not something that we're proud of and it's not something that we'd wish on our worst enemy (a.k.a. every doggie that walks in front of our house).
 |
| Rozi and a friend, talking about her "issues" |
So, this is a struggle for her, and she copes with it every day by eating her worries away.
For Izzi, the problems are all about anxiety. Not too long ago, our mama went away for a long time and we thought she'd never come back. Rozi was able to choke down four meals a day (her two and Izzi's two) while that was going on, but Izzi was a nervous wreck. Then, our mama came home!
Then, our mama went away for a really really long time and - again - Izzi worried while Rozi ate all of her own food, then Izzi's food, then anything else that she could find (including some bugs, which she said tasted like chicken). Finally, after about a thousand years, our mama came home!
Then, we had visitors, including Miriam, and Izzi was in a tizzy (pardon the rhyme this time).
Once all of that was finally behind all of us, Izzi was very anxious, not knowing if our mama would leave us again for a thousand decades, or if more people would be coming to our home, or - generally - what the what was going on!
And, so, she's been very nervous for the last few weeks, and she can usually cope by coming over to someone and rubbing a leg with her paw until the annoyance factor is so high, she gets picked up and held.
Or, she goes to one of her many secrete places in the house to just chill. It's like a zen thing for her, and she has found many places that meet her needs: Miriam's closet; the laundry room; the bench in mama's room; the closet in mama's room. All of these help here cope with this fast-changing world, filled with other dogs and knocks on the door, and people that aren't our mama coming and going.
 |
| Hiding in the laundry room |
This whole xi gets worse when the rain comes and its gloomy (or, in other words, the whole month of April). And, this morning was one of those days, a day when every anxiety came together and the most comfortable place for her was in our mama's closet. Which was, as usual, very pleasant. But, it was breakfast time and she would have missed her breakfast (which would have made Rozi very happy, by the way).
So.....
Our mama brought Izzi breakfast in "bed" (well, closet). And, boy was it good! She said something like "high maintenance", but we don't know what that means.
 |
| Izzi's new breakfast nook |
Anyway, that's what our lives, our struggles, our challenges have been recently, and we promise you that we're working on them!
Arf, Yip, Yip, Yip,
Izzi & Rozi
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