Rain, Rain, and more rain

It rained last night. It's raining off and on this morning, and it will continue until sometime tomorrow. Streets are flooded, streams are overflowing, and we have the chance of a tornado or two later today. Are we having fun yet?

Gracie needs a playmate. The past two weeks have been a vivid reminder to me of why I adopted Sarge to begin with. For Gracie. Yesterday, in my continuing quest to tire out an Australian Shepherd (can't be done), I took her for a walk for 90 minutes. She then rode in the car with me to weigh in at Weight Watchers, stopped in to say "HI" to Cheryl at Paws-ability, and then we returned home. I had her out in the yard while I mowed the grass in the back and ran the weed eater. We played ball. Then we packed up and went to the dog park for 2 hours. Not sure, but perhaps I did tire her out just a bit. She only woke me up to go out twice last night, instead of 3 or 4 times....

Within the next few weeks, we will start to look for a shelter dog. Shelties are beautiful, and I miss Sarge more than words can express, but they are also prone to high anxiety levels. I can't deal with that again at this point in my life. I feel like that 15 day ordeal took 10 years off my life due to stress. The next dog will have to be a male, and not overly large, and above all else, tolerate my little Diva Princess.

I also realized yesterday that I can't wait too long. Gracie has become extremely protective and possessive of me. If I sit down on one of the benches at the dog park, and another dog comes up to be petted, the reactions vary. Should that dog be a male that Gracie will submit to, she just walks over and noses him a bit, as if to say, "Don't get too comfortable, this is my mom." If the other dog is a female that Gracie feels she can dominate, the loud barking and body shoving ensue.

Sigh. What is a dog mom to do?
Linda