New Word of the Day

Cop-a-bird.

We have a little dog that showed up stray at our house about 4 years ago. She's a sweet little white dog who has since become a part of our family. Even though she's sometimes a neurotic, anxiety-ridden guard dog... She's a part of our group. Little orphan Annie.

She showed up one Sunday afternoon barking at our front door. I opened the door and she took off running! About 30 minutes later she showed up barking again. I lured her in with some lunch meat and sat outside with her for a while. She was tiny and covered in fleas. We put her on Pet Patrol on the radio and took her to neighbors and also two local vets. No hits. We haven't ever wanted an indoor dog and thought about giving her up.

The day Annie showed up.

About a week later I came down with a horrible flu. The swine. Or H1N1 as my husband insists. I was stuck on the couch and sleeping in a separate bedroom trying to keep from getting Seth sick. Who did I cuddle with....? Annie. That was it. We were bonded. We became the proud parents of a little girl who we suddenly realized required a trip to the groomer every 6 weeks. Fabulous...

This little dog is no priss. She likes to explore the farm. She loves when we have cows around... Ew, I don't need to elaborate on the savory treats the cows leave for her. She also loves running through wet grass that on a normal dog just covers their paws but on an Annie-dog comes up past her belly!

But one of the. most. maddening. things. ever..... Is our word of the day.

Cop-a-bird.

We have an abundance of cockleburs somewhere on our property. And Annie is proficient at finding them and becoming a walking pin cushion. She then comes in the house and picks them off of herself at random spots around the house. Thus, we have little Annie land mines throughout the house. Cockleburs. Wyatt has learned to recognize this little boobie traps and exclaims "cop-a-bird!" as he picks one off of his foot or out of the carpet.

Sometimes we would like to make an orphan of Annie again.  The cop-a-birds all over the place, random fits on midnight barking, mysterious prizes left in the hallway from time to time.... But she's such a fun sweet little dog and the kids love her.  Oh, Annie-dog.