The one where I rant about the neighbor's "chaweenie"

We got new neighbors a few weeks back. They got a puppy this weekend -- A chaweenie... the husband says in his very Southern drawl.

Of course this is the first red flag (the chaweenie part, not the Southern drawl). Let me tell you the sad saga that is this dog's life.

This chihuahua/dachshund mix is from a place called "Pet City." I have never heard of this local pet store, but apparently they sell dogs. Lovely.

This dog weighs UNDER 1 and a half pounds. At first I gave them the benefit of the doubt, thinking the dog was maybe 7 to 8 weeks old. No. This lady told me this dog is 3 months old! No way. Just not even remotely plausible.

Oh, AND it wont eat food. She said she's tried everything, dry food, wet food, people food, chicken and rice. Tell me what healthy 3 month old dog wont eat chicken and rice! She's currently feeding it puppy formula from an eye dropper. I asked her if she had taken it to a vet yet, since it wouldn't eat and whatnot. Of course not. Her mom "raises" yorkies and told her what steps to take. Of course the dog has "low blood sugar," although I'm not sure how she knows exactly since the dog hasn't seen a vet. And she's feeding the dog nutra-cal like it's going out of style.

Now, let's compare my 4 year old, 6.5lb, papered, well-bred, pure-bred yorkie to that, shall we? When we got Rigel at 8 WEEKS old he was 2lbs. And ate like a little pig! He was all puppy belly.

Anyone with a small puppy knows what nutra-cal is and the dangers of low blood sugar with a small puppy. But Rigel never needed it.

So let's say you have a 3 month old puppy bought from a pet store that is seriously underweight and refuses to eat. Wouldn't you take the thing to the vet???

Am I completely off base here with the size and food thing?? Let me know. My mother in law has two miniature Dachshunds. We saw these dogs as puppies and they weren't this small. And they had hearty appetites too. They were fully grown by the time there were about 7 months old. Rigel was at his current full grown weight at about 6 months.

Thankfully, this pup seems to be full of energy. When I brought Rigel outside on his leash, this puppy, Cooper, bounced right over to us and wanted to sniff my little monster. Cooper wasn't fearful of this 6lb dog sniffing him either. I hope this little one is nursed back to health soon and starts to eat something. Joe thinks the dog is under 4 weeks old to still need puppy formula from an eye dropper. I dug Rigel's baby scrapbook out (yep, that's what I said) to do some comparison. We have pics of him at 2-3 weeks, when they still look like little rats, and 5 and 6 weeks when I went to visit Rigel when he was still with his mom. His baby book says he was weaned at about 4-5 weeks old. This whole situation makes me so sad and angry. I'm glad the puppy is out of the puppy mill, but super annoyed that these neighbors didnt know better. And still wont take him to the vet!

Flirty Girls

Flirty girls -- my newest pet peeve.

I am 27 years old. Married. And very friendly. Joe says I can make friends in a Wal-Mart pharmacy line. And it's pretty true. I like to talk to people.

But I've met a few ladies recently (and not so recently) that seem to flirty with everyone. And when I give them the look (because they are married, their husband is deployed, the person they are flirting with is married, etc,) they tell me it's just because they are friendly. Well, I whole-heartedly disagree.

My mother has told me since the day I was old enough to understand - Be a person first, be Sara first. Then be everything else, woman, wife, mother (someday). But you have to be a strong individual first to get anywhere in this world. My mother is an architect. There are only 11% women in the field. I've met a couple others. But most people don't know any female architects. My mother walks onto job sites and has to be even better, even more professional, than the male architects to play the male-driven game in the South. I also have an aunt who is a PhD astrophysicist. Same thing. These are the female role models I've had growing up. Smart, strong, independent women.

So the flirty women, the ones that bat their eyelashes at every guy they see, really annoy me. You can have a conversation with a male without flirting with him. You really can. You can be friendly without acting like a middle school child with a crush on every person with male genitalia.

On a related note, I also know some females that believe you have to be a bitch to get your way. Also completely wrong and fairly inappropriate. The very first time I heard someone say this I was in high school and on a job site with my mother. Some female interior decorator said it. My mother turned to me the moment that woman left and told me no one respected her and she was horrible to work with because she was always in some defensive bitch mode. Talk about a good example for a impressionable teen. I currently hear this from female Soldiers. (Yes, I understand I am not and will never be a female Soldier, but I've heard my husband talk about them enough to know a good female Soldier, whom everyone likes and respects, from a bad one, whom no one likes and they all want out of their unit.) The job has to be similar to any other male driven field. You don't get far "acting" like a girl.

So I guess the take home message here is that most women annoy me you can act friendly and professional without being a ho or a bitch. I wish more women understood this.