Little Guy and Yellow-Shirted Girl

Today, we purchased a puppy; however, the surprising part is it is not a White German Shepherd. He is a AKC registered Yellow Labrador. Here's how it happened.

Katie accidentally spilled a bit of her drink on Buddy, Rick's black Stetson cowboy hat. Rick took it into 5D Custom Hats & Leather on Butternut in Abilene. The owner of the shop has a brown female Lab that had seven puppies seven weeks ago. Kate and I were in Abilene also, so we met up with Rick at the shop to check out the puppies. After visiting the puppies two more times this week at the Cowboy Store (Katie's name for the place), we purchased a male yellow Lab. Here is the little stinker doing the typical Superman puppy pose.

Sorry for the poor quality in the photo. This morning I sent my Canon out for repair and I had to use Kate's Leapfrog Explorer to take pictures. Little guy is actually a bit lighter than in the picture. His daddy is a Red Fox lab, so Little Guy's coat could redden up.

As for a name, I think we are going to go for Cody. Dillon, George and Sparkles were also considerations. Bet you can't guess who wanted Sparkles.

Like most puppies, this little guy is adorable. He hasn't had an accident in the house and goes to the bathroom whenever I take him out. Rick said the breeder had started potty training them. Little guy has HUGE feet and was the biggest one of the litter. He is a "people person" and likes nothing better than resting his head on your lap. When he gets frustrated, such as when I put a collar on him, he whiney barks. On the way home, he barked for a fair amount of time, but it wasn't that bad because every once and while his bark sounded like a human laughing. He also snorts in his sleep and got the hiccups.

Katie is loving the puppy because he will run with and generally follow her around. Little guy is a great addition to our family. "Why the change in breeds?" you ask. Well, Labs are smaller than WGS, shed less and are great with little kids. Not to say that WGS are not. Eric was great with Katie, but it can be a crap shoot with Shepherds and kids. I wrestled with getting a Lab versus a White German Shepherd. WGS are very regal and absolutely beautiful dogs. But as I told Rick, just because we got a puppy today, doesn't mean I can't have two dogs of different breeds. (You know how Rick's likes matching things.)

I have quick story that I want to share. Last night Katie and I were in McDonald's in Abilene. Two mothers and five kids came into the play room. Katie is very outgoing and has no reservations about walking up to children who are complete strangers and asking them if they want to play with her. Back to last night. I heard Katie crying in the jungle gym/slide thing. After she came down the slide I asked what was wrong. Apparently at least one of the older girls that was one of the five kids previously mentioned told Katie that she was going to punch Katie in the face hard and punch her in the nose hard. The girl also referred to her as "the stupid girl" and told Katie that I was stupid. I approached the moms and when I asked who was the mother of the girl wearing a yellow shirt, the two moms said none of theirs had on a yellow shirt. They called their kids down and here comes one of the daughters in a yellow shirt. Huh? Did they not understand me? Well, probably not because English was not their first language. One of the mothers said, "Wait what did she (Katie) do first?" as if it was impossible for her child to be a bully. I questioned the yellow-shirted girl and she said what she did to Katie because Katie was picking on them. When I asked her to explain how Katie was picking on them, she said Katie kept on saying, "Hey, follow me. Do you want to play with me?" and Katie kept on following them trying to join their group. Katie can be persistent, I know, but the threats from the yellow girl were over the top. I threw my hands up in the air and walked away from the mothers and kids. I was so very, very angry. Katie wanted the girl to apologize and I should have requested one, but my grand exit was so I didn't let the rage I felt on the inside come bursting out of my mouth at full strength.

Katie and I had a long conversation about how some people are mean or bad people. Now Katie never wants to go to that McDonald's again. That was the first time Katie had been threatened with physical violence. There's one milestone that I could have done without. The incident just reaffirmed what I believe, girls/females can be so very mean. (I can feel the heat from some readers, but I stand firm.) Some of the crap that has come out of Katie's "friends'" mouths has been snotty, exclusionary and cutting. ("Go away. I am done playing with you." "It's a private club and we don't want you.") There is one girl who is in Katie's taekwondo class that epitomizes the word "bitch". I never thought I would use that word to describe a six year old child, but if the shoe fits. . . That girl regularly rolls her eyes at what Katie says and she raises her voice in disgust when Katie asks her a question as if Katie is an idiot or wasting her precious time and breath. It's pretty crystal clear that she doesn't like Katie, but Katie lets it roll off of her back. Last night there was no rolling, but a stabbing in Katie's heart. Am I strong enough to face the inevitable dramas during the school years? Perhaps my word to the wise for Katie is make friends with boys. They are not little bitches.