It Was an Instant Love Connection

And no I don’t have a new boyfriend. I’ve found a strong unconditional love – again.

Last year was a tough year. I lost my brother-in-law, and two sisters in two months. Then I lost my long-time BFF big silly dog Reuben James, in July. Too much loss way too fast.

When the Rube died, I said I was done with dogs. I have four cats and love them very much (and yes I am a single cat lady but not childless :). They are enough. Losing the Rube ripped my heart out.

Then we had the Dog Days of Summer event at work three weeks later. Meet Molly Mae O’Grady.

I was screwed. This little puff ball of fur crawled into my lap and into my heart. I told my friend Tricia, who had brought Molly and her brother in for adoption, that I hated her. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t go home every day to let her out – it’s a 35 mile drive one-way- so my boss Rachael told me to bring her to work with me. Yup, I was screwed.

Jump ahead a year. I no longer hate Tricia (it was short-lived and I didn’t really mean it) and Molly does come to work most days – after a few hours of doggy daycare.

I’ve had many wonderful adventures with her (although getting a puppy is nuts when you’re old, want to sleep at night, and like all of your toes and fingers being attached and not attacked), we’ve done lots of training classes and she is a proud AKC Canine Good Citizen graduate. She still gets a little nervous around strangers and prefers she approach you first – when she feels like it. She is a girl after all. She is a joy to my soul and I’m so glad I got her.

However – she is too damn smart. Molly is half Golden Retriever and half German Shepard. Her Golden side is loveable, smiles easily, and is very fun. Her Shepard side is wicked smart. She can now open doors – and lock them.

It started at the cottage a couple weeks ago. I was on the back porch talking to my neighbor Rob and had left Molly inside. She jumped on the door and opened it. I have those door handles that you push down rather than turn. I said “OK smart girl” and put her back inside. A few minutes later when I tried to go in, the door was locked. She had somehow flipped the deadbolt. I asked her to open it – somehow I thought she would. She didn’t but sat and smiled at me. Luckily all four of my locks are keyed the same and I have a super secret hiding place for my extra key. I was able to go back in.

Jump to last week at work. I don’t have a crate in my office anymore. Molly doesn’t need it. My office has the same kind of door handles and she started opening the door and wandering out if I wasn’t paying attention or had left her in the office. I was just stepping out for a minute and told her to stay. She did. She locked the door on me.

There is no deadbolt on the door, but a door handle lock. I have no clue how she locked it. But we also have no key for the door. I have a large window and could see her and told her to open the door. She smiled. She didn’t open the door. I panicked.

Finally, one of the sales guys, Braydon, tried opening it with a credit card. As he started on it, Molly calmly jumped up and opened the door for him. Smartass dog.

So what are the lessons to be learned here? Some dogs (and people) are much smarter than you think. Some dogs (and people) are just smartasses and know when they are making you go crazy. And some dogs (and people) enjoy the look of fear and panic on your face before they say “just kidding!”.

Now whenever I go outside without her, I must doublelock both doors. Then when I come back in I praise her for not trying to get out and give her a lot of treats, hugs, and kisses.

Wait a minute. She is a smartass but I think I just figured out who the dumbass is in this relationship.

Well, shit.