Just Call me the Dog Lady

It's hard to keep a training blog if you don't train. You know?

This month has been a bit of a disaster/challenge/nightmare month. I would have posted earlier, but I have been mired in life muckity-muck.

First things first.
I now have five dogs.

Before I get into the why of this, I will post pictures. This is because I think each of my dogs is super cute. You might not want to visit this house, though. It's smells a bit like a dog kennel.  In fact, if I keep all five dogs, I will have to apply for a kennel license. I had no idea the paper work that dog hoarders must deal with. Now I know. Anyway:

 This is Bowser. He is a 12-year-old mostly deaf and blind mini-Schnauzer.

 This is Bear. He is a one-year old Sharpei.

This is Lara snuggling with Bowser. Bowser enjoys a good snuggle.

 This is Hazel hanging out with Bowser.

 This is Bear sleeping. He looks a bit like a furry wart hog.

This is Chica, a four-year-old Sharpei. She is shy.

And this is Ernie, our Boston Terrier, sharing his dog bed with Bowser. 

The story behind how I became the owner of five dogs is not a happy one.

My beautiful cousin Barbara was shot and killed by her estranged husband two weeks ago. I've always believed no one benefits when our country makes access to guns so easy--for anyone--even the criminally insane, like Barbara's husband. Now I feel even more strongly about this. The loss of Barbara has been devastating to those who loved her.

Barbara was an animal lover. She lived in south Florida with her four dogs and three cats, and her son, Robert. (She had two sons, but her other son, Daniel, didn't live with her.) Barbara loved her pets. Because she loved them so much, I felt it was extremely important that we find her animals great homes. My cousin Rick, Barbara's brother, and his family took one of the dogs. My cousin Shirley, Barbara's sister, and her partner took one of the cats, and Daniel and his fiance, Steph, took two of the cats. That left three dogs. I took in these three dogs. At first I thought we'd just keep Bear and look for homes for the other two. But that won't be happening. I love them, and I can't give any of them away and feel okay about it--so I am keeping them all. Just call me the crazy dog lady. (and just call Andy a saint, I know...)

The kids are thrilled. They have bragged to all of their friends that we have FIVE dogs. Their friends think that is cool. I'm sure their parents think I am completely insane and have warned their children to STAY AWAY. 

In other news, my mother in law is very sick, so we postponed our trip to California--you know, the trip we were to make so I could race Cali 70.3..... 

We are hoping for a good outcome with my mom-in-law, but nothing is certain right now. It is a hard time.

I have done some training in the last month--but not much and mostly swimming. I competed in a Masters meet at Harvard last weekend--though because of circumstances having to do with dogs and hospitals, I only competed for 1.5 days out of 3. I did well, though! The first day wasn't so great. I did the 50 back in 35.03. I seem unable to break 35 seconds in that event. I also swam the 200 free in 2:26. I took the first 100 in 1:08--so yes, the second 100 was pretty sad and ugly. The next day I had a few really good swims, though. I swam the 100 IM in 1:14, which is a 3 second PR for me. I swam the 200 back in 2:38, which is a six second PR, and I swam the 100 free in 1:05.03--which is faster than I have swum that event in my ENTIRE life. Yay me! I also swam the 50 free in 30.28. This was sort of a bummer; I really really want to break 30. I'm not much of a sprinter....

Anyway. That's my story. 

Swimming, dogs and a postponed trip to California. 

I plan to run a fall marathon in honor of Barbara. I will raise money for animal rescue or for an organization which fights domestic violence. I am still researching and deciding what to do. Suggestions are welcome.