However, when I
arrived, I found this:
You see, Piper has had
a difficult time with the move. She
seems frightened of every little noise and the slew of plumbers who entered my
home during the pipe incident did not help with her paranoia. Piper has always hated the kennel, so I
thought I would try leaving her out in the house to make her more
comfortable. After all, she has calmed
down and is starting to become an adult dog.
I did a test-run first, leaving her out of her kennel for only a few
hours at a time while I ran errands on the weekends. The trial was a success, so I continued to
leave her out all day while I was at work.
She did a pretty good job, only pulling a couple throw pillows into the
floor here and there. No harm done,
right? But then one day she happened to
get a hold of a pen, shredding it into a million little pieces, and got ink all
over one side of a sofa cushion. Even
then I didn’t get upset, and just flipped the cushion over.
But on this beautiful
Tuesday, I immediately knew something was up when I walked in from the garage. Rather than stand up on her hind legs to
greet me, Piper crouched low to the floor.
Oh, crap was my immediate
thought.
I moved into the living
room to find all the cushions of the sofa disheveled with stuffing
EVERYWHERE. I mean, all over the sofa,
the floor, the coffee table. Then I saw
the massive hole in the cushion on the floor, the same cushion that had ink all
over the other side.
I immediately called my
mother in a panic.
“I just can’t catch a
break! What am I going to do?” I
desperately asked.
“Get some OxiClean and
I’ll be right over.”
We spent over an hour
soaking the cushion cover in the OxiClean solution, but only a little ink was
coming out at a time.
“It’s not working,” I
pouted. “Let’s just give up.” It was getting late and we both had to work
the next morning.
“Let me take it home
with me, Holly. Don’t worry, I’ll get it
out.”
And that she did. After soaking the cover in the solution for
another hour or so, nearly all of the ink came out of the fabric—an absolute
miracle.
The lesson learned
here? First, don’t let those sad puppy
eyes fool you. While I still feel guilty
about putting Piper in her kennel, I know that it is best for her safety and
the safety of my home. When the weather
looks up, I plan on building her a dog house so she can roam around the
backyard while I am at work. In the end,
we both win. Second, buy some OxiClean
immediately. This stuff really is a miracle
in powder form. Third, don’t be afraid
to call your parents for help. I have
found that being an adult means you need (and appreciate) the help of your
family more than ever.
