It's Molly, by golly!

Just a couple of weeks ago, we lost my wife’s dog, Raider, a shih-tzu who frequently lived up to the name of his breed.

Some driver hit Raider and the little guy didn’t make it. Now Raider and I were friends, I guess, not that you would ever know about him. Raider thought he was the king of the house and was indifferent to everything, except when it suited him.

He was a good dog, just not what I was used to being around. I like dogs who show some emotion and affection.

So we looked around for dogs for a couple of weeks and on Tuesday, Trish told me a friend had a cocker spaniel puppy she needed to give away. I had never had a cocker spaniel before, but decided to go check her out.

As soon as we met Molly, I could tell she was the anti-Raider. She went crazy, jumping up and down, wanting to be held and then kissing (and biting) us.

My wife asked what I thought. I had fallen for her instantly. I didn’t much care for her color (black), only because it would be tough to get good pictures of her.

But Molly was it. We brought her home and quickly figured out that Molly’s main ambition in life was to play. Then play some more.

Does she ever sleep, I wondered? Not often, especially if we are awake. Molly is a player. She has toys scattered all out the house and when we take her out to do her business, Molly has a couple of sticks she likes to play with and drag all over the yard.

I did a little research and found out cocker spaniels like to climb. I can confirm that fact. Molly has a little trouble jumping up on the furniture, but she climbs almost like a cat.

She also discovered her image in the mirror and windows. Apparently Molly does not like seeing another dog in the house and spends way too much time barking at her image. Seriously.

As I write this, Molly is lying in the floor next to me, playing with a toy. Every few minutes, she decides I am not giving her the appropriate amount of attention and she jumps up at me until I throw her toy or rub her belly.

While Raider could care less what we were doing, Molly follows us all over the house. If one of us walks through the house, she has to follow. Yeah, sounds boring. But not to Molly.

On her first night here in her new house, Molly was in the front yard and saw the neighbor’s two dogs, an English bulldog and a pug. The pug was even bigger than her. The Bulldog probably makes piles almost as big as her. But Molly barked at them and only backed up a bit, no doubt braver since the other dogs were on a leash.

One other benefit! Molly is like a vacuum cleaner. She does a great job cleaning up my crumbs and if any food is dropped on the floor, Molly cleans it up!

Now I can’t get in trouble for leaving chip particles on the floor. Molly cleans it up and does not complain.

Yes, I am behind with my work on the Journal, but I figure it is worth it.