I mentioned before how Ender became a part of our family, I thought I would talk more about that experience. He was an interesting addition. I remember saying that I didn't know anything about raising a puppy and that Mike had bought me books and videos to help me with training him. Mike had told me he loved feeling his cat, Liberty, curling up to sleep between his knees and he took a lot of comfort from this cat once he couldn't move his legs as much anymore. So Ender's breed is known to be a lap dog. What we didn't take into consideration is how needy he is. LOL This dog would manipulate whoever he could to make sure that he was the center of attention at all times. Mike and I would laugh a lot at his efforts. I started calling the dog Sneaky Pete. We almost renamed him. Mike would send me messages saying Sneaky Pete kept the nurse busy today. :)
We would keep him up on Mike's bed with him as much as we could. It was so much fun watching him figuring Mike out. Ender would try to get Mike to pet him... of course not knowing that he couldn't move.... and would start nibbling on his hand. He never broke the skin, but Mike would sometimes look at me and mouth "ow".
Mike started ordering him toys and treats from Amazon. We would get a package every other day. Funny story...... when we kept getting delivery after delivery for Ender..... I would tease Mike that he now has proven that he knows how to buy for others. He responded by buying me a new leash..... in pink..... He cracked me up.
We trained Ender to get up on Mike's bed on his own but he never quite got the hang of getting down. The hardwood floors and his furry paws made for an awkward landing. We put a chair beside Mike's bed and I would sit there reading. Ender would want to get up on my lap while sitting there and I would put him up on Mike's bed. He would crawl around under his computer screen and hide there if he didn't want to get out of the bed. I would train Ender to sit and wait on me to call for him while we were back in Mike's room. It was hard for Mike to see him on floor level so I would do these things a little farther from him so he could see Ender and Ender's reactions to having to wait to being called. Mike was impressed.... I think by me as much as Ender. lol
With keeping the chair by Mike's bed Ender could eventually jump up on the chair and then up onto Mike's bed. I was in his room hanging his tube feeding when Ender figured this out for the first time. Mike's face was hilarious. He laughed so hard. Ender's new freedom in accessing Mike became just a little too much for Mike sometimes, so we moved the chair.
We decided that I would start taking Ender to puppy training classes.... once a week. I would video as much of the class as I could so that Mike could see how he did with other dogs. He was a complete mouthy chickenshit. Pretty much what we thought. Ender graduated and we were going to stop there with the classes but then we got a letter from the agency saying that they received complaints from the nurses that they don't feel taking care of Ender was part of their job. All the nurses knew of Ender being Mike's dog prior to being hired and they were all dog owners themselves. We never did figure out who made a complaint but Mike wrote a letter to the agency. It needed to be Mike writing the letter and not me because he was so much better at communicating and resolving issues than I was. We kept Ender in the classes so that he could be trained as a therapy dog. Mike's thought was that with Ender listed on his Plan of Care as a Certified Therapy Dog, the agency would have to care for the animal as well as Mike. It didn't work out that way...... agencies just have way too much power. We kept the same agency but Mike figured out who would have complained and we just phased out that nurse. Problem solved.
Mike loved that Ender was so good with the twins too. He took pride in his dog and he loved his dog. I feel bad now for the times when Mike saw me lose my temper with the dog, but I can't change that now. I posted so many.... so, so many.... videos and pictures of Ender on Facebook. I did it because it was the easiest way for Mike to see how and what his dog was doing. Along the way.... a lot of dog lovers became quite the fan of Ender. He was a very photogenic dog afterall.
Mike and I hit a really rough patch in our relationship. There are a lot of reasons and issues surrounding it that I just don't want to talk about. But giving Ender up to someone was discussed. He wanted Ender to go to his friend Paul. Paul and his family had been to the house multiple times and the kids loved playing with Ender. When Mike and I, thankfully, resolved our issues, Ender stayed with us.
After Mike died, I tried keeping Ender with me and my girls. I tried, but I just didn't have anything left to give to anyone... not even a pet. I know a lot of people take comfort in having their pets around them when they are sad, I'm not one of them.
I talked with Adam and he wanted Ender. Ender loved Adam and Adam loved Ender.... it was the perfect solution. I don't miss having Ender to take care of, but I do miss him. My mother was in town this past week. Mom is just one of those women who clean constantly... even if it isn't their own house. So with Mom here, the couch was moved away from the wall and there was a gazillion balls and toys under there.... don't judge, I don't move the couch much apparently. I wasn't home when she did this, but the nurse at the house sent me a picture. My very first thought was to send the picture to Mike expecting him to say something about how Ender must have known and that's why he kept digging at the couch.... something I complained about... a lot.
I love that Ender brought Mike so much joy and I love that my son now has him to love on too.
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