"*G*L*A*M*O*R*O*U*S*"

I believe it's Fergie who sings the song entitled, "Glamorous", of which I'm NOT endorsing, just simply referencing. As Travis and I were spending our Sunday afternoon together, one word kept running through my mind...yep, "Glamorous." Now that may seem a bit prideful or perhaps presumptuous, but you must know what we were doing that prompted that song to enter my mind and thus convince me to take some pictures, so as to forever remember this "Glamorous" day!

When we decided 3 (almost 4) years ago to get a dog, we were starstruck with the idea of a sweet little puppy, who would always greet us with excitement and pure adoration, every time we came home. We imagined playing with the little bundle of energy, going on walks through the park with it, and spending the time painstakingly training this dog, so that with just the sheer tone of our voices, we could get him/her to obey us. Of course we did our homework and we researched which breed would most likely fit the lifestyle we had and would be a great fit with kids someday. Naturally we were led right to the golden retriever and after months of deliberation, we were sold. With great joy and excitement, we found the perfect breeder and thus, the perfect puppy...Ryley! Now, without hesitation, I would say that he is just what we imagined and more. He is a wonderful dog and as you know, we are crazy about him...just thrilled in fact that he's part of our family. However, there have been a few snags along the way that have stopped us in our tracks and made us wonder, "so, why did we want a dog so badly?" Nothing, I repeat Nothing, would ever make us want to get rid of him...we truly love that dog, but today, we spent the afternoon doing only what dog owners would appreciate and what non-dog owners could not understand or fathom...and let me tell you, it was a far cry from anything that would be described as "Glamorous."

When we purchased our condo last year, we were thrilled to have the large lawn behind and around our building, solely for Ryley's sake. There are woods right behind us, surrounding a big lake, and walking paths that are perfect for dogs and people. It's so nice to take Ryley outside, all year long, and to have a large area where he can just run and play. We chose our condo because it was one of the few that allowed big dogs and because there were no "rules" we'd have to follow regarding our care of him. There are a few other pets in the building, but he is the biggest dog here...by far. Everyone we have encountered here is taken with Ryley and is so nice to him and to us. He's often referred to as that "nice, big dog" in fact! We love living here and we love the neighbors that we have. We've tried extremely hard to be very sensitive to everyone else living here, trying to keep Ryley from running up to anyone or from being loud when we play with him. Fortunately he isn't a "barker" so we don't have that to worry about, but there is one thing that he does that is a constant concern of ours and frankly something we never thought about when were we "dog-shopping" 4 years ago...He poops. Now, when I say "poop" I mean he leaves his very own "steaming-deposits" at least twice a day, outside. We of course knew dogs did this, but we severely underestimated the sheer size of poop an 80lb dog could produce. Without going into detail, let's just say it's quite sizeable. So thus, our dilemna. We live in a condo, with other people, who share the same grassy area with us. During the warmer months, Ryley "goes" in the woods and you never see the evidence, but when it's winter and the ground is covered in white, the evidence of Ryley is EVERYWHERE! As Travis put it, like a "minefield of poop!" Again, We LOVE where we live and we DO NOT want to offend anyone or be a burden to our neighbors, so something had to be done. Due to some sunshine and some warmer days of late (FINALLY!!), we felt we must act quickly as with each warm day, more and more poop seems to appear...can you believe I'm blogging about this??

So today, on our most "Glamorous" of days, we bundled up, plastic bag and shovel in hand, and we spent at least an hour, picking up pile after pile of...poop. All because we got a dog. Whom we love. Who poops....alot. To those who have dogs, thank you for your sympathy. To those who do not, I'm sorry you had to read this. Keep this in mind if you ever decide to get one.


The Mighty "Pooper" himself...Ryley


The Pooper-Scooper...be afraid, be very afraid


The Pooper-Scooper Bag Holder...quite an honor


The Poop Patrol...in all our glory!