LIBBY BLUE!

(Short for Liberty Blue)

What’s that?…

Why yes…you’re right…it doesn’t sound very Korean-ish, does it?

Well, the intention for a Korean name was there – spent the whole day flippin’ through the little Korean-English dictionary we bought.

And when that failed, we started looking up names in Korean mythology & folklore.

But I just couldn’t find a name that either sounded pretty, seemed to fit or that I could pronounce without butchering.

It’s one thing to butcher Korean at home where no one would know the difference.

But here?

Yeah, not so much.

So Libby it is.

Ahem…

If you’ll all be seated, we’ll get tonight’s meeting started.

Hello. My name is Jennifer. And I have yet to name this dog.

[Hi, Jennifer]

It’s been 29 days since we found her in the woods & brought her home.

And unless I fall off the wagon tonight, I should be able to get my 30-day pin tomorrow.

Wow – 30 days, right? I never thought I would make it this long.

30 days of gnawing, nipping, biting, whining, grunting.

30 days of “no-no-no”, “hey-hey-hey”, “cut that out”.

30 days of fuzzy butt, wiggly butt, cranky butt, cute butt.

But tomorrow I’m off to the PX to look up a Korean name in the English-Korean dictionaries they sell.

So far on my list to look up I’ve got Freedom or Liberty…Eric wants to look up Bear or Little Bear…and Maggie wants to look up Dumb Butt.

Any other suggestions?

No, she doesn’t have a name.

Nothing formal anyway…so far it’s been “here puppy”, “good puppy”, “cut that out puppy!”

I get that she needs a name.

I’d prefer to giver her a Korean name – something strong, but feminine.

But naming her means claiming her.

It means giving up the hope to adopt the black dog.

It means accepting a life of heartache when the black dog inevitably gets moved to another site.

It means taking on yet another responsibility in a life already full of responsibilities.

It means another little life to mold when I can’t seem to get my own life together.

It means long nights of “I’ve got to go pee” every few hours.

It means more dirt and mud and fur and drool.

It means I’ll have to explain again why brooms aren’t toys, why cats aren’t play-things & why for the love of God we don’t chew on Daddy’s boots.

It means when I go to Yongsan soon for an MRI & Neurology consult I’ll have to leave behind two sets of chew toys to keep idle paws preoccupied.

It means….

It means….

It means….

It means….at the moment….I’m a bad mommy.

It started because of these.

Oh…they’re nice & clean now.

But this morning they tracked in little muddy footprints all over my living room floor.

At the time, my thoughts weren’t ‘how cute would this be for a post today?’…

They were…

THAT’S IT! I’VE HAD IT! YOU ARE GETTING A BATH, YOUNG LADY!

So I scooped her up & plopped her little butt straight into the kitchen sink.

There wasn’t much resistence…just a few whines until she realized when Mommy says ‘That’s it!’, she means it & it’s best to just let her have her way.

I didn’t get a single shot of her little drenched-rat body….looking at me with those forelorn little beadie eyes….with the mud smudged nose (which I somehow managed to miss entirely).

I was focused.

I was a mad woman.

I was NEVER going to have to sweep these damned dirty floors again!

“Aahhh….Mom?…..I have to pee.”

[apologizing in advance for the poor audio quality - it may take a moment to load]

While we continue to foster the puppy (not sure if we’ll keep her or not), we’re learning more about her personality.

For example, she’s a grunter.

[grrrhhh....ggrrrhhhh....ggrrrhhhhhh]

Watching this video you’d think she was spoiled rotten & raised on endless piles of satin squishy pillows – not the shaggy, abandoned outdoor pup we found.

But she’s come to love sleeping under the stairs…where all the dust bunnies can cling to her fuzzy coat.

Looking at her, she appears to be a Jindo (a Korean hunting dog)…or at least a Jindo-mix.

And she’s been the easiet & fastest dog I’ve ever potty trained.

Day 2 she had it all figured out & by Day 3 she’s started whining at the back door when she needs to go out.

Today was the first day that she & Maggie really started playing together and she can now give kisses on command.

But she’s a grunter…grunts when you pick her up, grunts when you put her down, grunts in her sleep.

Grunt, grunt, grunt.

Enjoy!