Introducing The Beast

Shawn is coming back from Phoenix. And, that means Mack is coming back too. Oh how I have missed that little boy. He has been gone for 9 months and it feels like forever. Every night I prayed to God to protect them and keep them safe. I prayed that God would help Shawn make good decisions with his life and Mack’s. Then I would ask, God if it is your will please send them back to us. And here they come. God is so good!

They arrived late, around midnight. Shawn and I kept in touch with text messages all evening so I would know how close they were. And before you knew it the u-haul was coming down the drive way. As the door opened there was a sleepy Mack with his arms out stretched calling Nanny. I grabbed him and held him, and he held me. Oh my sweet boy I have missed you so much! It was so good to feel him in my arms again. And he was holding me so tight. He has grown a bit since I last saw him and he was a lot heavier too. Poppy came outside and I said, "Poppy wants to hug you, Mack". And we made the switch over. My arms were about to give in. Little boys sure do grow fast. Shawn looked great as I hugged him and then out of the truck comes Tyson. He was a puppy when I last saw him and Scot warned me how big he was. I can tell you that puppies definitely grow a lot faster then little boys do.

There are 6 words to describe Tyson.

Big

Brown

Buff

Beautiful

Baby

and bad!

Tyson is a pit-bull and a bull mastiff mix. He was just a tiny thing when Shawn got a hold of him. He had parvo and all his siblings died. Shawn got medicine from the local tractor supply store and Timmy injected him with the medication. He lived in a laundry basket for about a month until he was strong enough to walk. Shawn fed him pedialite and baby food in the beginning and when he got stronger he bought chicken, boiled it, and put it into a blender to make mush. That is how he got the name Tyson. He consumed a lot of Tyson chicken. Much TLC was invested in this dog. Shawn loves animals and it isn’t surprising that his dog would be a big baby.

Everyone went inside and Tyson met the other dogs. We have three of them. Noah is a mutt and ever so gentle and friendly. BJ is a Boston terrier and looks like a baby hippo. He likes to eat. And Bailey is a pug. She is bossy and thinks she runs the show around here. Everyone got along just fine and we showed Tyson where the doggie door was. Thankfully he could fit through it. We visited for a bit and then we went to bed. Scot had to work the next day and I am sure Shawn was tired from the drive. They were here safely and tomorrow I could get to spend time with Mack.

Getting to know Tyson was easy enough. He is a very friendly dog. Too friendly at times. He doesn’t understand how big and strong he is. He is very lovable and he thinks he is a lap dog. It’s good Shawn was home a few days before he got a job, just to supervise the getting to know us stage. Tyson barked a few mornings when Scot got up to go to work. It was still dark and when Scot came into the kitchen Tyson growled and barked at him. Scot asked him, "Who do you thing you are? This is my house buddy". Tyson would lay his head down and give you those big brown eyes.

The only bad thing that I find with Tyson, is that you can’t play with him to well. Well, if you are me that is. He is too strong for me. And he is a clutz. That thing where he thinks he is a lap dog doesn’t help either. He just kind of barrels into you. He is really playful and still in the puppy stage. I am waiting for him to be old and lazy like Noah. I think I have a long wait. Things are going okay and Shawn is working and Mack is here with me and the 4 dogs. There is nothing boring about our days here. The dogs had a few scuffles but peace and tranquility is now established.

Timmy came to stay with us temporarily, and on this particular week Jeremy and Jinny took a vacation and I am dog sitting. So now we have 6 dogs here. Oh yes, you read that right! Good thing we have a big house and a doggie door and ¾ of an acre of fenced in yard for them. But still, it’s a little crazy here. I needed to go for groceries and Timmy was going with me. I knew that I needed to separate the dogs since Tyson was not really use to the other two dogs. Didn’t want any fights to happen while I was out. I put little Lola in her kennel and I didn’t want to traumatize Duke by shutting him in a bedroom. Duke is the three legged border collie my son and daughter in law adopted from the pound. He’s a bit scared of loud noises and such, but a very good dog. So I decided to put Tyson in Shawn’s bedroom and close the door. I figured he could hold any potty business while we were gone and take a nap. Boy was I wrong!

We got home from the store and went to release the captives. When I got to Shawn’s room I was afraid to open the door. I could already see the carpet was shredded under the door. I could hear Tyson whining to have the door opened. I opened the door and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Besides the bed covers being every where and the mattress slightly cockeyed on the bed, the carpet was chewed down to the padding at the door. The molding around the door was missing half way up the wall. There was a hole in the wall down low by the door. And Shawn’s bible by his bed was chewed up. Guess he was getting the Word put into him. I called for Timmy and he came and looked in the room.

"I knew that wasn’t a good idea. Dad is gonna be mad. Tyson what did you do!! Bad dog!!"

I felt like I couldn’t yell at him. After all, it was my stupid idea to put him in there and close the door. I should have known the puppy in him would have come out. I should have put Duke in the bedroom and closed the door. He wouldn’t have done this!

I called Shawn at work and told him. He said, "Oh no, Dad is going to be so mad". I think I just heard that statement a minute ago? I told him I was going to call dad right now and tell him so that it could sink into his head before he got home from work and he could cool off a bit. I called Scot at work and told him. I told him it was my fault that I should have know better then to close the beast up like that. He said well, we will just have to get a throw rug for now to put over the chewed up spot. I will pick one up after work. ????????? Was that really the conversation we just had? He didn’t say he was going to kill the dog, or take his butt to the pound, or that Shawn had to find another place for him to stay? I called Shawn and he couldn’t believe that dad was so calm either. But we sighed with relief.

Later as I was petting Tyson and he was looking at me with those big brown eyes I noticed blue carpet threads stuck in between his teeth. I pulled them out and thought 'you are going to be in so much trouble when your daddy gets home tonight'. It hasn’t taken me very long to fall in love with the beast. He works me over like a grand child would. He follows me every where I go just waiting for me to talk to him and pat his head. He is so big that I don’t even need to bend over to reach his head to pat it. He rests his big head on my lap when I sit down. And again with those big brown eyes looks at me so gentle. Ahhhh, what a sucker I am!

The molding is replaced, the hole patched and painted. There is a throw rug over the threshold at the door and Shawn got a new bible. Tyson never gets shut in a bedroom any longer and Duke and Lola had a nice visit with Nanny. Oh yes, I can see it is going to be one adventure after another with Tyson in our lives…………………… You’ll see.