by Marlena Elias
December 23, 2000

During this holiday season, when our lives are filled with hectic schedules and shopping lists, I wanted to share a very special, heartwarming story with all of you. This story is about a boy and his special problem.

Perfect Poop Placement. I was mentioning to Jeanne in an email that I felt somehow Ethan and I have made Magic a neurotic dog. He can't poop unless he has PPP (Perfect Poop Placement). No matter how much pain he's in, he does the walk of poop until he finds "the" perfect spot to drop a load. On a good day, it only takes a few paces. On a bad day, he wanders up and down poop alley trying to find his spot!

I'm discussing this with the world because now that Rocky has entered our family life, he has thrown poor Magic Pooty for a poop loop, if you will. Whenever Magic tries to go "potty" Rocky will come running at him as fast a 13-week-old puppy can run. Rocky just wants to create havoc and make Magic play with him. No matter how desperate Magic is to find "his" spot, Rocky is relentless in his pursuit of playing!

So here is my big boy Magic, being bowled over by this teeny tiny baby dog. Rocky can still walk under Magic without any effort, but Magic can't do his business without Rocky either running into him or sniffing him. Occasionally Magic will give me a sideways glance that says, "Mom! For the love of God! Please get him out of here!" But I don't, I let the two of them work this out themselves.

Since Rocky is still a baby, Magic is pretty respectful of his size and treats him as gently as he can. HOWEVER, as the baby gets bigger and becomes a larger distraction/nuisance Magic will file this in doggy memory and pounce on Rocky like there's no tomorrow.

So my reading audience, I'm sure you're wondering why I chose to share this particular story as a holiday event. One reason and one reason only: freedom of movement. <EM>