Train that thing already!

This weekend my father and I visited my husband’s parents. Without my husband. I think this should earn me major bonus points in the daughter-in-law department!

Actually, it took a few years, but Mom K has really taken me to heart as one of her own children. My mother died 6 months after our wedding, so Jrex’s Mom has adopted my family. She loves to take care of my father and cook Korean food for him, she bought gifts for my sister’s baby, and she always asks how my brother is doing.

We arrived Friday night and Mom made us dinner before she and Dad K left for a wedding reception. Saturday, Dad and I went into Manhattan to go museum hopping. I left the dog with Jrex’s parents; terrified she would tear something apart or poop on their newly refinished floor. We got off the express bus that night and Jrex’s parents picked us up on the way to a Spanish restaurant for dinner. They said the dog had been fine, but I worried about her spazzing the three hours we were out. When we returned to the house, all was well. No poop piles, no torn bedding, and no chewed furniture. Phew.

That night J’s mom left to go pray at her church. The two Dads and I sat watching TV in the living room. Every time Dad K looked at the Mutt he had a sneering, disgusted look on his face. He kept telling me how wonderful his daughter’s dog is. When he tells Zsa Zsa to sit, she sits; if he tells her to stay, she stays. It’s very important to train a dog properly. He left out the part where Zsa Zsa is 12 years old and at this point wants nothing more from life than the chance to sit and stay. The Mutt is just over one year and we’ve had her for 2 months. She barely graduated from puppy kindergarten. Dad K decides to demonstrate how to control a dog. He sits stiffly on the edge of the couch and yells, “COME! Jada, COME!” In a moment that was of course shocking to him, she cowers behind my legs instead. My Dad starts urging her, “Jada, go to Dad K. Go, girl” I try to entice her over there. I go to get treats for him to use. He sneers at my treats. Without words he says, “Only sissies use treats to train their weak-minded animals”. He stands and points down at the dog, “Jada, SIT!” I try to do a subtle hand signal for her to obey, but he brushes me aside, and the dog runs to keep me between him and her. He finally huffs away toward his room leaving the three of us in disturbed silence. I lean over to my Dad, who has a shocked stare frozen to his face, “Dad, what are we going to do when we have ‘real’ children?” He shakes his head and shrugs helplessly.