Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

The words do not have to be perfect.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

T R E 4 5 O N

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

Israel is using food as a weapon of war. Unforgivable.

He really is that stupid.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

Dead end MAGA boomers crying about Talyor Swift being a Dem is my kind of music. Turn it up.

He imagines himself as The Big Bad, Who Is Universally Feared… instead of The Big Jagoff, Who Is Universally Mocked.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / Thursday Morning Open Thread: What, Son?

Thursday Morning Open Thread: What, Son?

by | 114 Comments

This post is in: , ,

From inveterate commentor Miss Bianca:

Most all y’all know that my old dog, the noble Stella, died recently. So many jackals sent their condolences in response to my distress call that I was quite overwhelmed. I can’t thank you all enough for letting me know that I wasn’t alone in feeling the pain of a beloved dog passing. I’m getting weepy just thinking about it.

I expected to stay weepy for quite some time as we made the transition to a one-dog household. I meant to put away Stella’s bowl, take the ramp back that the vet had lent me to get her into and out of the car…make plans that included a trip out of town this week to look at a horse (because hell, why not jump right into having more animals to take care of, right?). You know, deal with the loss. But certainly not by getting another dog. Oh, no, not yet.

Then last Wednesday – this was not 72 hours after Stella’s passing, mind – my boon companion D, whose house I have the honor of sharing, and whose preferred canine companion would be something the size and shape of a Pomeranian, showed me a text he got from our neighbors down the road, with a photo of a very sad-looking puppy . “Do you recognize this dog?” was the question. They had found him on the porch, huddled next to their courtly elderly Airedale, who was watching over him.

Well, no. And no tag on the collar, no chip…but puncture wounds on his neck and side, and one ear. And since ours is not a neighborhood where a little puppy is likely to stray into from elsewhere – we’re a fair ways off the road – the dark suspicion that he had been dumped, and savaged by either another dog or a wild animal, occurred to all of us.

Well, you can guess what happened. “Going to see the puppy” became “taking the puppy to the vet” became “taking the puppy in to foster” became “puppy is now home” within the space of a week.

So then the name game began…and since I was in a sentimental mood, and had just been thinking about what Stella – and our late lamented Walter – would have been like as puppies, I wanted something reminiscent of either Stella or Walter. So first came the star-themed names, and “Astro” made the short list. But then D said “Astro” reminded him of a Chevy van, so that one was out. Then the “W” names – Wesley? Wallace? Wash? Winston? Nothing was sticking, till we were watching “Veronica Mars” the other night and D blurted out, “Watson”.

“Watson. Watson. YEESSS!! WATSON!! ”

So, say hello to Watson, BJ! I am convinced Stella has been meddling from beyond the grave to bring us together. And Watson, meet your new fan base!

 

Welcome, Watson! (And forgive the title — I have a nasty cold, and not being able to breathe properly is starving my brain of oxygen.)

Reader Interactions

114Comments

  3. 3.

    OzarkHillbilly

    The Labrador comes thru strong with this one. You are a goner, Miss Bianca..

  10. 10.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Teachers are awesome.

    A teacher who leads a classroom for teenage refugees staged a silent protest by wearing several overtly political badges while receiving an award from Donald Trump at the White House. Mandy Manning works at a school that specialises in English language development

  11. 11.

    satby

    Hooray for Miss Bianca and Watson (and D)! Rescuing a puppy in dire need is a good deed that saves us too. Stella would be happy.

    @rikyrah: Good morning ?!

  16. 16.

    Immanentize

    Congratulations to Watson, and best wishes to Miss Bianca!

    And how fun is it that she and D get to say, “Watson, come here, I want to see you,”

    ETA I love the last pic of him sleeping with his tongue poking out just a tad.

  17. 17.

    Cermet

    Best thing to do; having a dog is a joy and when we lose our best friend, getting another as soon as possible really is the best approach. So much joy – yes, all good things pass but that should never prevent one from realizing that just as in the first time, such good times can be had again with a new friend. Congratulations on finding a new friend!

  18. 18.

    geg6

    SQUEEEEEEEEE! A Lab puppeh! Labs are the most awesome! Congratulations to Watson and Miss Bianca on their new relationship!

  19. 19.

    Planetpundit

    Wonderful all around; all the best for you and Watson ….. and a tip of the hat to Walter’s evergreen memory.

  21. 21.

    Schlemazel

    Good on ya, Miss B! I am sure you will receive many happy returns on your investment.

  26. 26.

    Original Lee

    Congratulations! Watson looks to be an awesome puppy. We waited a year between dogs this time around, and it was the longest year ever. (The Spouse wanted to be sure we wanted another dog. Ha!)

  27. 27.

    Elizabelle

    Soon as I saw the photo, knew it was going to be Miss Bianca’s found puppy. Watson! Glad he is staying for good.

    Did the vet have any idea on what caused the puncture wounds?

  31. 31.

    Desargues

    He’s the very image of cuteness. So lucky to have found a mom. Congratulations, Watson! :-)

  32. 32.

    Steve in the SFO

    Love the new puppy, and love that you named him after former UGA star and Masters winner Bubba Watson!

  33. 33.

    Ella in New Mexico

    Aww, welcome to your new happy home, Watson!

    I guess the Universe is NOt always kind of a dick, contrary to what the quote on my new coffee cup says. Congratulations, Mama Bianca! He’s adorable.

  34. 34.

    Thoughtful David

    So, serious question: Don’t most NDAs have a clause that if one side starts talking it releases the other side from its obligation to keep quiet? Therefore, doesn’t Giuliani’s talk last night about payments mean the NDA is off? Doesn’t that also mean that Trump’s $ 29M suit against Stormy/Stephanie for her having talked is now moot?
    I’m trying to figure this out first, before even trying to understand how campaign finance laws will figure in.

  35. 35.

    MomSense

    @Sab:

    Hahaha! If she’s lucky it will just be her shoes. One of my lab puppies ate a good section of the coffee table.

  38. 38.

    David Byron Hopson

    I love how young ones, both human & canine, stick their tongues out when they sleep.

  39. 39.

    Elizabelle

    These were amazing, 100 years old, to go with your coffee. The people look like they could step out of the photos, into today.

    From The Atlantic: 100 Years Ago: France in the Final Year of World War I

    The American photographer Lewis Hine is perhaps most famous for his compelling images of child labor across the United States in the early 20th century. In 1918, Hine was hired by the American Red Cross to document their work in Europe, as they provided aid to wounded soldiers and refugees affected by World War I. The photographs were also intended to drum up support for the Red Cross, and appeal to an American audience back home who had grown weary of the war, even as it crawled toward a close. Hine traveled across France, photographing refugee families, orphaned children, wounded and shell-shocked soldiers, the nurses and volunteers who cared for them all, the ruined buildings they fled, and the temporary homes they filled. Take a moment to step back in time 100 years, for a visit to France in the final year of World War I, seen through the lens of Mr. Lewis Hine, with original (sometimes dated) captions included when available.

  41. 41.

    Mark

    SWEET!!! Sorry for your loss. But Watson will make it easier. Congratulations on the new addition.

  42. 42.

    WereBear

    Yay! So very much Yay!

    Pet grief does not run along the usual channels. So much so I wrote a post to help people with their cats’ passing:

    After a loss, how long before we get a new cat?

    Goes the same for dogs. It “seems wrong” to go out and get another pet, like our pet can be replaced. But that is not how it should be handled. We are wrongly equating “pet grief” with “human grief.” These are obviously different forms of love, and in our grief, we don’t realize that.

    While it is possible to have many simultaneous partners, or multiple grandmas, and love them all, we recognize both the depth of the bond, and its exclusive nature, by realizing we cannot just go out to the Human Shelter and pick up a new one :)

    Pets are different, though. As here, there are so many wonderful pets going begging, desperately needed a home, that we can mourn our lost pet (and we do, for the rest of our lives) while, at the same time, welcoming a new one. This is not at all a replacement process, is it?

    It is a way of passing on the love from the lost pet, in the best possible way.

    Welcome, Watson. I am so happy the right stars shone on you, after all.

  43. 43.

    Patricia Kayden

    Watson is adorable. So glad you have another doggy to lavish with love.

  44. 44.

    Betty Cracker

    Awwwww! What a sweet boy! Congrats all around! :)

    ETA: Get well soon, Anne. Just got over a nasty cold myself, so my memory of how much that sucks is fresh.

  46. 46.

    debit

    What an adorable little face!! Congratulations, Watson, you found your home.

  47. 47.

    Betty Cracker

    In local puppy news, our little Badger just bounded into my mudroom/workspace with a bra hanging from his jaws. He’s discovered the laundry hamper. Le sigh.

  48. 48.

    WereBear

    I also see a lot of Lab, but it is possible, as Watson grows, that he will exhibit possible crossbreeds. When I acquired my circus dog, Arby, he was the image of Norwegian Elkhound pups, but as he grew, the Lab influence appeared, so he looked half ‘n’ half by his maturity.

    Puppies — journey of discovery!

  50. 50.

    geg6

    @Betty Cracker:

    I have found that puppies love undies more than anything. I have lost bras that were torn to bits, panties with the crotch chewed out and camisoles chewed and used as a pillow. Lovey was the crotch chewer. Koda has never chewed anything. She’s such a good dog and always was.

  51. 51.

    Mary G

    Congratulations on being adopted, Miss Bianca! I have no doubt that Stella told the universe that you were far too good of a human to go without a doggie for long. Watson is adorbs and the thought of him being guarded by the Airedale made me smile.

  52. 52.

    Sab

    @WereBear: My first dog was a Norwegian Elkhound /Lab cross. She looked like a lab wearing an elkhound suit. We called her our sheep in wolf’s clothing.

  53. 53.

    Jeffro

    @Elizabelle: That 4th picture of the “war-damaged” town, holy cow. What does it take to earn the label “totally destroyed”??

  58. 58.

    debit

    @geg6: I had an Afghan hound that was a shoe chewer, but only ever one of the pair. It actually would have been better if she’d destroyed both instead of leaving one pristine, as if to mock the utter destruction of its mate. When denied shoes, she went for books, actually pulling them from the shelves. Naturally, they were my favorites and I’d handled them the most. A dog’s love can be expensive.

  60. 60.

    Baud

    @rikyrah: To be fair, they’re a little busy right now searching the archives of prominent Dems for scandalous materials.

  62. 62.

    MomSense

    @rikyrah:

    During The Drone Wars, we knew it was about the black man in office and also about dividing and discouraging the left. I guess it’s some small comfort that we never fell for it but it certainly did a lot of damage and created the divisions that assisted the 2016 ratfucking.

  63. 63.

    ixnay

    @WereBear: Bryce, the Standard Poodle, retrieves used wash cloths from the washer. Good thing he doesn’t eat them, as that ruins the budget.

  64. 64.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @MomSense: I made a coffee table for some friends of mine as a gift. He called it his “favorite work of art”. Then their lab puppy got a hold of it. She begged me to fix it. “Sorry A, it’s not “fixable”. I suggest you display it with Jake’s artistic additions and learn to laugh about it.”

  65. 65.

    Manyakitty

    @Betty Cracker: That mental image, along with the visual ones at of darling little Watson, brought a smile to my crusty old face this morning,

  66. 66.

    zhena gogolia

    @rikyrah:

    On Vanity Fair, it actually is a fun issue. I just don’t want them to stop going after Trump, which it looks as if they have.

  68. 68.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @WereBear: He has a little something else in him as the white spot on his chest testifies, but the Lab is undeniable.

  69. 69.

    gene108

    @MomSense:

    I think it is about discouraging Democrats as much as anything else. The Left painted Bill Clinton as a warmonger, in the 1990’s, because he enforced the No Fly Zone in Iraq, launched cruise missiles at al-Qaeda, and some other stuff.

    Basically, the Left cannot abide Democrats having to govern, and not bow to their demands of being pure to the cause.

  71. 71.

    Sab

    @WereBear: Yes.Sweetest dog ever. But that curling tale on the back end of a fluffy, sable colored lab was ridiculous.

  73. 73.

    Joy in FL

    @Miss Bianca Oh, the lucky puppy! and lucky humans! Stella and Walter are surely smiling over this sweetness. More happiness added to our world and to your dwelling. (and I love Veronica Mars)

  74. 74.

    kindness

    Watson is a fine addition to the household and to the larger BJ family. Welcome lil guy.

  75. 75.

    WaterGirl

    @Betty Cracker: Puppy rite of passage! Surely your puppy book has a page for that, with room for the story and a photo. First shoe eaten, first wall chewed, first item stolen, you know, all the usual stuff.

    Seriously, though, I did actually look for a puppy book when my niece’s two pups stayed with me, but I didn’t find anything good. I think BJ should create a puppy book and sell it as a way to make money for rescues. We surely have the talent we need to do the whole thing.

  76. 76.

    WaterGirl

    @rikyrah: Trump has to be stopped. There is no love of country among Republicans, or they would impeach Trump before we get to the point of no return.

  77. 77.

    Yarrow

    Watson is so cute! How great that Stella sent him your way so you and the rest of the household wouldn’t be lonely. Awww… I love his little tongue sticking out in the second picture.

  78. 78.

    TaMara (HFG)

    I’m a firm believer that the animals that love us make sure we are taken care of when they leave….I have stories. :-) Welcome Watson and so happy for you Miss B.

  81. 81.

    Platonailedit

    @rikyrah: Didn’t the twitler brag that the Iowa farmers understand the daddy’s beating is for their own good?

  82. 82.

    Miss Bianca

    Howdy, all! Ain’t he the dandy? He and Luna are wrassling outside after breakfast. Luna was so chill about him coming into the house, I couldn’t believe it. But of course, she was looking forward to having her own personal chew toy! : )

    Oh, Lord, shoes, bras, books…yes, Luna was quite the puppy chewing terror. So far Watson has been a bit more restrained, but it’s early days yet!

    I think there may be a touch of coonhound or something else in his mix…altho’ friends of mine tell me that American Labs can have some white on them.

  85. 85.

    hedgehog mobile

    Whst happy news! Welcone, Watson, and yay Miss Bianca and D! Watson is a cutie pie.

  86. 86.

    Sab

    Yay mutts. We are used to categorizing dogs by what breed they resemble, which I also do, but I love mutts and mostly only have mutts.

    However, my uncle went into a nursing home last month and I have his pedigree cocker. I don’t even particularly like cockers. I think they are biting little assholes. But this little guy is a treasure. He is deaf as a post like all elderly cockers, and he is spoiled. He barks like a maniac for anything he wants (food, walks). But otherwise he is a sweetheart.

    My four year old granddaughter is autistic and she hates dogs because all the dogs she knows are obnoxious hyper terriers. She loves this sweet gentle cocker.

  87. 87.

    Skepticat

    Some things are simply meant to be. A friend of mine was in tremendous pain mourning her cat when another cat, in much the same shape as the handsome Watson was on arrival, simply walked out of the woods and presented herself as solace and distraction. It’s never clear with a rescue who’s the rescuer and the rescuee, but I wish you and Watson much joy.

  88. 88.

    Elizabelle

    I kinda wish Watson could come back for cocktail hour. Or Stella. If not Lily.

    We needs our hardworking pets to get us through these days of Trump.

  90. 90.

    Elizabelle

    @Jeffro:
    @Ramalama:
    @O. Felix Culpa:

    Glad you liked the photos. Now I want to see more. But yes, it is worthwhile to see the aftermath of war, of what greed and ugly words can bring.

    A lot of these children were, what — maybe aged ten at the end of WW1, the “Great War.” So they were young adults, maybe with families of their own, when war next approached in 1939 (anxious runup for years before). I wonder how they responded. Who fought, who fled, who supported the Vichy government?

    Current events make me want to learn ever more about the 20th century, because we did not well learn its lessons. Particularly about the runup to Naziism.

    And we as a country are still struggling, in some parts, with Reconstruction. 19th century.

  94. 94.

    Elizabelle

    @danielx: Good catch. Had not even thought to look.

    Now I will always look for that in older photos, when mourning dress was more prevalent. Thank you.

  95. 95.

    maya

    Congrats on new, mostly, Lab pup. Great dogs. Have had a few. Reading all the puppy chewing horror stories above…… a really good and totally inexpensive chew toy for teething pups can be made by knotting up old socks, or, better yet, old nylon stockings. The more knots the better. They can really sink their teeth into them and try as they might they can’t shred them. Never had a pup that chewed anything else, except a chess piece once. Have fun!

  96. 96.

    SgrAstar

    @OzarkHillbilly: jsyk, purebred labs can have a white flash on their chests, and elsewhere. Watson is so, so cute! Labs are just the best- fun loving, loyal, athletic, super affectionate. My giant rescue lab died 2 years ago, and I miss him like crazy.

  102. 102.

    Lizzy L

    Hooray for dog rescue! Having said goodbye to my beloved old boy Theo on April 8th, my heart and soul resonate strongly with this story. I have a bunch of traveling to do between now and the fall, but when that’s done it is my firm intention to make the rounds of the local animal shelters, and get another dog; possibly a puppy, more likely an older dog. Watson is a very lucky dog. I am happy for you, Miss Bianca.

  104. 104.

    MoxieM

    Hurray for you! Hurray for lucky lil Watson… he is adorbs.

    What kind of size of black lab cupcake is he? (No matter, just curious). My niece has an aging TN roadside pupper she got as a baby who looks just like that, and he is an awesome dog, just the best. (Also, abandoned by the side of the road– he & littermate were so flea & parasite ridden they nearly died :( )

    I love this rescue community.

  105. 105.

    Elizabelle

    @Lizzy L: My condolences on Theo.

    Enjoy your travels, and a new buddy will be waiting for you when you get back. Unless one (or two) just wander in and make themselves a home in the meantime.

  106. 106.

    Gravenstone

    Congrats and welcome, Watson! He looks like the spitting image of the last dog my sister found foisted off on my parents before she moved away for college and beyond – Nike.

  107. 107.

    Lizzy L

    @Elizabelle: Thank you. I miss him so much. And, yes, the universe could easily upend all my thoughtful planning. Does it all the time.

  109. 109.

    Tata

    Welcome, adorable new friend!

    People who don’t read bloggy blogs do not understand how folks get attached to internet dogs. I was explaining to my father-in-law I was very attached to my internet dogs and cats. He laughed, “You have four cats, four chickens, grandchildren and a garden, and you’re worried about someone’s dog?” I laughed too, but I wasn’t kidding.

  110. 110.

    stinger

    @Elizabelle: I’m struck by #8, a large crowd of people, in which I can find exactly one person, a woman, who is not behatted. Fashions change!

  113. 113.

    karen marie

    Congratulations! In my experience, the best pets come this way – by surprise. I am so glad that everything is as it should be.

  114. 114.

    Mel

    Watson is a beautiful little boy!

    Stella’s loving paws surely guided him to you.

Comments are closed.