PINK LAUNDRY: Mia's lair

So our sweet little Mia puppy rejoined our family this past February after almost 18 months of staying with some dear friends in Lebanon while we were in the states and then getting settled in our new home. Of course the girls were over the moon to have her back but I think it has been somewhat of an adjustment for little Mia. Don't get me wrong- she loves us dearly (I hope!) but she also loved this other family dearly and it has just taken her a little time to adjust.

Plus, she's not really a puppy anymore. She's 4.5 and a wee bit eccentric. She had her own little lair at our first house in Lebanon and my friend tells me that she did the same thing at their house. At our first place, it was one of those under the bed boxes that was under our bed (I'm so logical in the way I store things...) but it didn't have a top on it so I could access the stuff easier. Well, Mia quickly turned it into "her place". She would gather random things from around the house and put them in her "lair". It's really the only time I've ever heard her growl at one of the girls (she has still yet to growl at Jason or me)- when they invade her lair to try and retrieve something she's stolen. Which funny enough, was (is) just about always one of their webkins stuffed animals! For some reason she was obsessed with those things. And she didn't chew them to pieces. She would just hold them in her mouth and then surround herself with them in her lair. She was particularly partial to one webkins dog and to one of Naomi's stuffed monkeys... (click here for that story..) OH, and Naomi was so excited to have Mia back that she even gave her Curlis/Curtis the monkey but Jason and I quickly took her back. Possibly we are more attached to the significance of Curtis than she is?!

Anyway, My friend tells me that at their house it was socks. Mia would gather random socks from around the house and hold them captive in her spot under the bed. Funny little dog. Before, we always knew when she had hijacked something she wasn't supposed to have when we arrived home and she greeted us and then immediately made a beeline for her "lair".

Well, maybe it's adjustment anxiety, maybe it's just that she's a crazy, eccentric (but still super sweet little puppy), but for whatever reason, Miss Mia has developed quite a lair in her/our new home. I thought I had our "under bed" area pretty well filled up. See, storage is a big issue in apartments here (as in , there isn't any...) so I very purposefully looked for a bed that would allow plenty of hidden storage. We have sleeping bags, suitcases filled with extra pillows, blankets in bags, beach towels and several "under bed boxes". Well this time she didn't go for one of the boxes, she developed her own little place at the very back against the wall, wedged between hard side suitcases and garbage bags stuffed with sleeping bags. There is a little spot (maybe 2 ft by 2ft) that is very definitely HERS. She gathers socks, bits of balloons, last week it was Easter eggs, the girls stuffed animals (she has a few favorites). Curtis the monkey is always under there (once I realized she wasn't going to chew him up, just cuddle with him, I let him stay). She's also somewhat fixated on one or tow more webkins animals that the girls aren't too happy to give up.

Sadly, she is also pretty fixated on the little rubber shoes we have for Anabelle which I'm sure have some fancy name but I have no idea what it is (anyone?) To be honest they were a gift that I kind of turned my nose up at (I never put shoes on any of my others just because they are so expensive and they outgrow them so fast at that age!) but this little things have been AWESOME. They stay on and keep her little piggies warm which has been a huge thing this winter. So here's the deal. As much as I love Mia puppy and want her to feel secure. I can't let her have the shoes. So I have found myself doing this a lot...