All I need is this purple bedazzled collar and that's all I need

Oh but I could be worse. Certainly, I could! "How so?" you ask? How about if I drag this disoriented, sick pooch to PetSmarCoDepot! Surely she will enjoy walking around and smelling all of the wonderful doggie smells, right? The drive to the store with windows to look out of will be fun, no doubt! Yes, this is an excellent idea. (Self-Deceit Girl!!)

Dreams of training Nadine to ride in the basket of my bike were a little ways off yet, so Melissa drove us to the store for our shopping spree. The shivering, shaking pup in my lap was a quick sign that this was maybe not the best idea, but I was convinced she would have a ball at the store and she would realize that it would all be worth it. This place has got to be to dogs what American Girl place is to a 9-year-old, right? She'll love it, absolutely. Right?

Not right. She had no interest in exploring the odoriferous world of the pet store. I had to carry her the entire time. I started wondering if they sold doggie bjorns. (They do, sort of.) If I was going to be carrying this dog everywhere, I was going to have to grown an extra arm. Now I understood why Paris Hilton carries her dog in her purse. When your only apparent job is shopping, you must have both arms free!

I wanted her to try out a dog bed to see what size was best. I pulled one off the shelf onto the floor and placed Nadine in it. Kind of. She collapsed into it with her butt in the air and head flat on the ground - the pose dogs often take when their person has put clothing on them and they will now no longer move one inch until said garment has been removed and a large treat has been provided. Nope, bed-testing wasn't in the future either, so I just picked the one underneath my prone dog. Toys were placed on the floor to play with and nary a sniff was taken. Only one orange halloween doggie toy was given even a sideways glance - so I snapped it up immediately. Soft foods and treats were dumped in the cart, puppy pads and a holder for training, leashes and jackets, a travel crate, food bowls, anything and everything I thought I ever might need was purchased. Minus a high chair and pack-n-play, I might as well have outfitted a nursery.

Home to test out the new stuff, this time with a slightly less nervous dog on the floor of the car next to my feet, Nadine immediately went into the bathroom to lay down in her new bed. I guess this one doesn't want to have a fashion show then? No runway-walking of the new collar? Sitting on the floor, looking at my tuckered-out pooch, how much I had put her through in the past 24 hours sunk in. "What a heel I am to have dragged her to the store," I thought.

Unfortunately for her, her ordeal was nowhere near over, as my mom was coming in just 3 days to whisk her off to the great state of Michigan...


On a brighter note, she still loves that bed we got and orange doggie is her crate buddy. So, while I may not know what I'm doing a good portion of the time when it comes to Nadine, at least my shopping skills are spot-on.