Rhonda joins the family and emotional stress triggers a flare

About a year and a half after getting Rachael, Scott and I were discussing getting her a companion to play with since his Lupus was limiting the time he was able to spend playing with her. We hadn't made a definite decision until one day we were running errands and noticed a small pet shop in the strip mall. We went in and Scott saw a chocolate Lab that was getting to big for the crate they had her in and had a sign stating a discount on this dog.

Scott asked to see the dog and they brought out the Chocolate Lab. Well u can guess that he fell in love with th dog instantly. So we started getting the paperwork together to buy the dog. The manager came out and said he didn't have the AKC certificate for this male dog, well this totally confused us both. Scott picked up the dog again and looked between the legs and then proceeded to show the manager. There was no way this was a male. This Chocolate Lab was a female. This really made the purchasing process a mess, but we finally got everything straightened out and the Chocolate Lab came home with us and was name Lady Rhonda, Rhonda for short.

Rhonda and Rachael became best of friends and playmates instantly. Having Rachael potty trained actually made Rhonda's potty training easier. As the bonding with Scott and the two labs continued everything was going well. But, that didn't last long.

The next week I got up one morning and turned on the TV as I usually did. Scott was a little up set, as he was still sleeping on the pullout couch. He was living with me until he closed on his new condo down the street from me. I noticed that the TV coverage was not usual and told Scott to wake up and see what was going on. He started watching just as the plane hit the second tower of the World Trade Center. It was September 11. We spent the rest of that day glued to the TV, as it was my day off. Looking back now I think we were both in shock.

The girl's as Scott often refers to them knew something was up, Especially Rachael. She was staying very close to Scott and was not really interested in playing with Rhonda. I didn't think much of it at the time, as I thought it was just her reacting to him and his response the the Tragic events of that day.

I was surprised that about a week later Scott had a pretty strong flare of his Lupus. We have since discussed it and I now know why he reacted so strongly to the events of 9/11. He had been monitoring his Fraternity's web sites and discussion boards and had found that a fairly large number of his Lambda Chi Alpha alumni brothers were killed when the World Trade Center Towers collapse. Luckily there was no one that Scott knew personally, but He still felt a great loss a he explained to me that it did not matter that he did not know them personally they were his brothers. He tried to explain the brotherhood bond of his fraternity, but to this day I am not sure that I can really understand that bond.

Rhonda's potty training was actually pretty quick, I guess having Rachael already trained helped. It was actually fun to watch as Scott and the girls bond and interacted. I really enjoyed watching the different personalities of the two girls. Rachael was much more of a big lap dog a what I would call a more serious dog. Rhonda on the other hand was more independent and playful. We learned very quickly that Rhonda was a lick-er. It was like she had to lick you to make sure everything was as it should be. To this day she just can't keep her tongue in her mouth. If you are petting her she has to be licking you at the same time. I guess it is just her way of showing that she approves.

In the next entry I'll tell you about Scott moving to his new condo and how the girls adjusted as well as how the steroids Scott was taking affected him.