Monday, February 9, 2009

What's Worse?

I'm not sure what's worse, living with kids that spill on the floor and write on the walls or living with animals that constantly shed, track in dirt, slobber on the couches, and puke on the carpet. Not to mention cats who like to carry their poop around the house and stash it under the refrigerator!

Our cute little dog Dozer is guilty of all of the above. Instead of coloring on the walls, he's flipping slobber on the walls, instead of spilling on the floor, he chews his bones leaving nasty crusted remnants that stick to the carpet fibers, and instead of leaving his toys all over the house, he leaves his toys all over the house.

No matter how many times I tell him to put his toys in his basket when he's done playing with them, he just won't do it.

Keeping this dog clean is a never ending challenge. When Al & I got back from vacation, our house was taken over by our furry children. A week's worth of hair, slobber, dirt and who knows what covered the house!


First thing we do, vacuum the dog.




Al was on brushing duty and I had vacuum duty. After an hour of this process, you can imagine all the hair we collected! I will spare you the pictures of the hair in the trash can, it is too gross and pretty embarrassing for Dozer!

Dozer was okay with the brushing, but like most dogs, he is deathly afraid of vacuums so he wasn't too happy with that process.




You can see Smokey (the cat) lying in the background laughing to himself, secretly enjoying the torture going on in front of him. Dozer hated being humiliated in front of his superiors, our cats run our household after all.




But this weekend, I awarded Dozer with this sweet new collar!




Isn't he adorable?




Alex is not too happy about my color choice. I don't know why, pink is in for guys these days isn't it? But Al had to tell Dozer how gay and feminine he looked and Dozer did not take too kindly to that, he is a sensitive dog after all.




I had to explain to Dozer that Al and I don't care what sort of life style he chooses, we not only have human family members with an alternate lifestyle, but our own two kitties are gay and proudly display their love and affection for each other openly in front of us everyday.

After our little talk, Dozer decided that he is secure in his masculinity and will hold his head high and proudly display his new pink collar. So no matter what Al says, the collar is staying! He looks too adorable don't ya think?


Now back to the subject at hand, I want your opinions. Especially opinions of those mothers who have both children and furry children.


What's worse, the messes your animals make, or the messes your kids make?

34 comments:

Michelle said...

Hmm that's a tough one. My dogs shed terribly and I absolutely loathe the fact that I have to vacuum as often as I do. Especially in the spring when my Dakota is shedding in huge tufts. It's a wonder that dog's not bald by Memorial Day. My little boy is only 20 months so he's not quite into the mess-making stage yet. But his toys left all over the house is a huge annoyance for sure. But at least he'll kinda listen if I ask him to put them away, unlike the dogs who just look at me and then set the ball in my lap like they have no idea what I'm talking about. So if I had to pick, I'd say the dogs are messier by far!!

Dellany Higby said...

OH my goodness. Dozer is so stinkin cute I could eat him! And that's a lot of dog to eat. Now, I don't have 'real' kids but I do have a whole ___load of nephews and have you ever been around when a diaper disaster goes horribly wrong? Or when you babysit them and feed them disgusting chinese food that they vomit down the entire hallway at 3:00AM??? I am thinking it is sixes. We are all just animals after all!

Kristina P. said...

I have neither, so I can't help you!

Rebecca Jo said...

I'll vote for neither & say its my husband who makes the worst messes!!!!

but you can imagine with four, we have our round of hair collecting daily, mud clean ups on the floor & butts that need cleaning & poop picked up in the yard (land mines!)

Your baby is precious though - & just remind him that Pink brings out the metrosexual... be handsome with style!

Anonymous said...

I don't have an answer but I love the way the cat is surveying the goings-on. So catlike!

Anonymous social worker said...

omg, you vacum your dog? that's hilarious, this is so ironic, because my dog just puked all over my white bed, 9cover, sheets and matress) joy

Call Me Cate said...

Our one cat is gay. We love him but I'm not sure how to break it to my parents.

I don't have kids so I can't vote. As for the cat messes, our rule is "whoever spots it first cleans it up". Some mornings, I'm quite intentionally blind.

Queenie Jeannie said...

OK hun, first of all that isn't a dog....it's a HORSE!! Holy moly he's huge!!! And no, my husband wouldn't allow a pink collar, but I guess you run your house like I run mine - woman rules!!

As for messes, you can reason (sort of) with kids and not so much with animals. The Bella makes more of a mess than Sasha. So that's my two cents.

Melissa said...

I don't have kids, but my dog leaves her toys out all the time. Every time I put them away she has to get them out.

At least with kids I can make them put their toys away!

Donnetta said...

I'll say that the kids are WAY better than animals! You can make clean up (or lock them in a dark closet - KIDDING). I've never had one to eat or hide poop and typically they don't shed or drool on the floor.

But that's just MY humble little opinion!

Amanda Hopper said...

Well, since my dog now is an outside dog, my kids make bigger messes. When Tigger was an inside dog, he ate my shoes and left the reminents for me to pick up. He wanted to show mommy what he learned new that day. He would leave his tennis ball marks on the wall and just laugh when he saw mommy trying to clean them off.

Dozer is adorable though. I love BIG dogs. Go look at my BFF Kate's blog - www.therobersonfam.blogspot.com - and check out her doberman who likes to sit on the couch. (Literally....sit like a human on the couch.)

Suzi said...

My kids have drawn on the walls, left toys and clothes all over the place (inside and out),drooled all over everything (including me), and vomited in many places...the car, their bed, the carpet to name a few. Animals and kids cause the same destruction. If you can handle the furry babies you can handle the human babies.

By the way Dozer looks very handsome in his new clothes.

When you get a chance come see me, you've been tagged. :-)

Kasey said...

Sorry but I have to laugh about you cat's poop problems. I've never heard of that before. I'm allergic to animals so we will not have any!! The G.P,'s have plenty for our kids to get their fixes. I would rather have kid messes. They usually get it quicker than animals when they are punished for it!!!!

CLUFF FAMILY said...

HMMM. Well, you know me. I don't have tolerance for the pet messes. Kids I can handle. Chica is usually cleaner than my kids. They are into so much more than Chica. BUT they don't lick their butts or eat poop. YUCK! I would take the kid messes over oet messes any day. I think you knew my answer before I began!

ChicagoLady said...

I don't have any kids, but I can tell you from experience, there's nothing worse than waking up in the morning, in the dark, and stepping in a cold pile of cat puke with your bare feet.

Dani Brems said...

Neither Kel, you should always choose neither. All I have to do is dust.

The Wife O Riley said...

Dozer is adorable, especially with the collar.

Animals are worse because eventually (I hope) the kids get it. Although, I'm still waiting for that moment.

Of course you are allowed to ask what movie! It's Public Enemies and Johnny Depp stars as John Dillinger, infamous bank robber. I know Christian Bale is in it too, but I don't know who he plays.

KAL071203 said...

We have to fur babies (dogs) an English Spring spaniel and a Black Labrador Retriever, ages 6 and 2. We also have two little boys, a 4 1/2-year-old and a 12-month-old. The dogs, though I love them dearly are WAY worse. as the spaniel (cheyenne) is getting older if she is left alone too long and uncrated she gets depressed and destroys entire rooms, keep in mind I am a SAHM so the amount of time they are left alone is minimal...and the Lab, if she is going to have an "accident" in the house, she poop ON the carpeted STEPS!!! she's pretyy but not real bright so that added to the normal drooling/shedding etc. the dogs are WAY WAY worse!!!!

Anonymous said...

We tried vaccumming our dogs, but they were too freaked out!
Love the cat in the background! Lol!

Totally remember your cat's poop fetish..so funny.

Who watched your babes while you were gone?

nikkicrumpet said...

After mothering three kids...and now being the mother of two dogs. The dogs win hands down....at least the kids could be forced to help clean up their mess...the dogs just look at me and say "yeah...what!"

Mandy said...

Considering I have no animals anymore, my kids would be the messiest. My youngest decided it would be the most fun to color on the back of my seat in the car with red crayon. Thank GOD for Magic Erasers.

angie said...

It looks like Dozer was looking wistfully at his old collar!

No human kids here, although it seems like it - sometimes I have to tell the dog and cat to stop looking at each other!

Lee said...

My mom would probably say that it's the mess her kid makes. But I say the mess the cat... holy crap my phone just buzzed under my back and scared the bajesus out of my.
Sorry about that.
The cat makes an emotional mess at least. I can't sleep with her in my room! She tears everything up!

Michelle said...

First of all Dozer looks fab in his new collar.

My little dog is way messier (is that a word? it is now) than my kids ever were. My kids had diapers to poop in and always made it to the bathroom or puke bucket.

No, not Sug. The house is his puke bucket. He pukes after eating rabbit turds in the yard, anywhere he happens to be sitting. On the bed, on the couch, on the rug. He never seems to be in the kitchen or on the wood floors when this happens.

One time, when he was just a few years old, he peed on my bed, right in front of me. I don't really blame him. I blame my husband. The smell coming out of the bathroom and into the bedroom really had him confussed. His head popped up, he sniffed around and just peed. I know, cause it scared me too. He thought death was upon us.

Now that I think about it Morgan had a few issues with projectile pooping a few times, but when they are only a few weeks olds, projectile pooping is cute too.

3 Bay B Chicks said...

Excellent question, Pooba. Having lived with both species, I would have to answer "kids." Although your idea to vacuum your dog is brilliant, it doesn't work quite as effectively on children unfortunately.

I compiled a short list of other reasons to back up my argument:

1. Dogs will eat them own puke. Kids will not.
2. To stop said shedding, you can put the dog outside. Sadly, this does not work as well with children.

Also, the new collar is inspired. Tell Al that pink is the new orange. That might help.

-Francesca

PS: I think you might be slipping in your comments, Pooba. The name of the female man cave was "Pimped Out Powder Room." :)

Staci said...

um...i think whats worse is your dog is a flippin GIANT....i mean hes as tall as your counter tops...unless you have mini counter tops because youve got lil people running around the house, in which case...that might be alil creepy.....and then THAT becomes worse....

3 Bay B Chicks said...

Oh my goodness, Pooba. You returned to look at the post again. I just happened upon your comment while looking for another blog address.

I hope I didn't offend. Sometimes my attempts at humor fail miserably. I swear I need to figure out a way to add a picture of my smiling face to my comments.

I hope I will still be able to hang out with you in hell because there will totally be a pink lazy boy chair with your name on it in my bathroom.

-F.

Julia said...

Do you really want to talk about messes with me???? Lets start doing the math on three 1200 lb animals who produce two wheelbarrows of manure a day... but then there is the trail of toys that the kids leave from their rooms through the hallway to the kitchen and back again.

Poor Dozier...he really has short hair. How could he produce so much mess?

St. Jeor Family said...

That's a tough one. Brantley can help with cleaning up his messes and Belle can't but I think that when they are sick that Belle is easier to clean up after. As for the food messes from the kids or the hair, the food is so much easier! The dog takes care of most of the food and what they don't it wipes up so easily! The hair sticks to everything!

Steve said...

Kelly it is so good to here from you...thanks for leaving a comment. You and your husband are hilarious. As far as the kids vs pets...I would have to say it is a toss up. My dog doesn't shed or drool so that is a plus, but he does leave his toys all over the house as well as my son does. Ozzie has thrown up a couple of times in the house and so far Logan hasn't yet (besides spit up as an infant.) Last Logan does empty out the kitchen cupboards and drawers daily and leaves finger prints on everything; Ozzie hasn't figured out how to open doors...thank goodness. But all in all I love then both and couldn't image life without them.

black betty said...

ROTFLMAO!!! love this...

Mamarazzi said...

we are not big pet people. probably because of the mess. my daughter, now 13, has the cleanest room in the house and her bathroom is always spotless. yep i know i am blessed!

BloggessJ said...

We have a Cocker Spaniel that shed's A LOT...To make matters worse....My mom is allergic to dogs....LOTS of brushing goes on at our house. LOVING the new Pink collar...Laci just got one too...I'll be posting pix tomorrow night after I get up from my nap.

Unknown said...

Ouch, that sure was a lot of mess to clean up. Hair and dog poop are two of the things that grinds my gears whenever I try to clean the carpet myself, but thankfully, I know of people who does carpet cleaning (Portland, Oregon area).

Having my carpet problems solved by the guys who does carpet cleaning (Salem-based), I always call them regularly for a regular cleaning, especially, after I host a party in my home.