Looks like total chaos.

As humans we all have strengths and weaknesses and every month we have to answer these two questions.  It is part of the case manager’s monthly interview.  Of course the kids mostly use the standard answer of, I don’t know. But I am left to come up with the answer, now it is hard enough for me to answer that question about myself let alone answer for the kids. For the most part it is the same, month after month, but on those occasions that I  actually put some real thought to the question I have to  take a long deep look at all of us and what we all bring to the table of life.  It’s amazing when you actually think about it and really dig deep into the fibers of each person in the family and how we are so different but that’s what brings us to the point of what makes this all work. Now when you add in the dogs and start to think about them in the same way it takes on a whole different look, from the outside it looks like total chaos and dysfunction.  I have been contemplating this very thing, for a long time, I mull it over on those nights that I am awakened from my sleep then my brain activates and it just can’t be turned off.  So I think about everything and as of late I spend this time trying to understand the reason why this family works: The dogs the kids the chaos the noise and total diversity of the house. 
The dogs are so different, Cabot is afraid of anything that moves.  He has a high pray dive and is one of my Alpha males. He wants what he wants and will not heed any of the others warning growls for him to go away or get out of the way.  He absolutely pisses off everyone when he enters a room.  He can’t help himself.  The barking can drive the sanest person to want to drop kick him to the next county.  He can jump shoulder high from a standing position and will steal food from your mouth. Now I can go on with his faults’ but just know he is a huge pain in everyone’s derriere.  But when he seeks me out for a little lap time and one on one, he looks at me and his eyes tell me everything.  The, I wish it was just you and me, the, I only want to spend my life with you.  He loves everyone he just does not want them to move.  A lady stopped by last night to meet some of the foster dogs, looking to adopt.  Cabot barked at her all the way through the house till she sat down then consumed her lap and just loved her to death.  As soon as she got up and ready to leave he barked at her all the way out of the house.  All the barking leads to everyone in the house yelling shut up Cabot; or Cabbage depending on the accent. Then we have Chiquita she is my spinner.  She spins out of control and will run into things and trip humans and barks at the speed of light when she is in her accelerated spinning modes.  She talks to me all day long and loves to be high on top of things she wants to snuggle so bad but it is hard for her to settle down so she will not be annoying.  But once she calms down she is quite the lover.  She growls at Archie and really dislikes him and we have no idea why.  The two of them will get in front of the heat duct and start growling to determined who is going to get the hot spot, and then she will snap at Archie and cause him to defend himself the whole time the sound of this is being channeled through the heating system and heard throughout the house. So there is no escaping this annoyance because the sound disrupts every single person in every single room.  Archie is just plain old and the epitome of a dawdling old man: I apologize to my male readers.  It’s as if his mind got stuck when he was in his peak ,prime days of the number one alpha dog where all he does is walk in a room and the pack just move back and give him space and choice of anything he could possible want.  Well he still acts this way but does not have the body to back up his stuff.  His body is starting to snarl and curl up he walks slower and does not have good balance the only thing he has is his voice and teeth, and he use both to get his way but all it does is piss off the other dogs and cause a ruckus, and he is voted off the couch any way. The garbage can must be screaming at him 24/7 to come hither and he does just that.  It has become one of the biggest challenges to keep him out of the garbage. We even tried moving it to higher ground so he could not reach it, but the only place in the kitchen he cannot reach is the top of the refrigerator and because it has a cabinet above it, the garbage is placed half over the frig and half over the door to the frig.  Now I can’t tell you how many times we all have had garbage come careening down all over us. If we are able to move so the can does not bash us in the head we still get a garbage shower. I personally have had all the garbage showers I care to in my life time.  So we have been trying other approaches to this problem but have not found one that is Archie proof. You can be standing next to the sink and he will just reach up bite the door and yank it open while you stand there. It makes me want to declare a moratorium on garbage.
My sweet Weezie my first small dog she is going blind and hard of hearing and an energizer bunny extraordinar, she can’t see the ball but will run like hell to find it and the whole time barking for the ball. She does not have time for the Chinese Cresteds nor does she care about them.  She loves her Papasan and won’t let anyone sleep in it or use it in any way. She lives to gut stuffed toys and get that squeaker.  But at her age she is either going 100 MPH or she is dead on the Papasan.
Gertrude she is the pup of the bunch at 3 she has found her place in the pack and the home. She is an independent girl that struts her stuff and knows she has stuff to strut. She is confident and will take on anything and believes she is way better than sliced bread. Of course the kids made her that way.  The foster dogs add all kinds of things to the mix as they come and go and we are all characters. 
To take one Character out of this mix, none of this would work, our differences is what makes us the Damn Dog house, Characters Welcome.