Too many puppies, with guns in their hands. Too many puppies in foreign lands.

Apologies for not posting every day. My life is phenomenally busy this week and I will be catching up. I love these assignments!

As a dog-lover, and having been raised with between 2 and 7 dogs in the house at all time, I will pay tribute to the Bunch Family Dawg Pound.

My mother rescues dogs for "Hope for Animals", a non-profit in Houma, Louisiana. This is her true passion. She often fosters these abused pups, many of which have been beaten by their owners or hit by cars.

The amusing cycle in the Bunch household goes like this. My mom fosters a new dog. My father says, "We can't keep another one, Ellen. We already have too many." This debate will be a point of contention around the house for a while. Two to three weeks will inadvertently pass, and then my father will predictably fall in love with said canine, and then there will be another member of the Bunch clan.

Now, my mom is not just another empty-nester looking to fulfill her nurturing needs by taking care of as many dogs as possible (though that is one motivation) - she is a true dog-lover. My OCD mother, a woman that never lets me eat dinner without using handwipes, a woman that makes sure I open a public bathroom door with a paper towel, will get down and dirty in the nastiest of ditches for a frightened puppy.

Short writeups of the Bunch clan are indeed in order
........from left to right....Ginger, Cocoa, Boy Dog, Sasha, Momma Dog, and Missy. Yoda (RIP) not pictured.

Cocoa Bunch is the true alpha dog of the group. Born in 1991, she is 18 in human years, which would make her 126 in dog years. She is now half-blind and deaf and suffers from a mysterious condition called "Old Dog Vertigo". In her younger days, she would howl on command when you said her name. She would sleep in your bed, curl up next to you, and then once she got into her comfy position, growl if you moved at all. She still believes she runs the house, though she now has no idea what the fuck is going on.

Ginger Bunch is the runt. About 13 in human years, Ginger has always been noticably tiny (never over 10 pounds). Of all the pups, her company is probably the least enjoyable, due to her impressively bad breath (which we call Ginger-vitis) and her penchant for rolling over and urinating on herself whenever a stranger comes into the house. In a pack of possibly the least brave, most spoiled dogs in South Louisiana, she's the doormat of the group.

Missy Bunch is the gregarious over-eating attention-grabbing one. If any of the other six dogs sits on your lap, Missy will jump on your lap as well, often knocking the other dog on the ground. If you pet another dog next to her, she goes completely crazy.

Boy Dog Bunchis very territorial (being the only boy), and extremely playful as well. A ball of energy, yet deathly afraid of some of the kitchen cabinets for some unknown reason.

Sasha Bunch is my sister's little pup. My sister never hesitates to tell me that the word Sasha means "defender of mankind". Sasha can't even defend her dog treats from the other dogs in the family, but she's still super-lovable.

Mamma Dog Bunch, the alpha-dog in waiting, is of an unknown age, and was sadly abused badly by her previous owner. She has a bullet in her paw, and is basically a tripod, as one of her legs is pretty much broken. For about 6 months, she was scared to death of anyone that made quick movements anywhere near her, but now, she's nothing but a cushy ball of love.