Pet Trouble with Tui T. Sutherland

This week on Ink Splot 26, we have a special guest blogger, author Tui T. Sutherland. Tui is the author of the Pet Trouble series, and will be joining us on the Message Boards in August to talk about YOUR pet troubles!

Take it away, Tui. . .

Hi everyone!

I'm so excited to be here to talk to you guys about pets and books and whatever else you want to know! I hope you have lots of questions for me, because I love those. :)  Or if you have questions for my dog Sunshine, you can send them to her through my Pet Trouble Web site, and maybe she’ll answer them on her weekly blog! :)

Since I'm the author of a series of books called Pet Trouble (all about dogs behaving badly!), you might imagine that I must have a pretty wicked little dog who inspires all my stories. But the truth is exactly the opposite — my dog is really kind of awesome. Virtually perfect, if you ask me or anyone in my family!

It's true.  I can't help it.  I am kind of perfect.

I mean, seriously — she's sweet, well-behaved, mellow but fun, brilliant, snuggly, loyal, and perpetually adorable. Even people who aren't crazy about dogs often meet Sunshine and say: “Well, if I could have one like Sunshine, then maybe . . . ” 

OK, I'll admit I'm biased, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong!  :)

But even absolutely perfect little dogs occasionally do hilarious, almost-bad things. For instance, Sunshine CANNOT STAND the medicine we give her to prevent fleas and ticks. We've tried literally every single kind out there, and she hates them all. We even tried this all-natural herbal stuff, and it made her just as crazy as the regular kind!

Because she's a good dog, she'll stand there quietly (well, all hunched over and tragic-looking) while I drip the medicine on between her shoulder blades. And then I give her lots of treats and tell her she's wonderful, but as soon as she's eaten all the cheese I can give her, she bolts away and starts tearing around the house like a maniac. Up the stairs!  Down the stairs! Up and down and up and down the hall!  Onto our bed! RRRRRRROLLL in the sheets! Bury herself in the pillows! Roll, roll, dig, dig, dig, frantically leap and wriggle and bounce around! Zip off to the couch! Rrrrrrrrub her fur all along the couch cushions!

Pause. Cautiously turn to sniff her back . . .

And OFF AGAIN! Run run run run run! Up the stairs! Down the stairs! More frantic rolling on the bed! Fling all the pillows onto the floor. Roll, roll, rub, rub, rub, crazy rolling and panting!

This will literally go on for hours. Even her favorite thing, cheese, will only distract her for a minute before the rolling and jumping begins again. We have learned to do this last thing at night, so that we can go to bed while she tears around the house to her heart's content.

But the most important lesson we learned was a few years ago, when we had just moved into a tiny apartment in NYC with a little garden out the back. The “garden” was really more of a patio, but it had a five-foot circle of dirt in the middle where we could plant flowers, so it was cute, and Sunshine liked it, and everything was great — until we had to give her her medicine . . .

To find out what happened, come back to InkSplot 26 tomorrow and read the rest of the story!

— Tui T. Sutherland, Pet Trouble author

Dog photo courtesy of Tui T. Sutherland

Comments

[Comment #1]

awwwwwww...........ur dogs sooo cute just the kind ive always wanted!!!careful..i might just take her when ur not looking!!!

[Comment #2]

Wow!

Sunshine looks so sweet...

I wish I had a dog, aven if it would run around whenever it has mediciene like Sunshine does... :P

[Comment #3]

Oh my gosh. I KNEW I recognized your name! (Lol.)
I know this is supposed to be about Pet Trouble, but I have to tell you, I LOVE all the books by Erin Hunter! You guys are absolutely fantastic... I'm such a humungous fan! :D

[Comment #4]

i love your dog he is the cutest dog ever!!!!! you write the best books my favorite is pet trouble!

[Comment #5]

Sunshine is so amazing! I love your books. They are so cool. My series is Pet Trouble. I really like Loudest Beagle on the Block and Mud Puddle Poodle!

[Comment #6]

wat type of dog is Sunshine because I am doing this for my project. By the way I love the pet trouble books they are awsome and funny but some of the pets are way cuter than Meatballs, and your dog is the cutest.

[Comment #7]

wow, i really love your dog. I want also to have a dog like her. she's so cute