A mom and her dog

I sometimes think my mom loves her dog, Tully, more than her own children. That's not true of course, but the woman is so consumed with every little detail of Tully's life that it makes me wonder.

**note: Tully is a 13 pound westapoo**

Three years ago Tully, a puppy, was behaving strangely. She kept going to the garage door to be let out. Mom grew very concerned over Tully's frequent trips outside. So concerned in fact, that she decided to call the Vet.

"Hi, I'm Tully Christopher's mom. I think Tully has a bladder infection," mom said without blinking an eye.

"Oh, OK. I'll get a sample a bring it in." She said.

She then turned to me and my sister, who were hysterical over her phone conversation, and handed us a tupperware container. "Go get a sample of Tully's urine."

Task completed, sample delivered, results reported. Tully was just fine. Mom overreacted.

And so this continues to be a constant theme with mom and her dog. The truth is, that Tully loves mom so much and can't stand to be away from her which is probably because mom has treated Tully like a baby from day one. Tully is allowed on all of the furniture, gets Christmas and birthday gifts, cuddles with mom and gets far too many treats. She even sits in the living room arm chair like a human. When mom travels, Tully gets depressed. She sits in the arm chair gazing out the window watching for moms car.

Over Thanksgiving, mom was in Palm Springs, CA for a field hockey festival. She came back and Tully wasn't as excited to see her. Mom couldn't figure it out. Tully was a bit sluggish and didn't jump up on her little legs and hop when she saw mom. It just so happened that Tully already had a vet appointment scheduled that week. This is the phone call I received from mom that morning:

"How's your morning?" mom said.

"It's OK. Doing a wrap up report for work and cleaning out my desk. Are you in the office?" I replied.

"Yes. I'm leaving soon though. Tully has an appointment. She's getting three shots today! I hope I can hold myself together," she said.

"Oh mom. She'll be fine. Do you need a box of tissues?"

"You know, I was a wreck with all of you kids and I'm a wreck with Tully too. Besides, I think she's sick. She wasn't happy to see me on Monday."

I laugh, "I'm sure she's fine."

A day later mom calls me to tell me that yes, Tully is indeed sick. She has a parasite. I won't tell you from what because dogs can be gross little creatures, even if they do act human most of the time. Mom and her dog. They are one.