Lancaster, the Amish, and Alice

I currently live in the Atlanta, Georgia area but I was born and raised in Ohio. I left there when I married my high school sweetheart. He enlisted in the Navy and our son and I moved with him to Virginia Beach, Virginia. It's a very long story but all these years later I'm in Georgia. But the best place in the world to me is Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. I think because it reminds me so much of home in Ohio. Because my mother and brother have passed away, I really don't want to move back to Ohio. But I found a new home in Lancaster County. Well, home in my heart. My wish is to relocate there. It's absolutely incredible.

So, what's the first few things that come to mind when you hear "Lancaster County"? Bet at least one thing would be "Amish". Oh buggies, bonnets, straw hats and beards. I have been absolutely blessed to get to know wonderful Amish friends. And while I'm there I spend time at an Amish home in a nice rural area with two horses and... a dog. Alice. I will talk about the Amish in a later post. Right now I'm going to talk about "Alice the Amish Pup".

Can dogs be Amish? LOL actually no. But her owner is Amish. She has to endure a life with no air conditioning, no TV (just in case dogs actually watch TV), she barks at the horses, she chases the buggy, and she helps my buddy clean out the horse stalls every day. This is absolutely the funniest dog I've ever known. I grew up with dogs all my life. I've had some bonehead dogs that still leave me shaking my head. But none of them compare to Alice.

While I was in Lancaster back in December I was at Petsmart with my friend David. He bought her a dog bed to sleep on so she'd stop sleeping on his couch. The Amish do not have any carpet whatsoever in their homes. So the floor is hard and cold in the winter. She really liked her bed at first. It was a new novelty item for her. But she still had a habit of jumping on the couch. She was 6 months old at the time so David wanted to break her of her habit. So one day an idea came to mind. He noticed that she is scared of the sound of aluminum foil. Doesn't make sense, it's just an "Alice thing". So he started placing foil squares on his couch when he left for work. He started to notice that when she jumped on the couch she'd hear that noise and immediately jump down. Eventually she spent more time laying on her bed.

Another thing we bought for her was a laser light. Let me tell you Alice will chase that light all over the house for hours. Literally. It's a fact, she's addicted. David has a strict routine to his day. The last of his chores is cleaning out the horse stables. I'll talk about his horses, Ed and Holly, later. In the winter, by the time he was done with that it was pretty well dark outside. So that's when he decided to chase Alice with the laser light. Rather, she chased the light. He uses an electric fence to keep her in a safe area in a pretty large yard. So she's not chained, she knows where the boundaries area and doesn't test it, and she's free to run. Perfect for playing laser light at night. Alice got so accustomed to playing right after he cleaned the stalls that, as the season changed and we went ahead an hour, she sat ready to play, even though it was still too light outside. So she has her little routine, as well, by watching what David is doing.

She just has these funny things that she does that are just adorable to me. It about killed me when I went back to visit in April. She has always been scared of the stairs. She absolutely would not brave the stairs. When I arrived at David's house in April I went upstairs. Alice followed me up the stairs and then, when she realized what she did, acted SO proud of herself! Life was a big party at that point! When I wasn't at the house she would sit at the bottom of the stairs looking up. I like to think she was waiting for me to come down the stairs. She eventually started going back up the stairs which frustrates David. That was the one part of the house that was his. That he had quiet and peace. Now she has learned to invade it. With it being summer time, and there being no air conditioning in the house (Amish aren't allowed electricity or air conditioning), it is hot. Thunderstorms also scare her (David calls her "The Scaredy Cat") and she runs upstairs to hide from the thunder. David tries to sleep at night but can't because she lays against his closet. As she pants, her chest pounds against the closet door and keeps David up. She's definitely becoming high maintenance!

So, here are some pictures of Alice from my December trip. She is looking around for her laser light. Her favorite? On the ceiling! Oh... Did I mention her nickname is also "Flop Ears"? Her crazy ears add to her silly personality!