Two years ago, around this time, two dogs came to live in our house. We were shocked by the sudden lost of my hubby’s dear friend, Ed. We were even more shocked by his will. He left his dogs to us.
We had lost our beloved beagle just a few months earlier. The last thing we wanted was to replace her with another dog…let alone two.
One dog is a white toy poodle named Rocco, weighing about 9 pounds and without an ounce of house training. The other being an 85 pound black lab with an uncontrollable, intense bark, appropriately named Thor.
Parker, our 6-year-old, was completely afraid of Thor. Understandable since Thor was almost as tall as she was.
To make a long story short…Parker and Thor become BFFs (she often uses him as a pillow while they watch TV together). We spent hundreds of dollars on dog training services to control the barking (after two years I actually see hope that it is working). We’ve cleaned up a lot of poodle poop & urine (and occasionally still do). We (hubby and I) take a daily dose of allergy pills. We have re-seeded many, many spots of our backyard, and replaced many dug up plants (Thor is a digger). Being named after the god of thunder, doesn’t stop Thor from barking at it. Rocco owns many cute sweaters that he proudly wears in the winter…strutting his stuff.
These dogs have become a part of our family.
At night, Thor takes up guard position in the hallway, just outside the girls’ bedroom doors. Rocco still sleeps in his crate because he can’t be trusted not to urinate (or worse) on everything. Thor and Rocco meet me at the top of the stairs when I come home from work…or from anywhere. Thor “talks” to me then. I don’t know if he is cursing me out for leaving, or saying “I missed you”.
We are thankful for these dogs. Although they have their bad habits (don’t we all?). We still love them and couldn’t imagine not having them around.
Ed knew what he was doing when he left the care of his dogs to us…Or, is it the dogs who take care of us?
>>> A month long giving thanks fest brought to you by the Joy Dare. What are you thankful for? Studies show that people who write 3 things they are thankful for every day are 25% happier. So, write it down and get happy!
Ann Voskamp, along with Liz Curtis Higgs, is hosting a free webcast called Christmas at the Farm on November 21 at Noon ET. “Unwrap the full love story of Christmas”.
Have Faith Everyday 