Dog Days

The dog days of summer.  “The period of extremely hot and humid weather that typically occurs in July and August in the Northern Hemisphere. The term originates from the Dog Star, Sirius, which is the brightest star in the night sky and part of the constellation Canis Major.”  According to the internet, of course:)  And apparently we are right there.  In the dog days.  With extreme hot and high humidity.  Whoa buddy but yesterday was oppressive.  In attempt to have fun with the dog days, Marsha’s Ten on the Tenth is all dog days.  Not the daze that comes from sweating after going to get the mail.  But doggies.  She asked that we talk about our ten favorite dogs.  That was a bit of a challenge for me,  I had to do some thinking.  Which explains why this post is a bit late in going up today.  But, now, I think I am up to the challege.

If you have read more than a couple of my posts, you probably have figured out that I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with dogs.  I am afraid of most dogs.  And leary of the others.  I wrote about that here last year. But there are some dogs that are super sweet.  I get that.  I am still, however, most fond of dogs that belong to someone else:)  I do not want to be a dog owner.  However, we currently do have our daughter’s dog living with us and I try hard to love her!  Okay, I love her.  I particularly love how much joy she gives my husband.  He is a dog-lover through and through.  And he REALLY loves our little grey (grand) pup!!  I have often said there is never a situation where he has to choose between me and the dog.  But before I go on about her, I should start at the beginning.  I am trying to get to ten, ya know….

We never had a dog when I was growing up.  When I was a teenager, my grandparents had a dog but no one else, even in my extended family, had one.  I’m sure we asked once or twice for a dog but I do not remember ever begging for a dog.  Or any other pet for that matter.  My mom, apparently, had a cat before I was born and my dad had his own horse as a boy but I never remember him ever mentioning a dog.  Kind of odd now that I think about it.  But, fast forward to my first dog.  When I was 20, I bought my first car.  Soon afterwards, I bought my first condo.  And right after that, I got my first dog!!  Hello adult world!

ONE – Bridget.  She was my first dog.  When I went to pick her up, she was in a large (birthing) box with her mom and two siblings left from the litter.  The momma dog was a basset hound.  Bridget did not look exactly look like a basset hound but I was expecting a small to medium size dog.  Oh no.  That cute as bug stinker grew to be almost 80 pounds.  And was a shedding machine.  She was also such a naughty puppy!  I was so far in over my head.  I had no idea how to train a pup nor did my job with swing shiftwork give me much time for raising a dog.  Hello adult world fail.  She soon transitioned to my parents’ house and they were smitten.  They really were in love and Bridget definitely lived a dog’s life!!  I will say once she got out of the puppy phrase, she was the sweetest and most gentle dog.  Such a wonderful companion.

TWO/THREE – Sheba and Bingo.  These two go together and I have no pictures.  But, when I married my husband, my husband had two dogs.  (I must have really been in love!)  Sheba was a small beagle mix.  She was an old lady.  She was quite content to just be my hubbie’s dog.  Bingo was a minature sheltie.  He was very protective (with a bark that could terrify) but was actually an overgrown lap dog.  He had a very sweet personality.  We had both of these dogs when we were started growing our family.  When I went into labor with our first, I went from the doctor’s office to the hospital.  I was early and it was unexpected.  We had not made plans for the dogs and I had to ask my best friend to go to the house and take care of them.  Trying to get in the front door was an experience she has never forgotten!

FOUR – Buddy.  After Sheba and Bingo, we only had one more dog while the children were young.  They were in middle school and we adopted a rescue daschund named Buddy.  We did not realize Buddy had a severe heart murmur and he did not live long.  I don’t know what his life was before he was rescued, but I hope his short time with us was a special ending to his life.

FIVE – Benny.  Speaking of daschunds, my brother got a cute minature doxie when his boys were in elementary school.  She lived to be almost twenty, I believe.  She was so small when they got her and was always just the cutest thing.  She loved to chase a ball and would “play ball” as long as you were up for it.  When my brother was living in his apartment in DC, she would come stay with him for the summer.  They would walk several blocks to a neighborhood park, play ball and then she would carry her own ball home.  She stopped a lot of admirers on the city streets!

SIX – Rascal.  For my daughter’s 19th birthday, we got her a dog.  She was really struggling with grief, going to college and lots of things.  She is an animal lover like her dad, and we thought the dog would be a help.  He sure was but not just for our daughter.  Rascal was a bichon mix and was rescued.  He was found at a campground (did he get lost or was he left behind?) and was overwhelmed when we picked him up and brought him to our house.  At one point, I thought he was deaf.  He literally would not respond to us at all.  But he soon warmed up to us and won all our hearts.  I think we needed him as much, if not more, than he needed us.

SEVEN – Bailey.  That brings me to Bailey.  She is pictured there with Rascal and my nephews.  Our adorable, lovable pit bull baby.  I say, our, but she was Emily’s dog.  Emily’s baby.  I don’t think there has ever been a more spoiled dog.  Or one so loved.  She came into Emily’s world when she was a little bit of thing but, even so, I was afraid of her.  Oh but she was such a sweetheart.  I soon learned to feel very safe with her.  And, like everyone, I felt very loved by her.  She died three years ago (this month) and left the hugest hole in our family.  We all miss her very much.

EIGHT – Juju (Julep).  Was Bailey’s faithful side-kick and also my daughter’s dog.  She is the one that lives with us now.  She and Bailey were the best of friends and I truly think that even now she still really misses Bailey.  She has always been “different” since Bailey died.  I do know that she has been a lifesaver for Emily.  As much as I complain about her, I love this silly grey thing!!:)

And that is all of our dogs.  Well, one that was my brother’s doggy.  But it would not exactly be “ten on the tenth” if I stopped at eight, now would it?  Let’s see..

NINE – Frankie.  When my son was with his girlfriend, they got a dog.  A corgi.  His girlfriend had gotten her mom a corgi a few months earlier when they found out Frankie, from the same litter, was still available.  Well, available again.  He had been returned from his first adopted family.  Jordan was not sure about another dog but Victoria (his girlfriend) was over the moon.  And so Frankie joined his brother.  Unfortunately, Jordan and Victoria broke up and we now longer see Frankie but he left paw prints here.  Especially on Jordan.  Definitely one of the hard parts of a break-up.  Truth be told, Jordan is an animal lover, too.  I guess that just leaves me who is the downer on pets:(

TEN – Sadie.  She was our friend’s dog.  The only dog that I would house-sit.  We fell in love with her. And that cute underbite!! I could especially love her – because she would return to her own house after a few days.  LOL  Jordan was especially attached to her.  He insisted I include her in this post.  No problem with that.  She was a really good girl.  Even if she did throw her food bowl over when she got an attitude.  She was a sweetheart.

And with that, I will end.  I don’t know who you “real bloggers” do it with all the photos!!  This post has taken me FOREVER to get ready.  So many pictures.  But it has done my heart good to look back through the pictures.  To remember the pups who have touched our home and hearts.  I would love to know about your favorite doggy…or one of them.  Let me know in the comments.  And thanks for being here today!!