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Showing posts from January, 2021

Every Bite You Take - They'll Be Watching You

  January 2021 Who here among us has not, while eating, felt that tug: “I know I shouldn’t feed him from the table, but look at those puppy eyes…”  Our old dog, Charlie, had always been a pretty good dog during dinner- he hardly paid attention as we were diligent in not feeding him from the table. Then our twins were old enough to sit in highchairs… and it all changed. Charlie soon realized that those messy little eaters were a treasure trove of goodies. Strategically placing himself between them, scooping up all the delicious food that rained down on him. This was helpful, as there was hardly ever a mess. I often said that our next dog should be named “Hoover.”  Charlie didn’t turn into a beggar, though, just an opportunist. There are a few categories of beggars. The whiners. The pawers. The silent starers. Our dog Cooper is sort of a mutt of beggars- he sometimes silently stares and sometimes gently places his paw on my lap as if to say, “Hey, this can be just our little secret- no o

Cooper Comes Home

  The unconditional love we receive from our dogs is indescribable. Friends may come and go. Days can be good or bad. Our moods can go up and down. We have bad hair days and gain a few pounds. There are days that we know we are not behaving our best. To our pups, it just doesn’t matter. They only see the best in us, and through them we can often see the good where otherwise it might be hard to find. This far makes up for the heartache we know we will have when their time with us is up. We realize that this is the price we must pay for being so lucky to love a dog so much. It’s how we find it possible to open our hearts to another one. At the age of twelve, we lost Charlie to cancer. We searched on  www.petfinder.com  to see if we could find that pup that was meant to be our next family member.    Five days later again, we adopted Cooper, a mix of Pit Bull, Rottweiler, and a splash of Golden Retriever. Again, not to replace, but to refocus and to honor Charlie. Cooper keeps us on our to

You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown

  Chili was truly our furbaby and our love for each other was immeasurable. She spent each Friday with me in my law office, on a 50 ft leash. She happily greeted each client as they walked through the door. Only six and a half years (and two kids) later, Chili died from an infection- we were completely shocked and truly heartbroken. We missed her and that dog energy in the house. Not to replace (never) but to refocus, we started our search on  www.petfinder.com  and found our next dog, Charlie, at a shelter nearby. We adopted Charlie only 5 days after losing Chili. Too soon? Nope. That is a personal question for each person. Charlie helped us heal our broken hearts, and we knew Chili would be happy to know we saved another dog. Charlie was a 100 lb mix of German Shepherd, Chow, Collie, and a bunch of other breeds- and yet again, 100% love. He had the coolest Eddie Munster-like widow’s peak on his forehead- he was a really handsome boy.   During his lifetime we had another three childre

I Like Big Mutts and I Cannot Lie

  I love dogs. Mutts and purebred. Small dogs and dogs that make you turn your head to wonder if it was a dog or a bear that you just saw. Dogs that shed all over the furniture and my clothes. Young pups and seniors. Dogs that drool, bark, and fart. You name it, I love it. I have a real soft spot, though, for the dogs that find themselves in shelters- whether found on the streets, lost, surrendered by their owners, or rescued from abusive/neglectful situations. These are the dogs that steal my heart. These dogs are often scared, sad, and confused, especially when abandoned by those they considered their family. So far we have adopted three dogs that were strays; and each of them rescued us as well. Each of these dogs helped to heal our hearts, enrich our lives, and bring us so much joy, comfort, and love. If they could talk, I know they would say the same about us.   Our first dog, Chili, was first adopted by my brother and sister-in-law. Unfortunately their other two dogs did not take