Dog Update

I found this old Post yesterday, quite by accident. It's hard to remember Donovan this little. He's almost 2 now and a regular member of the family.

Many things haven't changed. He's still the center of attention. Daelyn crawls into my bed every morning - not to snuggle me, though - to snuggle the Pup. He has to have his cuddle time with Donovan every morning.

Dane walks him twice a day. Daelyn loves to run along beside them. Occasionally, I'll let Daelyn walk him, but Donovan's a little strong for him and it tends to be the dog walking the boy rather than vice versa.

He sleeps with me and Don every night. He always stays up with me and won't go to bed until I head that direction. If it gets real late, sometimes he'll cry for me to put him to bed. Then he waits patiently for an invitation up on the bed. If Don is still awake, Donovan attacks him with kisses - part of their evening routine. He only does this with Don and Dane. None of the rest of us get this "attack lovin'". He usually curls up on top of my legs, using my legs or my body for his pillow and stays there until Don leaves for work in the morning, when he moves up to the head of the bed and takes up residence on Don's pillow. More than once, I've thought Don was still in bed and moved over to snuggle with him, only to discover that the weight was the dog, not the husband.

He's slow to wake up in the morning. Last week, Dane came to my room to get him for his walk. He put Donovan's retractable leash on him. But Donovan wouldn't stand up. Dane dragged him by his leash a little ways across the bed, hoping Donovan would get the idea and stand up. Nope. He was tired and wanted to sleep. That silly boy was disturbing him. This is a quite frequent occurrence. He doesn't like to get up in the morning. If we leave him alone, he'll stumble out to the kitchen in a half hour or so, looking like he has a hangover.

He's my constant companion during the day. He follows me around "like a puppy". (Gee, I wonder where they got THAT expression.) If I'm doing laundry, he's in the hallway outside the laundry room or on the floor of the laundry room, getting in my way. He scratches at the door of the bathroom until someone lets him in if that's where I'm at. If I leave the house, he waits by whichever door I walked out until I return. (It really IS sweet - does this make you want a dog?)

He gets playful every evening, running up and down the hallways, barking at us to play with him. He's quite persistent. He loves tug-of-war and fetch, but is reluctant to give up his toys so you can throw them for him.

He's smart, sweet, obedient, affectionate, loyal, and fun - everything we've ever wanted in a pet. He has become so much a part of the family it is unbelievable. If you had told me three years ago that a dog would matter so much to us, I don't think I would have understood. But now that we have him, he has his distinct place.

All this said, he still is a dog, not a human. He doesn't rate up there with my children. While we love him incredibly, we leave him behind when we go on vacation, something I would never do with my children. We don't feed him table food, and there are many times that he wants attention or playtime that I just say "no", something else I would never deny my children. They come first, unquestionably, right after God and their Daddy. He's somewhere further down the line.

So, when you hear me talk about my sweet puppy, see me walking him, or catch sight of us riding down the road with him in the front passenger seat, keep in mind that my children don't sit in the front because I'm scared to death of an accident and serious injury to them. While we love our dog and feel that he's a member of the family, he's not a human member and our concern for his welfare doesn't quite compare to that of our family or friends.

But he sure is more obedient. And talks a lot less.