We are Dog People: Life is better with a dog

 In the age old battle of dog people versus cat people, I have always tried to be more like Switzerland and stay neutral, but to be completely honest -  the dog side is winning the war at our house.  If you look on my bio it explains that I live with my wonderful fiancé and three unruly dogs – yes THREE dogs.  These dogs are big and loud and messy and they make my life infinitely better every day. 

My oldest dog is a German shepherd mix that we adopted from the pound.  He is fiercely loyal and protective, unless there is a thunderstorm outside – in which case he is a trembling heap in my lap or hiding in a corner somewhere.  Mickey (my daughters chose the name on the ride home from the pound) is somewhere around 10 years old, but we don’t know his exact age really.  He is getting very gray on his chin and has begun to get those little gray tuffs at his eyebrows too.  Mickey has lived his whole life in devotion to our family, standing guard and protecting us from any danger, he has also been so loving and kind and sweet, allowing my daughters to dress him up for special occasions. 

The next dog in our household is Hadley a five year old border collie who is an un-ending ball of energy.  Hadley is a snuggler, and when she is not busy working on chasing a ball or protecting us from any and all vacuum cleaners or brooms, she is cuddling up right next to one of us.  Hadley is one of the smartest dogs I have ever seen, which does not surprise me because Hadley was actually my daughter’s dog, but my daughter was not able to keep Hadley, so she moved in with us.

 

Our third dog could pass for a small horse.  Chayce came to us when my fiancé rescued him from the pound as a sweet little puppy, but that tiny puppy grew and grew and grew until he was the size of both of the other dogs put together.  Although my fiancé would like to deny it, Chayce is most certainly part Great Dane.  Chayce is a gentle giant, who is kind and sweet and loving, unfortunately he doesn’t realize that he is over 100 pounds, so when he jumps up to say hello he nearly knocks us over. He loves to swim and he is notorious for stealing food off counters, tables, even out of the cupboard if we aren't watching.

 

Life with three dogs can be interesting – they are all very jealous if only one of them gets attention – so having three can be a challenge.  I literally run out of hands to pet all three at once.  Mickey always howls when he hears a siren, which causes the other two to howl as well – causing a great symphony of dog.  Chayce has figured out how to open our lever style doorknobs, so he can come in and out of any room in the house, and not to be outdone, Mickey can open the back screen door by pushing on it just right and pulling it open with his paw.  I have often requested that Mickey learn how to close the door once he has opened it to let everyone in the house.  As you can see they regularly take over the couch. 

 

My dogs are messy, they steal food off the counter, they are loud, and they always wake me up early when I want to sleep in, but they add so much love to our home & I am so happy they are part of our family.