to the dogs

We've pretty much always had a dog. Our first was Buddy, a mixed breed fluffy tan sweetheart that moved to our first farm with us. Since then we've had several Cocker Spaniels, a couple of German Shepherd mixes, and a yellow lab mix. All of these were outside dogs, and though they were loved, they did not get huge amounts of attention, especially from me.  They also were not the companions that I really wanted with a dog.

Sixteen years ago we got Mattie at around Christmas time and though she was intended to be a family dog, she quickly became mine. She lived inside and I worked hard to train her to be easy to live with. She was the best teacher of how nurturing it can be to have a good dog as a friend.

After a while we added CJ to the family to be Tim's dog. Tim chose CJ from a pet rescue group that was showing their dogs at a Pet store. CJ was a beaten up, tenacious, obsessive little guy whose character worked its way into our hearts.

CJ liked to sleep with people and slept with Tim until Tim left home. Then he slept with anyone who was available.

Becca

Jill

me

Later George joined us to be a friend to Wes. George started out being more stubborn than I was, hence his move to being an outdoor dog. Since then he has become a sweet people pleaser and friendly guard for the front porch.

This winter we had to say goodbye to CJ, which was an incredibly hard thing to do.

For a while I'd been advocating adding a young dog to our crew and now I stepped up that effort. Chuck was reluctant, but finally acquiesced when I found Hazel, a Scottish deerhound that was waiting for adoption at the local shelter.

Hazel was a sweetie, loved the boys, was receptive to training, but was terrified of Chuck. After ten days of trying to convince her that Chuck was a lovable guy the free trial period was over and Chuck was definitely ready to stop being growled at every time he got up to use the bathroom or stoke the fire at night. So Hazel returned to the shelter and was adopted out to another family within a week.

I'm not sure why I was so sure I needed a dog right away, but we found Harvey the same day. Labradoodles had been on my radar for a while because they shed so little, and because they are known to be very intelligent and gentle and trainable. They are also expensive, but we found Harvey for less than the going rate. He came home the same afternoon that Hazel left. His name comes from the movie "Harvey" starring James Stewart. Chuck watches it regularly in Spanish, so it was a natural choice...and it seems to fit well.

It was such good timing to find Harvey that day.

Two days later, we woke to find Mattie terribly sick and clearly dying. We skipped church and sat with her through her final hours. I'm sure it was partly having Harvey already that helped it to be bearable to let Mattie go.

Now we have had Harvey for close to two months. He's been many places including church, Sunday School, the orthodontist, the doctor's office, MoJo's Coffee shop, Orsheln, a jazz concert, a retreat weekend, to friends' homes, a first grade class, a retirement home, etc. I'm hoping to eventually have him certified as a therapy dog.  Toward that end, last night he passed his basic obedience course and is ready to move on to intermediate.