Just some random thoughts.

I was just appreciating my dogs today. I don't know if any of you guys do that. Just sit around and think about the qualities in each of your dogs that make you love him/her. I don't do that everyday. I'm mostly irritated with them, which probably isn't the greatest, but "it is what it is". Today I was proud of each of my dogs.

Penny (my 11 year old female dachshund) is so smart, so used to our routine, and she is the one dog I never really have to worry about. She's independent while being lovable, and never really does anything wrong. She's brave and fearless and devoted.

Baloo (my 8 month old pit/lab mix) may be a bratty and stubborn handful...but he is such a firecracker with such a happy-go-lucky personality that I'm never able to stay mad at him for very long. I may fuss at him and then he just gives me his dopey grin...and I melt. I think that once he matures he will turn into an awesome dog.

Malyk...(my 2 1/2 year old Rhodesian Ridgeback) is so goofy, yet graceful. He isn't Velcro, but he spends the most time with me. Always cuddled next to me in bed. He is so protective of me...and he has saved me from some scary situations. Who needs a gun or a man to feel safe when you have an 87 lb protective dog guardian? I am so glad to have him, even with his quirks, I wouldn't change him.

And last, but not least...Chevelle. (My 17 month old APBT). She is my heart dog. She has never let me down. She does what I ask without question or fail, and she does it well. She awes me almost every day. She is great with strangers, other dogs, kids, babies, random animals.... She loves a lot and she loves all the time. She is cuddly, bubbly, energetic, and calm and composed when asked to be. I'm very rarely displeased with her. She has been obedient and mature ever since she was a puppy. She's beautiful, too. She deserves way more credit than I give her.


But, thanks for reading. Just thought I would share. What are some things you appreciate about your dogs?

I appreciate a lot of things about my dogs. They're just really really good dogs. Last night we did agility and they were so good and so fun. This morning, Mia and I snuggled for a good 50 minutes. She's been doing that every morning lately and it melts my heart.

One thing I've been thinking about lately is that Mia really knows a lot of words and names that I never taught her. It's really interesting to me in both a 'my dog is pretty cool' and a scientific way. Out of the blue I started asking her where X was and she'd go to it. The interesting one (to me) is names of people and of course Summer. I tried to go the opposite way and asked Summer where Mia was and Summer just looked at me. Ask Mia where Summer is and she goes over to Summer and either looks at her pointedly or she'll jump on her.

I know that's not what you meant but it was a random thought I've been having, lol.

I do that sometimes. More frequently now that I work with dogs all day - many, many of them act like asshats, so then I get to come home to my dogs and they are like SAINTS in comparison to the creatures I've spent my day with.

I don't even usually have specific things to pick out that I like about them, I just sit there and think... my dogs are awesome. Period, end of story. lol.

I noticed this today, too, when I told Chevelle to go get a drink of water and she did and when I told Baloo he better go get that rope and he did. Lol.

I have days where the same thing happens I find as I get older and as my dogs get older I seem to appreciate them more, especially when it comes to the little things. Spy is an incredibly easy dog to live with, and great off-leash. Taking him everywhere is a piece of cake because he is a no-hassle kind of dog, and he is very intuitive when it comes to what I want him to be doing. Seeing his face light up when I take him places and being such a good cuddler are also huge pluses

One thing I feel bad about is that I feel like I only really realized how awesome Tucker was shortly before he passed away. The last year and a half or so was when I started to really appreciate some things about him, like how he could be so gentle with kids and how thoughtful he was (he would sometimes just gaze out the window for minutes at a time). Another thing that was unique about Tucker was that unlike Spy, he wasn't a cuddly dog, but he occasionally decided he would like to receive affection. When he felt that way, he would walk up to me sitting on the couch or at my desk and would just sit about a foot away and look at me with this expectant look I would pet him under the chin or on the head a few times, he would sigh and close his eyes, and then a minute or two later he would go lay down and it was over. Just that moment though when we made eye contact and I noticed him sitting there, I think about it all the time and it seems so 'special' now.

I think when I got Tucker I was hoping for a higher drive dog that I could play in agility with, and so for a large chunk of his life I was trying to change him into this dog I wanted him to be. I couldn't just look at him and know a good thing when I saw it. I regret that it took a lot of growing up for me to realize how great he was in his own way, but I am sure glad it happened before he passed away.

I miss him now

Pretty much every day I think consciously about how I appreciate my dogs. They're such good little dogs and so very near and dear to me.