Hero!
Boy do we love this dog of ours. One of my first posts of this year rather sheepishly announced that we bought a yellow lab puppy in November 2010. Two weeks into that decision, I was wishing we hadn't. More than a year later, I miss her when we go on vacations, smile whenever I see her, and spoil her to an absurd degree. Replacement child? Possibly, but I don't care. Adam did ask me the other day how old she would need to get before I stopped calling her "Baby Girl." (I don't think he's a fan of that nickname) I told him probably never. I can't help it. We are possibly the worst dog owners ever - at least I'm pretty sure that's what my parents think. We do everything you're not supposed to do. We let her lead the way on walks, sleep on our bed, and we feed her people food. Not all the time, mind you, and only healthy stuff like fruits and vegetables, but yeah. Please set your judgment aside. She's happy and we're happy. That's what matters right?
When we went to NY to celebrate Christmas with my family last year, we boarded her at this place where they socialize the dogs and let them play together during the day. Hero loved it. She loves other dogs. When we take her on walks and she sees other dogs, she wags her tail and cries because she wants to play with them so badly. Because of our full-time work schedules, we decided it was only fair to start taking her to a dog day care place. Yes, we're those people. It's embarrassing, but I'm mostly over it. Maybe I already mentioned this? Anyway, since February, 3-4 days during the week, Adam drops her off before work and I pick her up after work from this place in South Salt Lake. It's great - she plays all day and then Adam and I don't feel so guilty and don't have to spend hours playing with her when we get home because she's been couped up inside all day. It's not a permanent solution, but while we both work 40 plus hours a week, it relieves a lot of stress and she loves that place. As soon as Adam gets ready to go in the morning, she's bouncing around and jumping on him to make sure he doesn't leave her behind. She has been known to whimper if we're not fast enough getting her out of the car to go inside. Here are some other things about Hero:
1) She's a great source of exercise. This dog will play keep away with you as long as you have the stamina. She's relatively good at hide and seek. She loves her walks around the neighborhood and going over to Adam's parents' house to play in their huge backyard.
2) She's obsessed with socks - she knows exactly where to get them. In a laundry basketful of whites, she can separate the socks from the rest of the clothes and unmentionables with surprising ease. She mainly uses them as a way to get attention and play keep away.
3) She loves peanut butter and will do pretty much anything for a treat - not so unusual, really.
4) She's a cuddler. Her preferred relaxing position is anything where she can be touching me or Adam. This is not so great at 5 in the morning when suddenly I feel dead weight on my legs or her head dropping on my stomach, but at least she's courteous enough to wait until 5.
5) She's afraid of anything with a motor sound. The vacuum cleaner and the lawn mower in particular.
6) She needs more training. I really do intend to work on that. But she doesn't have an aggressive bone in her body, according to a trainer we were using for awhile. Adam and I just have problems being consistent - it's good we've realized this now.
7) She loathes baths and getting her nails clipped. Adam has to sit in the tub with her while I pour water on her and he lathers her up. This is all done with a pathetically beaten look on her face.
So that's that. Some people will not understand all of this affection for a rather troublesome collection of fur. And that's okay. You can skip the below visual chronology of her life so far below. Forgive my grainy iPhone pics!
This is from February 2011. The halo in the picture is inadvertent yet miraculous
This is one exhausted puppy after one of her first days at day care
Vanity is unfortunately one of her failings
She joined me once for my evening prayers. This is legit - I really was praying and she jumped up beside me resulting in Adam taking the picture. If only my pajamas were more stylish!
Payback on Adam. I told you - she really will sleep anywhere as long as she can be touching someone
This was taken last Saturday. She is also afraid of the Christmas tree and needed some reassurance when we were putting it up.
1 comment:
Love dogs, love labs, and Hero is adorable. Doggy day care is a great idea as no one is home with Hero most of the days,
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