Love of a Dog

Growing up, I was a cat person.  I didn't get to have many pets, but I loved cats.  When I was about 3 I had a stray cat named Suki (siamese), but she went as she came. At the farm, I fancied myself as a bit of a "Cat Whisperer".  I was able to track down new born kittens and even had one of the cats who let me handle her kittens right after she had them.  At about 11 we got Tippy from the farm.  We loved that cat (my sisters and I).  He was pretty bad in the house.  He'd jump on the cupboard and steal food.  Dad have enough and back to the farm he went.  In highschool we got Max from the SPCA.  He was an awesome cat.  Since Clayton and I moved in together, we've had 4 cats, Magic (ya, after Magic Johnson...and he was the best cat ever), Patches, Xena, and Uno.

Just over 10 years ago, I got my first dog.  He was a little Pomeranian Poodle cross named Winston.  He was the same size as a cat.  He was the cutest dog...always looked like a pup.  I found that having a dog was much different than a cat.  As much as I thought that my cats loved me and sat with me, a dog does so about 10 times more.  When Winston's health declined rapidly last year, I went into a bit of a tale spin.  Losing that dog was harder than I had ever imagined it would be.  That little fur ball had become a companion.  He came to softball games, he walked with me and he slept with me when Clayton was out of town.

We waited for a couple of months before getting a new dog.  I searched high and low and found a dog that I thought would fit our family.  Hugo is a Bulldog Lab cross.  He's about 75 lbs and all muscle.  I can't even tell you how much I adore this dog.  He's a bad dog in many respects.  Despite having all sorts of chew toys, he gnaws on most everything he can find...batting gloves, aquarium syphon, underwear, hangers, dog beds, PS3 Move controller, cables, hair brushes, toilet brush, chair legs, flower pots, solar lamps, straw broom, basketballs, baseball, golf ball, and I'm sure I've forgotten some.  He's an expensive dog.  He doesn't have good manners yet.  But as I sit here and type, he is beside me destroying a tennis ball and slobbering on my leg and my heart is full.

Loving a dog is different than loving a cat and one isn't necessarily better than the other.  The love of a dog is different than the love of a cat, and for me it's even better.  This dog can fill me with hope which sounds crazy I know.  He's just a big, adorable, squeezable dog and he loves with everything wag of his tail.

I love my dog.