For the love of dogs....

My love of dogs began with this guy, a beagle named "Spotty".  He grew up with me, all during my years in grammar school.  Spotty was a strong hound, who once nearly dragged my sister, attached to him by his leash, under the neighbor's fence while in hot pursuit of a rabbit. Luckily, my Dad just happened to be arriving home from work and as he backed the car up the drive spotted what was happening.  He was able to throw the car in park, jump out and grab her, causing her to let go of her hold.  Spotty was in some trouble, as you can imagine, when he returned several hours later.  Thankfully, without the rabbit.

The Englishman and I have had a succession of dogs of our own over the years, starting with a bichon, then two weeks with a beagle, a cocker spaniel and our adored lab, Sherlock.  And now we have our boys, Dudley and Bentley.

Our youngest daughter took on her own beagle, Audrey, several years ago, pictured below with Dudley.

 Audrey is a rather unique little girl, having been on prozac for several years now.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Prozac.  She has fought and won a battle with cancer and brings much joy to her newlywed parents.

Then came more basset hounds, this time to daughter #1.  Barney, seen here as a puppy,  joined her a few years ago and the recent graduate of dog training school, Oliver, stole her heart last year.

Daughter #2 and her little family have some fur babies of their own.  First, came Shiba, who has been with them since just before their marriage.  And before Little Miss arrived in the world, Braddock, aka Mr. B joined the family.

You can see below Mr. B, a most laid back creature, is well loved, especially by the younger crowd.

Mr. B gave his family, and all of us, quite a scare the past several days.  While at his regular checkup, the vet thought he detected a "mass" and suggested an ultrasound.  Since he had recently lost a signigicant amount of weight, his anxious parents agreed to the test.  The technician indicated they could see what they thought was a tumor, as well as a bone, lodged in his intestines.  After much discussion and several tears shed, the young couple opted for surgery first thing this morning.

Well, the good, actually great, news is that the tumor turned out to be one of C's pacifiers!!  There doesn't appear to be any cancer.  The intestine was perforated and needed closing, so it was lucky they operated today and didn't wait any longer.  You could hear the sighs of relief all over the county this morning!

Now, I know they are only "animals" but those of you who have dogs, cats, birds, or even fish,  know that the love generated between pets and their owners can hardly be described, much less put a price tag on.  So despite the thousands (ouch!) it has cost our family over the years to care for all of these dogs, the rewards we have received back from each of them has made it all worthwhile.  This quote sums it up nicely:

"Dogs are not our whole lives, but they make our lives whole."  ~ Roger Caras

Have a lovely weekend.  The Englishman and I are about to settle in to watch the opening ceremony for the Olympics in London, live on the BBC. (Being married to a tech savy Englishman has some wonderful perks!)  Cheers!