Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Dogs on Lounge Chairs

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Happy New Year everyone! No matter how 2018 treated you, I hope 2019 treats you better!

As I said last week, my grandchildren moved December 28th. You could say, I had a very emotional Christmas. To compound the emotions, I decided to make a photo collage of Sampson to gift to my sister and one of Sampson’s favorite neighbors. This put me through years of photos, of my kids, my grandkids, the dogs, etc.

There were a lot of tears.

But there were a lot of smiles too.

I came across the photos of my grandchildren’s parent’s wedding. The wedding took place in St. Petersburg, Florida and it was a family affair. Hubby and I rented a house, and my sister and mom rented the house next door to us. We were there for two full weeks, and naturally, Sampson came with us. (This was before Delilah.)

The house we rented had an in-ground pool. One of the ways to access the pool was through a sliding door in the master bedroom. I’d get up every morning and the first thing I did was take a dip in the pool.

Sampson’s only water experience had been lakes and streams in our area, so the first day we were there, he stepped off the ledge of the pool. He was expecting to walk in like he did in our local water, so the sudden drop startled him and it took him a while to get back into the pool. It was actually my brother-in-law who was able to coax him back in. After that, he’d go into the pool, but only when one of us was in there.

He did love laying out in the sun though and many was the time I’d step outside and he’d be laying on a lounge chair sunning himself.

Towards the end of the vacation, there was one very hot day when Sampson was sunning himself and I was busy in the house, when I heard a splash outside. I looked out to see that Sampson had used the pool steps to take a quick lap around the pool to cool off.

A close up on the lounge chair.

That face. On a lounge chair. 🙂

Going through the photos and reliving these memories really brought a smile to my face.

Do you have any special pet memories that make you smile?

The Sweet Things in Life

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This week, I had the hardest, saddest day I’ve ever had in my entire life. Friday morning, I watched my grandchildren get into their parent’s cars for the 700 mile ride to their new home.

All their lives, my grandchildren have lived within 10 minutes of me. At some point every weekend, I would see my grandchildren. We did Home Depot workshops together, were together every holiday, I’ve hugged and kissed them on their birthdays, seen them off to their first day of school, picked them up on half days.

To say I’m wrecked is an understatement.

My grandkids grew up around the dogs, but I have to say, my granddaughter is the one who is closest to them.  One of her favorite things to do is to walk Sampson.

On Thursday afternoon, my granddaughter walked Sampson for her last time. On the walk we talked about the very real possibility that Sampson might not be here when she comes up this summer.

Just a girl and her dog.

One of the things I love most about Sampson is his ability to draw people to him. He’s gentle and easy-going and most people fall in love with him. My granddaughter is no exception.

Wednesday and Thursday night my grandchildren and their parents (my daughter and son-in-law) stayed at my house because their furniture was loaded onto a truck.

That is how I happened to witness my granddaughter kneeling down and kissing Sampson on his head and telling him goodbye. I’ve kissed him on his head thousands of times myself, but my granddaughter never has.

Even in the midst of my sadness, knowing my sweet boy has touched my granddaughter as deeply as he’s touched me, made me smile.

What did your pet do this week that made you laugh or smile?

You make me laugh (or smile.) The sweet, funny, loving things dogs do that make us laugh or smile.

Christmas 2018

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My current computer has all my photos from the last five years, but photos from before that time are housed on an external hard drive and various CD’s.

There are a couple of gifts I’m working on for Christmas this year, that require photos. So I spent a good hour yesterday morning looking through CD’s and I came across this little gem.

This was taken the first year she lived with us. She absolutely hated wearing the hat and the only way we could get a photo was if Hubby held her.

Sampson on the other hand, tolerated the hat, but it was a little too big for him.

Sampson’s first Christmas…card. Or rather my poor attempt at it.

Seeing these two photos really brought a smile to my face. My dogs can make me smile whether it’s in real life or in photos.

What did your pet do to make you smile this week?

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