The other day I was cleaning the house and getting frustrated with the amount of dog hair I was finding everywhere. It amazes me that even though our two big dogs, Murphy and Houston, are mostly outside dogs, they still can track that much hair in the house. But, as I was vacuuming and dusting, I reminded myself of all the things I love about our dogs, and realized I can't imagine life without them.
Our little guy, Chase is our oldest dog. He will be ten this fall, and he is starting to act his age. He is a bischon-shitzu. Chasey-face, the nick name our
friend Arlene gave him years ago, is pretty attached to me and usually likes to be in the same room with me if I let him. Five years ago, when I had a serious back injury and was home in a lot of pain most of the time, Chase would just sit near me and rest his head on my lap. Whenever a family member is sick, or having a bad day, he has a tendency to do that. Chase is pretty grumpy with big dogs and lets them know when they are in his space or annoying him with all of their energy.
Murphy is a coon hound. I think he is about six years old now. He is a good watch dog and feels it is his mission in
life to keep an eye on everyone and everything going on anywhere near our home. He chases anything that moves. He has a hound dog howl that only comes out if he hears coyotes. Murphy boy is very obedient and a great listener. If he wants attention, he comes and stands close to you and just looks at you with those big brown eyes until you figure out what he wants. If you pet him and then stop, he'll move a couple of steps closer to make sur
e you get the message that he wants more. He is very affectionate and protective. Murphy is most attached to Darrin. Darrin takes the big dogs to the off leash area by the river to run around. All Darrin has to say is "You want to go to the river in the truck?" and Murphy is vibrating with excitement. He loves being outside and just running.
And then there is Houston, a.k.a. "Scrub". There are varying stories about how he got the nick name Scrub. I know that Carlin and I got in the habit of turning "Houston" into "Eustace", which reminded us of Eustace Clarence Scrub in the Chronicles of Narnia. However, Darrin also remembers that we started calling him Scrub, because when we first got him he was still a puppy. Since he was a puppy, he did typical puppy things, such as chewing on people's shoes, or hiding things. When we would get frustrated with him, we would call him Scrub out of frustration.
Darrin never lets me forget the first summer we had him when I had just filled the planters on our patio with about $80.00 worth of beautiful flowers. We went to work and came home to all of them turned over, chewed on and dug up. It took me a few weeks to forgive him! (Well, acutally sooner, but I was too proud to admit it...)
Our little guy, Chase is our oldest dog. He will be ten this fall, and he is starting to act his age. He is a bischon-shitzu. Chasey-face, the nick name our
friend Arlene gave him years ago, is pretty attached to me and usually likes to be in the same room with me if I let him. Five years ago, when I had a serious back injury and was home in a lot of pain most of the time, Chase would just sit near me and rest his head on my lap. Whenever a family member is sick, or having a bad day, he has a tendency to do that. Chase is pretty grumpy with big dogs and lets them know when they are in his space or annoying him with all of their energy.Murphy is a coon hound. I think he is about six years old now. He is a good watch dog and feels it is his mission in
life to keep an eye on everyone and everything going on anywhere near our home. He chases anything that moves. He has a hound dog howl that only comes out if he hears coyotes. Murphy boy is very obedient and a great listener. If he wants attention, he comes and stands close to you and just looks at you with those big brown eyes until you figure out what he wants. If you pet him and then stop, he'll move a couple of steps closer to make sur
e you get the message that he wants more. He is very affectionate and protective. Murphy is most attached to Darrin. Darrin takes the big dogs to the off leash area by the river to run around. All Darrin has to say is "You want to go to the river in the truck?" and Murphy is vibrating with excitement. He loves being outside and just running.And then there is Houston, a.k.a. "Scrub". There are varying stories about how he got the nick name Scrub. I know that Carlin and I got in the habit of turning "Houston" into "Eustace", which reminded us of Eustace Clarence Scrub in the Chronicles of Narnia. However, Darrin also remembers that we started calling him Scrub, because when we first got him he was still a puppy. Since he was a puppy, he did typical puppy things, such as chewing on people's shoes, or hiding things. When we would get frustrated with him, we would call him Scrub out of frustration.
Darrin never lets me forget the first summer we had him when I had just filled the planters on our patio with about $80.00 worth of beautiful flowers. We went to work and came home to all of them turned over, chewed on and dug up. It took me a few weeks to forgive him! (Well, acutally sooner, but I was too proud to admit it...)
Houston is lovable, not too bright, and the most sociable animal I know. He just loves and adores us - always, no matter what. He can never get enough attention, and does not like to be away from us for any longer than absolutely necessary. He will eat almost anything and lives for food and love! He is a chocolate lab and about four years old (I think) and has (thank goodness!) grown out of his puppy ways. He slobbers everywhere when he drinks, makes a mess when he eats, slobbers on us when he is being affectionate, and I cannot imagine life without him.
He is not much of a watch dog, because he would let anyone in the house as long as they either had food or love for him. Good thing Murphy is around.
It's true that these three members of our family make extra work for all of us. But, they bring so much love, joy and fun into our household that it makes it worth it. More than worth it.
But - just to clarify, Sierra and Darrin - no, we are not getting any more!
Our house is full, busy, noisy and sometimes messy thanks to these lovable creatures. And, I wouldn't have it any other way.
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